Since it has been a while since we've played, here are my notes on the game so far. Summary of "NorCal Campaign" ---------------------------- This adventure was based on "The Stolen Power" which appears in Dungeon Magazine issue #5. CHARACTERS: Studly Dice (Mike Agostino): Half-Elven Thief of Chaotic-Neutral Alignment Came to Highland from the city of Turthan in search of a good time at the May festival. Rode in a caravan, and met Melody during the ride. Captain Krunch (Karen Bechtel): Human Fighter of Chaotic-Neutral Alignment Came to Highland as a hired guard on a caravan from Untala. We are unsure whether the "Captain" is a title or a portion of the name. We are also uncertain as to whether Krunch is male or female. Schwa Yaret (Jennifer "JJ" Jacobi): Elven Magic User of Neutral-Good Align. Came from the plainslands and more prosperous cities to the north-east over the mountains where she took the caravan that Krunch was guarding. Schwa has already chosen a Sigil (mage-symbol). Since it is uncommon to have a sigil before reaching 3rd level, she has been able to pose as being more important than she actually is. Spike (Steve "Booga" Jankowski): Dwarven Fighter Spike's last name and alignment have not be specified. Alignment appears to be Neutral Good. He came from a splinter community of the northern Dwarves, and has been working as a blacksmith in Highland for some time. Rhodahn Weatherwood (Trevor Bechtel): Half-Elven Ranger of Chaotic-Good Algn. He is the only character actually from the Highland area. His father was elven, but he was raised in a human community. Melody Bardot (Julie D'Angelo): Half-Elven Bard of Chaotic-Good Alignment. She is from the Turthan area, and came to Highland to hopefully make some money plying her skills at the May festival. Met Studly on the ride to Highland. Furnes Blackhand (Chet Erez): Human Cleric of Chaotic-Neutral alignment. A minor cleric of Haztenzi (God of Fire and Natural Power) who was sent out because his penchant for practical jokes and playing with fire was a problem within the temple. GEOGRAPHY: Highland is a small town on the edge of the Fresh Sea. It rests on a traveler road between the south and north-lands. The city exists on trade and on fishing since Highland is near one of the only low points in the white cliffs overlooking the Fresh Sea. Population is about 5,000, and most character needs can be met here. Temples and trainers for all classes exist in this town. South of Highland is what is called the "Elven Forest". In this forest lives a group of "Wild" or "Nature" Elves. These are elves which have splintered from the main line because of their disbelief that "progress is good". The persist in the belief that nature is most important. Because of this, there is no central "city" in the forest. About 8 days walk south of Highland is the town of South Moor. This town is really small (under 1000 people) and only the Inn and some central buildings are really noticable. It only exists because of Human persistance and the fact that the South Road meets the road from Turthan at this point. This city lies between hills and moors. Another week east of South Moor (across the moors) is the city of Turthan. Turthan has gone through some heavy growth in the past two generations due to heavy trade with the Elven Empire to the south-east, and the recent completion of a road that bypasses the moors and goes directly to Untala. Upwards of 30,000 people live in and around Turthan, and most any character need can be met here. Prices tend to be lower than in surrounding areas due to a large market economy. The North Road leads out of Highland toward the Dwarven lands to the North. The great Goblin War is just now settling out up there, and goblins have been fleeing south for months. Aparently, the Druids took some great interest in the war because they too are just returning from the War front. Two days up the North Road, is a road leading east to Untala. Untala lies at the base of the Great Pass over the mountains. A collection of human city-states lie over there. ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #1--04/25/92 Background: The characters were in town on May 1 of the year 696 (Human Reckoning) each enjoying the May festival in their own way. Apparently, Highlands temples had been plagued by a series of small thefts which were mostly money and which has been quietly ignored. The previous night, however, the local temple of Indra was robbed of a powerful magic book called the Book of Infinite Spells. Since the temple lacked the resources to seek the book out while still following through on the May ceremonies, it offered to hire persons to complete the task for a reward. A number of people showed up, including our adventurers. At the briefing, they heard that a clue was found. A small scap of paper with the name "Hadonis" and part of a floor plan scrawled on it. It turns out that there is a man named Hadonis who comes into town occasionally and is known by street gosip as "the dark cleric". An Augury spell determined that the paper was indeed left accidentally, and so people were offered 150 gp each to return the book to the temple... with the requirement that the book not be opened or used by the seekers. The group of people broke up, and our band of six (Furnes was present but left on his own) stayed to ask more questions. Due to their interest, a low ranking cleric Deerhunter was assigned to help them with his knowledge of the land. Finding Hadonis: Each character then went out scouring the town for information in their own way. The thieves' guild was not ready to offer help. Rhodahn found out about how a number of teenagers in town disappear occasionally, but return the next day saying they were out hunting with friends. Schwa managed to find out the full floorplan and approximate location of a house belonging to Hadonis by talking with the town records keeper. It indicated the house was on the white cliff east of town. The group decided that night to watch the road leaving town to the east by camping on the hillocks. When they spotted someone else leaving and setting up a fire on another hillock, they snuck up and had a wild time in their first meeting with Furnes Blackhand (he set himself on fire :-). Things calmed down, and people went back to town the next morning. ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #2--05/09/92 When they left town again, Deerhunter was nowhere to be found. So, they left on their own taking the east road. Historically, this used to be the main road to Untala, but it was closed 8 years ago when the main Inn on the road was burned down by a band of goblins led by a hobgoblin. At lunch their first day out, they were attacked by a small band of goblins which they dispatched fairly readily. Only Melody was seriously hurt. Rhodahn then tried tracking the goblins (by smelling their feet :-) and found the small goblin camp and side-road they used for ambushes. No more goblins were found, and the group made it to the burned down Inn near sunset. They found a wine cellar and Krunch was hurt when the stairs gave out ("throw her a torch" :-). They searched the area and found the edge of the cliffs. They camped away from the Inn. The next day they followed a trail around the cliff and along its base. Eventually, they came to a small house fitting the description of Hadonis'. This fact was certain when they noticed the nameplate on the door said as much. Knocking was answered only by a dog's bark. Rhodahn and Studly climbed in through the kitchen window and attempted to trap the dog using fish as bait. Rhodahn was badly injured in the fight, and was rescued by Spike, who broke down the front door and killed the dog. Searching the house discovered no other threats. Krunch took some silverware from the dining room. Schwa and Melody searched the library and found a Spellbook (Read Magic, Sleep, Shield, Comprehend Languages, Armor) and a book on Shami-Amourae (a minor diety of Marut) which had a map stuck in it. The map shows the town of South Moor and some other details. Krunch discovered a chect in the nice bedroom and opened it. Unfortunately, it was trapped with a Deafness Glyph. She took the Potion from the box along with 20 gp. Spike took some papers and notes. Krunch then went on to ignore other party members and take other things she liked. Eventually, the group found a secret door in Hadonis' room. Unfortunately, they opened the door and were peering down at the same time other members were trying to communicate with Krunch. The noise woke up the sleeping guard that was downstairs, and so Studly was nearly killed when he snuck down the stairs alone. The party killed the extremely tough fighter but decided retreat was in order, so they carried the body out, put the guy's sword in the dog's body, did some more random looting damage and ran off into the woods. The camped two hours walk into the forest. ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #3--06/27/92 Krunch was being unruly as they were sneaking back up on Hadonis' place and decided to try her Potion. Turns out it was a potion of Fire Breath which she breathed on half the party. When she refused to give up the rest of the Potion, Schwa Color Sprayed her and the rest of the group tied her up. It was difficult to reason with a deaf fighter who can't read, and eventually she was freed. Schwa and Spike ran off alone to avoid the raging Krunch. Krunch's potion got passed around the group, with Rhodahn stealing one dose, and Studly stealing another. Schwa has stolen a dose before she left. Schwa and Spike made their was back to town at a breakneck pace. The rest of the group followed. The next day, everybody made up when Krunch's hearing was restored and the Potion was returned (only one dose remaining). They set out once again for Hadonis' place. When they get there, the house has been boarded up and repaired. Rhodahn walked up and knocked on the front door (trying to pretend at harmlessness again). The door has a Fire Glyph on it and he was hurt. Then an archer began firing out one of the windows at party members. A big fight broke out with the party killing two extremely tough fighters. Studly used his fire breath dose in this fight. The rest of the house was still empty, so they went to the secret door. On the way down the stairs, Spike stepped on an Electricity Glyph. This day's adventure ended in the same room they got to the previous time. ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #4--07/03/92 The group peered out into the hallway beyond the entry room and killed another guard dog. They also found a temple to Shami-Amourae with a hidden room containing manacles and ceremonial knives. They decided to camp out in the room for the night to rest and regain spells. During the night, a person came walking out of the only other door, saw the guard. The guard ran and woke people up. The mage used a Flaming Sphere spell to ward off the party and was gloating when Furnes used a Protection from Fire and walked right through the Sphere to attack the Mage. The mage ran away. The party got ready for an attack by the door. Suddenly, the door flew open and they heard someone yell "Breathe Now!". Most everyone dodged the blast. The others fought a baby white dragon. Schwa used her fire breath does on the dragon. The mage had left. A number of the party members were unconscious or nearly so. The characters ran back to lick their wounds when Hadonis himself showed up hurling Hold Person and Command spells to stop the party while the Mage tied the characters up. Melody resisted the hold and faked it long enough to get a good hit on Hadonis, but she failed to kill him. They were all thrown into jail cells with the Mage Harmon on guard. After a series of attempts to get him to open the gates, Harmon left to attend to something. Studly picked the lock with his belt buckle (!!) and helped free the others. They set up a trap to get Harmon. The battle was brutal. Harmon got literally beaten and burned to death. Also, Deerhunter was in one of the cells (apparently, he missed the party's departure and showed up at Hadonis' during the night after the PC's attacked. He was captured. Also, a kid from town was there who claims that Hadonis was running unholy ceremonies with the teenagers of town. The Book of Infinite Spells was also in this room in another cell. Studly tripped the sleep-gas trap when getting the book, but the party worked together to get him and the book out. The group then traveled back and found Hadonis' quarters unoccupied. They found Harmon's Spellbook (Identify, Shocking Grasp, Spider Climb, Read Magic, Armor, Sleep, Comprehend Languages, Shield, Continual Light, Flaming Sphere, Stinking Cloud, Phantasmal Force). No other treasure was found. The group then made tracks as fast as possible in getting out. Only Furnes stayed behind to defile the temple and then burn down Hadonis' house. In town, each character got the 150 gp reward for returning the book. Deerhunter is grateful. The father of the one kid is grateful. And there is a greater awareness of what the kids might have been doing in town. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES (Jan 93) The festival is over and the town is quieter now. The characters got a lot of experience, but not much treasure. In order to get money to afford training (probably about 300 gp each to train with only about 150 gp currently had), they need to do something. Options include: 1) Working (But this will take a LONG time for everyone except Spike who has a skilled labor job), 2) Further Adventuring (going back to Hadonis' or following the map you found), 3) Sell a spellbook (the lesser of the above could probably garner 1400 gp), 4) Some combination of the above. Also, Hadonis was not killed and may still be at large. My appologies if I got some of this wrong. Most of it is from memory and scraps of notes. Please ammed it if you want. So far, JJ and Karen have expressed interest in leaving the game. I'm going to have their characters train to 2nd level and then put them on "inactive" status for possible use at a later date. If we cannot find another person to play a mage, it might be a good idea to keep Schwa around as an NPC to provide magical backup to the party. All the rest want to continue play, and so far Friday night seems to be the plan. My door opens at 7:30 with game play to commence at 8:00. Oh, and if you would like me to email Postscript versions of my rules, religions, classes or magic, let me know. Alternately, I can make a printout for you and have it Friday. See most of you on Friday night! Stephen.