[pnpgm] Game Update #154 - File #1071 - Goz'Yung
Scott Adams
longshotgm at netzero.com
Thu Mar 3 18:57:36 CET 2011
HT Alias/Player Character Name Type Status/Notes Sex
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R1.John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid .Normal/Alfar Ma
??.Chris Wells...........Ben'dar...........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
R4.Tom Corckett..........Caladan...........Wizard Normal/Human Ma
W2.Marcel Liberty........Chion.............Sailor..Normal/Human Ma
W3.Ryan Torres...........Farseeker.........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
--.Tobie Bonahoom........Fremea............Sidh....Normal/Faerry Fe
R2.Mark Murtha...........Kell..............Trader..Normal/Human..Ma
R1.David Sanders.........Kiet.Sunan........Acrobat Normal/Human Ma
R4.J H Hooten............Raban.Usherwood...Bard....Normal/Human..Ma
W2.Robert Maxwell........Strie'bog.........Bard....Normal/Human..Ma
W4.Wout Broere...........Unali.............Ninja...Normal/Human Fe
R1 John.Stowman..........Will..............Hunter..Normal/Human..Ma
R4.Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human Fe
R1 NPC...................Zhou Kiwat........Noble...Normal/Human..Ma
Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Tef'wo (Horse) Ben'dar,
Game Web Site - http://www.furvert.net/longshotgm/pbem/index.htm
Public posts/actions to pnpgm at abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list)
Private emails (not public actions) to longshotgm at netzero.com
Game Update #154 in sequence (file #1072)
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Admin Notes: None.
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[Recap]
From Kell: [Re: Actions]
[Kiet & Kell conversation. It began as Dave and I chatting in
email. There was some good stuff, so I converted it to an actual
post ala conversation. Had we known it was going to be a post,
we'd copy you. Maybe. Surprising the GM can be fun! :)
Good adjustment for the conversations. Ours was not linear, so
your changes worked just as well. Thanks.
Libyan enforcers start out all right, but they quickly move up
and take over, then have to be deposed. It's not worth it, trust
me.]
[in Dark Lands]
[Oby Wan? I have to say it - I almost choose Luke as a name,
just because. Or Lone Star. Has anyone seen Hardware Wars?
Masterpiece. I'm all over the place today.]
Listening to the small girl tell of Squirt's exploits make...
Gently he takes the girl's hand and heads to the closest markets,
helping her find a treasure she wants as a thank you. Kell
bargains hard and after shows the girl a bit about bargaining,
if she is interested. If not, Kell thanks her yet again.
"Thank you again for watching him. If I need someone to...
Before begging to eat the wonderful lunch, Kell approaches Oby privately.
During lunch as Zhou is telling Oby of the past few months, Kell
makes sure that Zhou is telling facts and not fiction. Fiction
where he is the constant hero or the one saving the day. After
all, everyone knows Kell is the one saving the day and getting
the girl.
Asking Oby while eating, "Have you heard any other news about...
Ha'Kell looks Oby in the eye, holding his gaze. "Thank you...
"Why don't we use the mapping bugs now to pinpoint the base?...
GM: Ack. Surprise the GM? Want to learn that lesson eh? :)
Oby Wan jokes were in last adventure. :) But I was having
some fun. Hardware Wars? No.
From Kiet: [Re: Actions]
Kiet is not surprised he is the only 'no' vote. He's used to
it. It's likely the items back at the Dark Lands will prove
helpful, but only a limited number. Even the proverbial staff
that shoots fireballs has to overcome the Vong's immense magic
resistance.
Kiet doesn't have anything in his possessions that he can use
against the Vong. Since he has not yet had time to train with
the sword, it won't do him much good. He hopes the conjecture
about magic is good, though. It means that Kiet can chuck out
ropes without being targetted by the anti-magic critters of the
Vong.
Kiet wonders about Ki'ama permitting the items back in our
possession. If he didn't want us using them, why give them to
us. Of course, he also gave us the option of taking what we
wanted when we first started out.
Ki'ama...Kiet bristles over that. He was sorely, sorely tempted
to go back with Chion for the sole purpose of confronting, or
even challenging, the High Elder. The fact is little Kiet thinks
his chances against the HE are greater than against the Vong. At
least the HE would simply Oblivi-ate Kiet...but he'd still be
alive, at least. The Vong won't have any problem with simply
killing the lot of us.
This whole situation just leaves Kiet grumpy. Kiet will leave
ALL of his magic items behind in the DL...but will accept his
javelins. The items may as well stay there, since all of his
money...the substantial part of it, anyway...is still there too.
He's already got his ropes. There won't be much a Vong can do
trussed up like a New Year's dinner turkey...except expire,
perhaps. Dagger thrusts to the vitals will do that for ya.
GM: Ack. Good stuff.
From Fremea: [Re: Actions]
Fremea didn't really care one way or the other about the....
Once her mind was on the task properly again, she scouted and
started to look for the signs of anything unusual or what would
probably be out of place, until she found the destroyed village.
"As for the bodies, we can not afford to spend time here...
GM: Ack. Good post.
From Mark: [Re: Spells]
Hey Everyone,
I've been thinking on this for a bit and need to make sure...
[***rest deleted for space and not really for update***]
GM: Ack. Theres your problem. Been thinking. Don't do that! :)
But hope you got your answer?
From Kiet: [Re: spells]
The caster is the center of the effect
it’s a radius.....
[***rest deleted for space and not really for update***]
GM: Ack.
From Alex: [Re: Spells]
Back in the '80s I asked Richard Snider about alignments....
[***rest deleted for space and not really for update***]
GM: Ack.
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[New Stuff]
[Augado 9th, 1634TH]
[Location: Middle Katai Plains]
[ Mountains west of Pamau]
[Time: 12:12pm]
While the trio teleports to the dark lands the party wait
and eat a quick lunch.
Listenting to the small girl tell of Squirt's exploits make
Ha'Kell smile widely. He's missed the furry devil and all the
fun he brings. Scratching his ears and feeding him a tidbit, Kell
needs to decide if bringing him back now is smart, or if he should
stay for a bit longer. Possibly the most dangerous parts are yet
to come. But having a very small scout and distraction may be
useful. Squirt can get into so many places, not just to cause
havoc.
"Thank you for watching him for me. I can tell you took very
good care of him. He hasn't been this clean, well, ever. I would
like to go buy you a little something in the market if you'd like
that and your parents don't mind." Kell glances down at the
girl who stands just to the top of his chest. From her
vantage point the man with long hair and the hat looks a bit
scary but the half-elf does his wry smile and she nods.
The Citadel sometimes hosts a market inside but this time
of year tends to be hot and rainy so the market is in the
town to the north west of the citadel. It takes a good 10
minute walk to get to the market. Kell knows he won't have
much time. The market is small and compared to those in Katai
could fit inside a Katai horse selling barn. He shakes his
head but knows these markets are limited in their audience and
supply.
The girl, named Nakomis, eyes the small jewelry stands. She
gulps and sighs at the various nice necklaces, rings and earrings.
As she looks she eyes the tall man next to her. She shifts
from foot to foot as she realizes she was doing the duty for
Oby and the High Elder. They already gave their support in
terms of some resources for the task. It soon becomes clear
she finds this task a bit hard guilty wise taking this prize
from the trader.
Finally the girl eyes a nice silver bracelet with a small
but insignificant topaz set in the top. The small chain
links look like rich silver metal. There are slight runic
markings indicating the power of the sea the merchant explains.
The girl spends some time with it and the merchant bargains
the item down to 2 Silver. Kell finds it a bit pricey but
finds the girl really appreciates the item. The merchant
explains the topaz is worth at least half a silver alone. The
work and silver adds the rest. Kell knows the market is
limited making supply low so price high.
"I can't mister....it is too much." The girl shakes her
head. "It is a nice thought though. " She pushes the
bracelet back to the merchant. She then glances back to a
nearby table of shoes. "But..."
She walks to the table and finds a nice pair of work shoes
not quite boots but good walking and working shoes on the
table. The gray pair is simple leather and looks built for
an adult man. "Father needs a new pair of shoes. He is the
local mason and keeps the stonework up. Could I get him these?"
The merchant and girl glance at the man with the red eyed
beast. Kell shrugs and can't stand it when a girl frowns and
pouts like that. He nods. The merchant sells them rather
cheaply for 11 brass bits. The merchant throws in an extra
pair of shoe string and a small vial of oil to keep the shoes
clean and scar free.
The girl notices a man she knows and brings the shoes to
him. She asks him to take the shoes to her father. As she
does this, Kell goes back to the other merchant. He slips
the merchant the 2 silver and buys the bracelet anyways. For
some reason this could be his last day alive. What would the
Life Review be if he made a girl sad? He pockets the
bracelet and smiles. Leading the girl back he hands the
ferret back to her to hold one last time.
It is now only 20 minutes before the trio have to leave.
Kell takes a quick lunch and chats with the girl on the
fun they both had.
Kell has missed much of the conversation Zhou has told
Oby and the few others gathered around including the Citadel
Herbalist and chief of security. But when Kell is finally
around he listens for half truths. At one point Zhou does
mention he helped by waking everyone and rushing to help
Raban against the giant worm. But Kell clears his throat and
Zhou changes it slightly to reveal he meant Farseeker did that
and Zhou slept through it. This draws a few laughs.
Asking Oby while eating, "Have you heard any other news about
the, er, situation we are handling? Has anything been discovered
anywhere else we should know about?"
Oby shakes his head, "only that some new areas have been found
with them around. One of our...contacts in Thaliba found a large
force in the forest near a spring but were slaughtered and
we've not heard of them since. There are at least 5 new areas
with their presence since we've last talked. Of course this is
where we have...friends...this might be twice or triple that
in other areas we jus don't know."
Finally Kell gathers up Oby and speaks to him privately
for a few minutes while Chion grabs his own quick lunch
after he returns from his mysterious errand. Oby nods a few
times and they finish their quick conversation in muted tones.
Just before the trio leave they gather outside one last time.
Kell grabs Squirt from the girl and as he does he slips the
bracelet into her money pouch deftly. His skill in such things
usually works in the reverse but in this case it is simple as
she is distracted by the beast.
"Thank you again for watching him. If I need someone to watch
him again, could you?" Kell asks the girl.
The girl nods slightly. "If I would be allowed. I should
be picked for apprenticeship soon. I should have been two
years ago but was passed over." She looks up to Kell with
a wide grin. "I hope to serve with Sven and learn some sea
magics."
Kell grins knowing the bracelet is very appropriate. No
wonder she choose it. "For now you're done, I am taking him with
me. We both missed each other, and maybe he can help us all." He
gives the girl a warm hug, and slips her three silver coins telling
her to give the money to her parents. They had to put up with
Squirt too, and probably they have broken things to replace. Kell
doesn't like being in anyones debt.
Nakomis palms the silver coins. Her eyes widen in shock.
Her mouth opens and closes with lose of words. She begins
to shake her head but Chion drags Kell inside the building
to teleport away. The girl knows this could feed her family
for a few months. But she also knows the cost for her
apprenticeship would barely amount to this.
Ha'Kell looks Oby in the eye, holding his gaze. "Thank you for
the lunch. It was excellent. Hope we can stop this in the next
days. Or the world may be like a deaf leopard hunting with both
eyes missing, nothing but hysteria." He gives a short bow to
Oby.
Oby returns the deep vow as the group stands inside the Teleport
Ring building. Oby nods to Chion that all is ready.
Nakomis rushes inside knowing her parents would be scared
to take the coins. But as she gets alongside Oby she
sees Kell wave and disappear in a blue haze.
As the group gathers up their magical items and some new
food and water supplies, Kiet stands with arms crossed. He
wonders if the whole thing is a trap or another test. It seems
odd that the Elder would just let the items go. Maybe the
old man is weaker than he looks.
Almost by some odd timing, Caladan looks to the group placing
magic items in their bags. "I wonder how many items might now
be tainted. Like Chion's staff. If it can be used to sense
and spy can now other items?" He grins and adds a bit of
paranoia to those gathering items.
Fremea didn't really care one way or the other about the
teleport. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't
even really notice that it had even happened before Chion
reappeared with a lot more stuff. At that point she needed to
remember what she was here for and to get her mind in the right
place. Her lapse in missing that detail really could have been
bad if it was something worse coming at them instead.
--------------------------------
[Augado 10th, 1634TH]
[Location: Middle Katai Plains]
[ Mountains west of Pamau]
[Time: 7:23am]
Fremea roams around the dead village in disgust and anger.
She has seen many horrors in her young life but such a waste
of life saddens her. But her anger erupts and she funnels it
into her determination to end the Vong threat.
Feeling outrage at these creatures for what they had done to
children and even the simple villagers that didn't seem to be
schemers. When she saw the Vong in the tree that Raban had moved,
she realized that she could aim for that neck spot a lot more than
others can hit at it. Fremea would make sure she remembered to do
that more.
"As for the bodies, we can not afford to spend time here burying
them all. Though I would love to give the innocent a proper burial,
if we spend any time here we might just be ambushed ourselves. If
we can we will report this or come back. It is time for us to move
quickly and strike fast before these Vong", she spits on the
ground, "can be ready for a group like us. Right now, I think they
either believe they are safe from detection or think a raiding
party that is large is coming to greet them. We may have a few
members here with us, but we are certainly a small party and can
be deadly on first strike." Fremea is showing her anger and seems
quite ready to take flight and fight what ever comes her way.
Zhou wraps his arms around his chest as if in a chill. "I'm
afraid she is right. To gather up the dead..the...pieces would
take some time even with our numbers. Arawn should say a few
prayers and then we should move on. Most of the bodies we've
seen are so badly decomposed or in pieces it would be a mass
grave at the very lease."
At that a thunderclap is heard overhead. It is as if the
gods themselves are disgusted by the sight. But to those
who noticed the skies have been getting darker and more omninous
by the minute. The sun has been a distant memory and now only
shines white in a few dotted gray clouds. Most of the sky has
become light gray-black to black-black dark clouds. Winds have
started to also pick up. Some might consider the whole event
an omen of things to come. But to many it is a simple summer
morning storm caused by morning uplifts of air.
Ben'dar finishes his patrol of the village perimeter and reports
no tracks of those who might have escaped this horror. But then
the recent rains might have washed them out.
After Arawn, Raban and Strie'bog give prayers for the dead
and blessings for the village the party starts to mount back up.
The village doesn't even have enough wood structure anymore to
even made a decent pyre to burn the body remains. It is clear
the Vong Flyers uses their fire to rain down on the village.
Kell looks to Arawn before he mounts up. "Why don't we use the
mapping bugs now to pinpoint the base? If it is close enough
maybe we can see exactly where it is from their map? Do some
scouting and planning tonight, then start the final countdown."
Arawn nods and pulls the Vong Bowl creature out of his pack.
For days and about every 3 days the Alfar has been taken many
readings. At one point yesterday afternoon he found one of
the small bugs dead. It is unclear what the cause was but it
could be use by non Vong. The other bugs take up the slack
and point the party in the right direction. Some after seeing
the dead bug wonder if the map bugs could be sending them in
a wild goose chase. But the other evidence points to this
general area, mainly that of Shu's information and maps.
Lightning strikes in the west and the party scan the skies
to see the storm moving from west to east. In the mountains
the clouds move fast as long as the mountains are level and
somewhat equal. Mountain passes help to speed things up but
a deep valley can cause winds to stall and storms to slow down.
After a few minutes the bug and maps report north and a bit
north west. Using the map, Arawn tries to trick the bugs
by moving around in different directions but the Control Bug
seems to force the others to reorient. Suddenly a few drops of
rain wets the map and Arawn quickly packs it up.
The party moves forward through the moderately tall mountains.
In this region, almost the center of this range, the mountains
tend to be 8 to 12 thousand feet high above sea level. This
time of year few have snowcaps except the really tall ones.
The particular region has less valley areas and more interlocked
mountains with low hills and deep ravines. It seems like the
area was uplifted from massive volcanic activity or giants who
may have wrestled for years.
As the party moves toward the suspected Vong base the rain
begins to increase. Due to the winds and lightning, Fremea is
forced to ride with Ben'dar who doesn't have much in the way
of saddle bags. This frustrates the party a bit as they lose
a good scout. But in this rain it is either stop or move
slowly. Since the weather also hides their movement the party
continues onward.
[Time: 9:15am]
The rain and lightning has been intense for some time now.
Everyone is cold and drenched. At least one time Unali's
horse slipped in a hole and almost fell in but Unali was
experienced enough to whip the horse backward in reflex. The
hole was hidden by thick mud and water.
Even though the rain has been a problem the party does
make some good time. It may be they are only two maybe
three miles from the village. The slopes seem to help
by speeding some of the travel up. Those with high mountain
survival also pick the best and fastest ways up the rising
slopes.
Behind the party to the south east is the village. In that
area three mountains jot up with the one to the rear and right
being the highest at a bit over 10,000 feet. To the right
is a smaller mountain maybe 8,000 feet and a mile or so away.
To the left are two mountains maybe 6-7 thousand feet but
are further away at around 2-3 miles from the blur that can
be seen through the rain.
As the party tops the rise of a small inter-mountain hill
they look down to a new valley. The valley is open to the
far left for some distance and a mountain pass seems to be
in the north-east. To the far other side about 3 miles away
a tall mountain maybe 8 or 9 thousand feet high protrudes out of
the dark clouds and its summit fades away as if eaten by the
storm clouds.
For those who are used to mountains the tight closeness of
many of the Katai mountains is a bit unusual. But then
some comment about the Marentian mountains are more spread
out due to thick forests. Here in Katai forests are around
but would be considered simple woods in most lands.
As the party gets to the top and scans the valley the sheet
of rain and low hanging clouds in the valley some 3 or 4
thousand feet below obscures the best sights. But it seems
there is a thick forest of green below.
Raban sits on the horse and wipes his face from the thick
rain and tries to comb his hair. He is tired of riding and
thinks maybe it might be best to rest from the storm. But
then a scene emerges from below.
In the center of the valley a bit to the left or west is
some tall hill. White fog like clouds seem to drift fast
around the hill. It almost looks like a giant tree that
is shrouded in the fog. Overhead lightning flashes and
creates shadows in the valley. As the group watches the
fog seems to dissolve from a sudden gust of wind. This
cases the hill to become more revealed.
The hill is soon discovered to be a very tiny mountain
in itself. It can't be but a thousand feet from side to
side and a thousand tall above the valley floor. In fact
it might only be a few hundred feet below the party's
current height. The tiny baby mountain juts out to the
sky like a round table. The side of the mountain looks at
this distance to be a sheer drop of 90 degrees. The top
is jutted with bits of rock like pointers and jagged rock
formations. But for most of the top it is flat like a table.
At the base of the baby mountain is a green forest that
stops about 200 feet from the very bottom of the tiny
table like mountain. Fremea dismounts to see what the
stop is and gets out her spyglass. So does Unali. the
rain is starting to ebb and from sheets of rain to a light
drizzle and it allows the women to view the mountain in
better detail.
But at this distance most can see the basic details of
the terrain and structures. When the clouds part revealing
the true shape of the mountain, Arawn lets out a gasp. At the
same time so does Unali.
to those who look to Arawn he mouths silently "Rising Mount".
There is no doubt to the Alfar. He has seen in it a dream
just weeks prior. Then there is the description from that
scroll found in Vassa territory. No doubt to the man. He
points and grins.
Unali also recognizes the place from her youth. This valley
is a rich fertile one known for apples that grow here during
the right season. What makes it rich is a tiny stream that
winds west to east but was reported to have dried up years ago.
This didn't destroy the forest but it hindered its growth a bit.
The baby mountain is also famous and known as Goz'Yung or "the
mountain of sleeping fire." She recognizes it from stories
as it is famous in this region as the place where 2 centuries
or so ago it rose from a massive volcanic event. The entire
valley was drenches in lava and villages were all destroyed
within about 5 miles of here. The mountain itself a very
small one is more technically a volcanic tube than a true
iron rich and dirt mountain. There were rumors from prospectors
for years it might be hollow. But the thick walls didn't allow
mining that was cost effective or dangerous. Stories say that
days before the eruption the bulge in the ground looked like
a giant mushroom where the lava was the top section until it
erupted and the top now seen leveled out. This created ash
rich land for the trees to grow.
Unali lowers her spyglass and watches with her naked eye.
Ash that was used by wizards as well in rituals. A group
of Heretics was known to use the valley to gather the ash
for dark rituals. Details of such are not known by her but
might be known by some in the empire.
Arawn pulls out the bugs and tries to trick them into
finding the mountain. But they all seem to point to the
baby mountain.
Caladan comments, "that thing looks rough to climb."
Fremea dismounts and notices the rain and winds are ebbing.
Farseeker scans the skies, "the storm might be over in 10 or
15 minutes. We should head down to the forest to hide. We
don't know how long it will get them to send out patrols with
those flying things."
Squirt hisses at the rain soaking his fur and at the valley.
Unali is upset now that she didn't recall this place. She
never visited it but heard about it for years. She just forgot
to put the two things together.
Farseeker gives a puff of breath out and sighs. "We've not
seen the military in what..two days? Fremea has been looking
for hours with her spyglass. Either they are well hidden or
just not in this area. Now we are here and have no support."
Actions? Comments?
Next Update...Monday...
GM: At this point things will slow down. I'll not urge or
push the party into the next situation until plans are
formalized and some consensus is formed with leadership
voting (Unali/Zhou) to approve or not. The problem is
I know many will want their own distinct plans and may
even act on them early its best to form a plan first.
GM: Minor mistake. Said 7:12pm for Aug 10th on last update. I
meant AM not pm. Sorry for the confusion this caused in
time frames.
GM: Ugh. That was meant to be a far better descriptive update.
But some time ran out and need to finish up. Oh well.
Hope the basics are enough to work with. Think of it
as 1k side to side and 1k tall roughly. But at closer
range it might be bigger. Think of Devil's Tower if you
google a picture. That mountain that Kirk climbed in
one Star Trek movie (El capitain?) also might suggest how
it might look.
GM: Character sheets sent for final battle ....
These include minor edits to show gear now on person
rather than DL.
Player Sent
Will Yes Ben'dar Yes
Caladan No need Farseeker Yes
Arawn Yes Raban Yes
Chion Not yet Fremea Not yet
Kell Not yet Kiet Not yet
Strie'bog Not yet Unali Not yet
Z'leyra Not yet Zhou No Need
Hopefully by end of weekend all should have updated sheets.
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