StMichael wrote:

The conversation kind of went downhill from their, culminating in Nymox's decision to throw a knife at Ooryphas's face. (Hoping Quathoomar's attention is elsewhere at the moment, or will at least forgive the breach of hospitality against such an obvious jerk.)

He was claiming to be the lord of the surrounding lands and people, but didn't care that he was killing them off. It is, after all, a lord's duty to care for the land and his people! (Plus, his version of "hospitality" also involved threatening us, so Nymox figured it doesn't really count as hospitality.)

Again I had a great time running this game. And I've already got a handle on my plot for the next arc in Parsool (Chronicle III: City of Madness! You heard it here first!), where I'll start exploring my ideas on how to get the Sorcerer player's character concept to mesh seamlessly with Lemurian mythology. (It's actually not as heavy a lift as the gnome from my last Greyhawk campaign, and it's work I love...)

I'll be curious to see how THAT plays out.

CaptAdventure wrote:

I'll be curious to see how THAT plays out.

Oh, I shouldn't say too much, but it's got something to do with the First Age of Man, forgotten gods, and the reasons why Nemmereth can be both a God and a Dark God at the same time. Half of it will probably never be explicitly detailed in the campaign, but rest assured I think about it.
 

Y'all would not believe the last few months I've had. Won't go into details, but events have been occupying my time and energy such that I haven't gotten back here to report on the last two chapters of I Remember Lemuria. Well, I'm gonna try to sum them up for you; I may have forgotten some of the juicy details of the first session, but if so, maybe Paul might remember a bit more?

So, we left off with Nymox chucking a dagger at Ooryphas, after a disagreement over politics at dinner. Nymox had brought up the plight of the villagers downstream of the secret canyon workshop's toxic effluvia, and the old Master Artificer expressed the utter insignificance of their lives in comparison to his work. His secret work that hardly ever leaves his secret canyon, and that he's obsessed with no one else ever getting their grubby, unworthy hands on ever, ever, ever.

After the dagger whizzes by Ooryphas' head, all hell breaks loose. Ooryphas makes a break further into his lair so he can "protect" his secrets with extreme prejudice, if necessary. Along the way, he plucks some of the network of wires that run throughout the canyon, alerting all his subjects. His bodyguard construct, Nemesis, unfolds its arms to reveal a pair of long blade-hands. All the various worker-constructs stop what they're doing and turn to face the fight. And Something Large can be heard moving in one of the caves Ooryphas has dug into the side of the canyon.

So a fight breaks out, and with so much time having gone by, I'm a little unclear on all the details; it was kind of complicated. (That seems to be a thing with me; wait 'til next session...) But I remember Enhur, the former Halakhi elite guardsman, trying to talk Ooryphas down, trying to get him to see that no one was trying to steal his secrets (not entirely true - Nymox wanted to get into his gemstone fabricator, and I'm sure at least one of Kai's personalities would love to get into his library). Ooryphas didn't really care; he always knew the day would come when adventurers would invade, kill him, and take what was his. He'd been obsessing about it for so long, he'd developed something of a death wish around it - what's the point of the obsession if it never actually happens?

So, he breaks the vial containing the gas that will interact with a substance that's been applied to the paper in all his books, all his wooden shelves and work tables and anything else he wants destroyed, that will cause it all to instantly burst into flames. Books and woodwork near the villain start to combust. As Ooryphas takes all these side actions, he's being attacked, but while the old man isn't much of a fighter, his equipment is pretty fantastic - a metal-mesh toga capable of protecting like heavy armor, and weapons with all the bonuses the Alchemy rules can provide.

Kai, the explorer and curious sorcerer, manages to whip up a sorcerous wind. I, naive GM that I am, expect her to disperse the fumes. Instead, the players point out that Ooryphas is entirely covered in things he'd want destroyed in the event of his death, and Kai directs the gas to surround the old man. What could I do but rule Ooryphas instantly hoist by his own petard?

But with the artificer off the table, the situation just gets worse. The way that Ooryphas was able to get such amazingly versatile and independent actions from his constructs? Dark sorcery! He didn't know much compared to his Alchemist ranks, but he knew enough to summon demons with desirable skills, and bind them securely to inanimate objects. So all those constructs attacking the players? Technically minor demons. And now, they are free of Ooryphas' control, and free to wipe out these pesky adventurers and go on to wreak havok on the countryside.

Speaking of those constructs, Nemesis was fencing with... I want to say Natasha, the Valgardian assassin and Nymox, and maybe Cownann the beastman? Like I said, it's been a while. The workers were rushing towards the heroes and getting kinda stabby. And from out of a cave come two giant constructs, a mineshaft-digger and a walking blast furnace.

So, big fight ensues. Players make good use of Hero Points to mow down hordes of worker constructs, the two heavy hitter PCs, Enhur and Cownann, take point on bringing down the giant mining constructs, dodging gouts of flame from the furnace-beast. And Nemesis gets outnumbered and outgunned. Eventually, our heroes are standing over piles of shattered machinery, and the day is saved. Hoorah!

Since Ooryphas didn't get to destroy all his creations, there was much good loot to be had, including piles of oversized gems (they made good anchors for the demonic spirits). And Secret Knowledge for the sorcerer - Binding Spirits to Objects and Summon Spirit with a Job. They didn't take much else - Ooryphas' master-class weapons and armor were really the only things destroyed. (Whew!) And no one wanted to lug heavy books or equipment when you can lug lovely, lovely gems!

So, when they got to Parsool, they were able to have their first true Barbarians of Lemuria post-adventure blowout! 

 

Last edited by StMichael (11/23/2024 8:12 am)

StMichael wrote:

Y'all would not believe the last few months I've had. Won't go into details, but events have been occupying my time and energy such that I haven't gotten back here to report on the last two chapters of I Remember Lemuria. Well, I'm gonna try to sum them up for you; I may have forgotten some of the juicy details of the first session, but if so, maybe Paul might remember a bit more?

The version from my side of the table. I must admit, I sometimes get wrapped up in the session and forget to note details!

Nemisis reveals nasty knife hands. Ooryphas plucks some wires, calling more automatons.

Enhur attacks Nemesis. Natasha attacks Ooryphas. Spends HP for Mighty Success (+6 Damage). [I believe this is how we found out about Ooryphas' armored toga.] Laurits (foppish dandy con man) takes out 3 minion automatons! (Nat 12 and Rabble Slayer, I believe.)

Kistala attacks Nemesis. Nemesis attacks...Kistala back, I think? [Notes read Nemesis attacks attacks.]

2 giant mining robots lumber into the 'courtyard.' Other minion automatons converge.

Cownann the Bovarian lumbers over to grab Ooryphas and threaten him in a strangely Austrian-sounding accent. Ooryphas remains defiant!

Nymox shoots minion automaton with crossbow. It collapses.

Ooryphas grabs vial from around his neck and tosses it behind him into the cave. A red mist rises. Shouts he would rather die than have his secrets exposed! [Silly Ooryphas, it can be both.]

Enhur smashes several minion automatons. Kistala plans to attack Nemesis. Then they are supplanted by Kai the Curious. Kai casts a spell to contain the red mist. [Like Michael, the rest of the players thought that would be the end of it.] Then a wind sweeps the mist around Ooryphas and he bursts into flame! [Notes don't mention when Cownann released the old man, but he was not burned.]

A shudder ripples through the valley. Voices echo from every construct with a resounding shriek of "FREEDOM!" Their gem-like eyes suddenly glow a demonic red. [Maybe this is just my memory playing tricks on me, but I feel like the players at that point gasped a collective "Uh-oh."]

Natasha smashes 2 minion automatons. Laurists attack Nemesis to no effect. Nemesis attack Kai, who barely manages to avoid the killing machine. Sorry, the demonically possessed killing machine.

Effodier attacks Enhur. The bodyguard defends successfully. Caminus belches fire, but is equally ineffective.

[This is the sketchy part where I forgot to take notes and just jotted some stuff after.] Adventurers smash lots of minions automatons. Take out Nemesis (Natasha & Laurits?) Kai shifts the red mist to Caminus. It explodes. Enhur and Cownann (who had charged over to assist Enhur with the two huge mining machines) manage to dodge the blast.

Smash all minion automatons.

Loot diamond manufactury. Loot library.

A good time was had!

So, City of Madness, Chapter 1: The Cry of the Gulls!

When we pick up the story of our band of outlaws, they've been in Parsool long enough to have burned through Ooryphas's diamonds and learned a fair amount about the city. They were still travelling with Lady Avita Wintermere of Satarla, the noble widow from Halakh who had been arrested on suspicion of the murder of her new Halakhi husband; she had promised them a reward if they returned her to her family in Satarla. Because news had spread that Halakh was searching for the murderous Lady Avita and a band of cutthroat outlaws who escaped a Halaki jail and were ravaging the countryside, the group was trying to keep a low profile in Parsool. Of course, only so much of that you can do when you've been painting the town red for the past few days, but, y'know...

I started out by filling the players in on what they've learned about Parsool since their arrival. It's a restless city, full of resentment over the high taxes charged by King Zandar Bley. The Bleys came into power two generations ago, when Zandar's grandfather Arishem Bley, commander of the Parsool navies, killed then-King Yarikh Adonias after Yarikh was consumed by a curse of madness. The possibility of the curse passing down to Yarikh's heir gave Arishem cover for his claim to the throne. 

Since that time, the Adonias line, though stripped of noble rank, has prospered as merchants. Meanwhile, Arishem's eldest child died a few months before he would have been declared an adult and legal heir by the Church of Shazzadion. At least, it was announced he died, of a vaguely described and sudden illness, but few can claim they saw the body, and the funeral services were almost scandalously modest and small for a prince. And when Arishem's second-born, Liran eventually inherited the throne, and his first-born passed in shockingly similar circumstances, people began to wonder which line was actually cursed.

Now Liran's second-born, Zandar, holds the throne of Parsool, and his only daughter, the Princess Melita, approaches her investiture. Many in the streets wonder whether she is doomed to the same fate as her kin, and what that would mean, since King Zandar and Queen Tanithe have no other heir, and seem unlikely to produce another. Though, if the Bleys are cursed by the gods as regicides, perhaps they should be glad to see them wiped out?

Perhaps they should be looking to the Adonias line? They've done nothing but prosper, first finding work as a sailor, then scraping together the money to buy a ship, passing that down through the generations and growing it to a small fleet of merchant ships today. The head of the family, Baldo Adonias, was a man of impeccable credentials, but unfortunately, he was lost at sea just a few months ago when one of his ships was attacked by pirates off the Port of the Sea Lords. That leaves his son, Rodolfo Adonias, heir apparent to a small merchant empire and perhaps, the throne of Parsool itself?

Anyway when people in Parsool talk about politics, that's what they talk about. It's not quite treason, it's just talk. They also discover that Satarla has been taking the slander of one of their people badly, and tensions are growing between them and Halakh. Halakh is demanding that, should Lady Avita attempt to return home, Satarla hand over to Halakh to face justice for her many, many crimes. Satarla is warning Halakh not to make it do something neither of them want. Oh, and that thing people say about how the sea birds in Parsool will drive you mad after a few days? It feels like its absolutely true. The sound of the birds is inescapable, shrill, and oppressive, and everyone in the city seems in a bad mood because of it.

(Now, if Kai's player had been here, this is where I would have dropped a hint that, to her, the bird calls are annoying, but the seem... like normal annoying gull sounds. And after a few days of hearing her associates complain, she might be starting to wonder what's gotten everyone so freaked out about it. But she wasn't. Instead, they'll figure it out the hard way.)

That's pretty much the end of the info dumps, which means we can start a scene! Our Heroes (or at least the ones who made it that night - Nymox the Red, Cownann the Beastman, and Laurits, the Satarlan courtier and trickster), accompanied by Lady Avita, went down to the fishmarket to get their noonday meal. It's a fair-sized market, with a double-row of tented fishmonger and produce stalls surrounded by sturdier, permanent stalls for spice and grain merchants, folk medicine vendors, and cookshops. You look around, buy what ingredients you like, take them to a cookshop, and they make it into a meal. Middle of the day, the shops and stalls are all manned, dozens of customers are milling about, or settled down to eat and fend off the everpresent gulls.

So, I really went all-out on this map. Searched online for a map I liked (the tents-surrounded-by-stalls market I described) and I put so many tokens on this damn thing. First off, I found some nice seagulls and tokenified them - three fliers and one sitting. I put those just all over the map, flying in weird circular patterns, perched on the edges of rooftops, clustered on the pavement. I don't even know how many. Then I came up with about a dozen vendors and shopkeepers, from all over Lemuria (Parsool is a diverse city) to populate some of the shops. (Not every one, that would be crazy.) And a handful of named characters in the crowd with a few notes on who they were. OK, so maybe a couple of them had more backstory than they needed, especially since only a handful of them might actually get a speaking part, but you can't know which ones need it until you run, can you?

Anyway, I give them a few options for where to get lunch - Mother Joppa provides homestyle Parsooli cooking, Oreb the Black cooks dishes from the Plains of Klaar, Tharbis and Jael, a couple from Shamballah, have been giving Cownann the stinkeye every time they've seen him, and have taken to hanging protective talismans and bundles of herbs about their stall to ward him off. Cownann responded by grabbing a bundle of herbs and eating it. They weren't happy.

They ended up at the stall of a pair of siblings from the Kasht Swamp who specialized in deep-fried foods on a stick. (Side note - Based on the descriptions in the book, I picture Kasht folk as Song of Ice and Fire swamp people - willowy and weird - and Festrel Swamp denizens more as having the Innsmouth look.) As they were getting their food prepared, there was a commotion at the entrance to the market. The guards called out an announcement that the Princess was approaching.

And, I'm gonna need to take a break. That's a lot of writing.