tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60049728580013819722024-03-05T09:47:20.014-08:00PrinceConPrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-75119393268878426372013-03-26T19:25:00.000-07:002013-03-26T19:25:00.205-07:00RelocatingFYI, the <a href="http://princecon.org/">PrinceCon site at princecon.org</a> now has a brand-new Wordpress theme that includes blog functionality. In the coming weeks, all content here will be migrated to that site, and then this blog will be shut down. <br />
Alex Reutterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13260495502948868776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-12489723980938389632011-11-15T23:26:00.000-08:002012-02-12T14:59:30.704-08:00Save the date for PrinceCon 37, March 16-18, 2012<div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was peace in Ockham.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was peace in Ockham, until the invaders came. No one knows precisely where they came from, or precisely what they want, but several countries have already been subjugated. Strangely, there appear to be several sets of invaders, and each has conquered a separate territory. In one, the invaders possess magic weapons beyond our ken that discharge deadly beams of light; in another, tentacled horrors roam the land and drive the populace mad; in yet another, savagery rules the day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worse, the invaders' views of the how the world works seems to be contagious. Priests entering one of the conquered areas renounce their gods; in another, mighty heroes put aside their swords; yet another, even the most refined nobility dresses in rags and is reduced to cannibalism. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But there is hope: the few who can resist the thrall of the invading Realities are now gathering at Hireling Hall. Join them on March 16, 2012 at McCosh 50 on Princeton University's campus to repel this threat!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PrinceCon 37 will be held March 16-18, 2012 on the Princeton University Campus. Registration begins at 3pm; first runs go out at 5pm. The Simulation Games Union's annual convention consists of tabletop roleplaying in a shared world, centered around a common goal. Rules are a variation of the Open-Gaming version (3.5SRD) of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, incorporating many ideas developed over the years by the SGU. Admission is $20, free to Princeton University undergraduates. Certificates are awarded for Strategic, Tactical and Role Playing excellence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regular updates on the theme will be posted at the Google group (</span><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/princecon" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://groups.google.com/group/princecon</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). Also see the website for directions (</span><a href="http://princecon.org/pcon37/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://princecon.org/pcon37/</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">).</span></div>
</div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-7380124584362264852011-03-27T15:34:00.000-07:002011-03-27T15:34:14.854-07:00Alex's scenario writeup<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Backstory</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part of Malchion's plan to steal the power of the gods involved magical researches into the nature of the fabric of the multiverse. One of his "labs", located safely in the Sumerilon hinterlands, maintained his "tether" to the gods during the final stages of his rule. A party from the Champions of the Light arrived on the scene (a Sunday morning run led by Gladys Lamplight and Zerlana) and, during the fight, a dimensional rift opened, through which a hero from another world came to this one. This hero, Muirhead Blattaria, helped to destroy the tether while elsewhere Malchion was being killed (a different Sunday run). Before returning home through the rift, Muirhead came into possession of one of the shards. Ever since the shard began to work its corruption upon him, he has been trying to find his way back to this world, and on my Friday evening run, he finally succeeds.</span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Run 1 – A Long-Expected Party</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The PCs:</span><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jared Lockeson, Human Hero</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phage, Fey Mage</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pericles, Dwarf Hero</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Otto Streamswimmer, Perrin Hero</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bolan Bloodshadow, Dwarf Cleric</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abber Lour, Halfling Mage</span></li>
</ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the words of Abber:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We were sent to Blennam by General Ironhewer to escort Broderick Bracegirdle </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">back to Hireling Hall. As we were leaving, a young human female archer, claiming to be named Leander, asked to join us. Interviewing her former party indicated that she was competent, but possibly much older than she appeared. [GM note: this began Phage's run-long obsession with her ears. It was a little creepy. :-)]</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first day out, we got to Blennam by stones are started the walk to Blennam Manor. During the night, we were attacked by a pack of Sumerilon wolves. They have the ability to cast "Hallucinations", so precautions should be taken. We were able to scare them away, but we found a group down the road that was not as lucky. [GM note: t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he characters with high will saves were on watch during the shift the Sumerilon wolves decided to attack. Sigh. The party also noticed that Leander seemed to see very well in the dark for a human.]</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At [Stately] Blennam Manor, Abber talked to Broderick and Allison Searock [a bonus Champion to bring in!]. They were both unwilling to return to Hireling Hall. The rest of the group was in a waiting room when a mechanical canary played a hologram message of William the Brown-Haired: </span><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greetings. I may be — have been — the grandmaster of dirty tricks, but I like to give my own side a sporting chance, and chances are if you're seeing this, you're on my side. So, one key to getting past my wards is to take note of the ones who are missing. Don't accept any wooden nickels. Look for help where it's unexpected. <to Bolan Bloodshadow> Trust your instincts. The dark is rising, my fellow Champions, and ultimately <points to Leander> we must look to the light to defeat it.</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point, Leander's equipment started to glow, which she says has never happened before. Analyze magic shows that she has several artifacts of the gods. Further questioning reveals she is one of the Champions of the Light, Asha Half-Elven, and a friend of Broderick's.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are going to confront Broderick about his plans for a vacation. We get to the ballroom and find a human with a sock puppet, leading group of cat warriors. Two have Sumerilon crossbows, which target the whole room in a cone shaped blast radius. The fight goes badly with half the party unconscious. At the point when it looks really bad, a sausage shaped air ship arrives. Two Sumerilon War Golems crash in, and a man with an iron gauntlet who appears to control them. He kills the human with the sock puppet and pulls something out of the sock puppet. He grabs Asha and returns to the flying ship. Asha yells that Zerlana was right, except that Malchion hasn't returned. Muirhead Blattaria has. Muirhead says he will see us again at Hireling Hall.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We catch up to Broderick after Muirhead left. He said he had a better chance by running on his own. He said telling everyone he was dead was a good idea. We were in no shape to argue."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>GM notes: </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phage, the Fey Mage, got my vote for the "W</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ith Fey Like These, Who Needs Malchion?" award during this run. After the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">party discovered the effectiveness of Sumerilon crossbows the hard way, Phage fled the room to go look for Broderick. Eventually Phage returned to the battle to find 3 of the other 5 party members bleeding and unconscious on the floor. He seriously considered turning them invisible, presumably so that he didn’t have to watch them bleed to death. </span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phage was also a candidate for Creative Play: while looking for Broderick, Phage cast a Locate and discovered Broderick was under the manor, but he couldn’t figure out how Broderick *got* there. From Broderick’s movements, he could see that the 111-year old hobbit was in combat, and Phage cast invisibility *through* the floor to try to help Broderick.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Favorite quote: upon the mini-Mal casting Cause Wounds for 18 damage on Pericles, Abber asked: “Knowledge (arcana) check. Does the sock puppet..?” and then couldn't figure out how to finish the question.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Runner-up. Out of character, while Phage flew up to the airship and tried to figure out whether he could poke a hole in the bag, Pericles' player declared: “I’m going to make a celebratory trip to the bathroom while he experiments with his sausage.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat;"><div style="line-height: 18pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The PCs:</span><br />
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<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Otto Streamswimmer, Perrin Hero</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amyrin, Dwarven Hero</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Theo Watson, Perrin Cleric of Mavors</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ozymandias, Fey Mage</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kenworthy, Lord Strabolgi, Human Hero</span></li>
</ul><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ironhewer was most displeased that the party failed to bring Broderick in, and sent another party for Theodoric of York. Unfortunately, he had already been killed by the time the party arrived, and a murder investigation ensued in which the party discovered a key witness who had yet to come forward to the police. The party reported:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Theodoric was murdered by Jonas Blake, who visited Theo posing as a scholar interested in skill-enhancing spells. When Jonas verified that Theo owned artifacts of Daglir and Magus, Jonas killed Theo with a crystal-tipped wand of unrecognizable design and stole the artifacts. We found a letter at the murder scene, hidden (we think by Jonas), and in Jonas's handwriting [confirmed by Theodoric's secretary]. The symbol on the envelope is from Theodoric's secret mission with Gladys Lamplight. It is the mark of an elite hostile unit working for Malchion."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>GM notes:</i> this was a short, interesting run with very little dice rolling that took place in the wee hours in HH. "Jonas Blake" is an alias used by John Bly, the head of the elite hostile unit Black Mesa. My regret on this run is not putting in some information among Theodoric's effects hinting at Gladys's tomb, to the effect that some Daglir craftsmen were sent to visit Gladys Lamplight some decades ago and never returned.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Run 3 – This Is a Triumph</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The PCs:</span></span></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bolan Bloodshadow, Dwarf Cleric of Daglir</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abber Lour, Halfling Mage</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kors, Perrin Hero</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Broseph Veritas Ecclesiastes, Human Hero</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Witch of the Wood, Human Mage</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Duff, Dwarf Hero</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alain Gerard Leandre-Sylvain, Catfolk Hero</span></span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The party reports:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Muirhead, who has kidnapped Asha Half-Elven, sent his daughter Lydia to say that he will ransom Asha for the crystal shard in Gladys Lamplight's tomb. He has 2 shards and desires more. We entered the "tomb", passed numerous tests and reached the center. We discovered that Gladys had been in danger of succumbing to the evil of the shard so she built the tomb as an automaton (programmed with her knowledge) in order to guard the crystal, since the automaton was not vulnerable to its influence. During the tests, the program revealed many pieces of info (see below, with our deductions following). We also found Escher Coli alive. Escher does not know what the heroes did to help defeat Malchion at the Black Mesa, but knows they did not destroy Malchion's statues of Gaia, Hione, Leo, Magus, and Ratri. Zerlana would know the full details.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Clues from the automaton</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Test Chamber 01</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(after obtaining the Rod of Portals)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">"Very good. You are now in possession of the Aperture Magics Handheld Portal Device. With it, you can create your own portals. These inter-dimensional gates have proven to be completely safe unless misused. If misused, dimensional research can provide access to forbidden stores of magic and even threaten the gods themselves. Do not touch the operational end of the device. Do not look directly at the operational end of the device. Do not submerge the device in liquid, even partially. Most importantly, under no circumstances should you-- <static>"</span> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Test Chamber 02</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">"Your rings protect you from the most immediately dangerous effects of falling, but not against the overstimulation of a weak heart. The frailty of the demihuman heart is well documented by medical scholars. There are those, typically powerful mages with delusions of immortality, who have sought to improve weak hearts of flesh with other, magically patterned, materials."</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Test Chamber 03</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">"Fantastic. In an atmosphere of extreme pessimism, you remained resolute and resourceful, like a magically reinforced crystalline heart, which should withstand forces up to, but not including, blows from an enchanted sword blessed by the gods. In that case, it would shatter.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Test Chamber 04</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">"Very impressive, Champion. Please note that any appearance of danger is merely a device to enhance your testing experience. The device has been modified so that it can now manufacture two linked portals at once. As part of an optional test protocol, we are pleased to present an amusing fact. The device is now powered by the essence of the owner of a broken heart.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Test Chamber 06</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">"Well, you found me, Champion. Congratulations. Was it worth it? Because despite your violent behavior, the only thing you've managed to break so far is his heart, and if the owner of a broken heart were *very* powerful, the shards would try to get back together, and I can't allow that to happen."</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><after knocking loose one of GLaDYS's Eye Spheres><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">"If nine gods opposed him in all possible pairs, how many pieces would they tear him into?"</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><after knocking loose the Recipe Sphere></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Malchion's Cake Mix. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Ingredients: 1 likeness each of Aru, Daglir, Gaia, Hione, Janda, Leo, Magus, Mavors, Ratri; </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">1 sacred relic each of Aru, Daglir, Gaia, Hione, Janda, Leo, Magus, Mavors, Ratri; </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">1 interdimensional rift</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Directions: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Consecrate likenesses to respective gods and Place relics in the hands of the respective likenesses; Convert the relics to Machion; Serve and enjoy!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><i>Our deductions</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Malchion attempted to replace his heart with a crystal one to gain immortality. 9 gods, 2 at a time pulled apart Malchion's crystal heart (so that's 36 pieces?). Reuniting the pieces will restore Malchion.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Malchion attempted to become a god by a "cake mix" recipe involving consecrated sacred relics, the likenesses of the gods, and an interdimensional portal. The "cake" was completed and became the Black Mesa.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Run 4 – That Old Black Mesa</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The PCs:</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kaeritha Warstrider, Epon Hero</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cassia, Fey Guardian</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tabarra, Catfolk Hero</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Purraku, Catfolk Guardian</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lamm, Hobbit Cleric</span></li>
</ul><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The party reports:</span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Our goal was to talk to Zerlana -- we went to Almere with a False Asha. It was Lydia, Muirhead's daughter in disguise. Zerlana exposed her, and we escaped before Muirhead's zeppelin found us. (We think he might have destroyed the Stepping Stone waystation near Almere while chasing us)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lydia acknowledged that here father had been corrupted by the shards of Malchion and wanted our help. We lured him out to the plains northeast of Wooking, crashed his airship (w/Zerlana's help) and incapacitated Muirhead [<i>GM note: </i>Purraku got him with a Power Word Lance as he was trying to Power Word Teleport away]. He's not evil! Just corrupted! We don't have to kill our corrupted party members, friends, Champions. They can be released from the shards' influence. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have the two shards from his glove and are looking for the relics to destroy them. May Aru heal the numerous victims of the tragic aeroship mishap. Aru temples in Wooking are accepting donations. PS - come find me if you want more history on Muirhead / the War. Lamm"</span></span></div></div><ul></ul></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>GM Notes: </i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My original intention was for the battle with Muirhead to take place at the Black Mesa, where there would be a further tie-in with GLaDYS and John Bly, but I didn't give the party good enough reasons to go there.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was another vote for Creative Play: Faced with the daunting task of storming Castle Blattaria, the party considered how they might break through the grand patterned shell of the balloon, and Cassia and Tabarra hit upon the idea of opening a dimension door with one end *inside* the balloon, allowing the special gases to flow out, and causing the balloon to crash.</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i></i>Favorite quote: The crashed airship was about 1/2 a mile away from the battle with Muirhead; as the party approached, they could see Zerlana and Asha helping people out of the wreckage. Lamm was at first confused. “Asha. Asha? The real Asha, whom we’ve never technically met.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lamm put up a <a href="http://mypyai.blogspot.com/2011/03/defeat-of-muirhead.html">visual depiction of the run</a>, and I must say that it is spot-on.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Run 5 – Famous Blue Oilskin</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The PCs:</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Malank, Dwarven Cleric of Gaia<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phage, Fey Mage<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vel Rille, Fey Cleric of Aru<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Otto Streamswimmer, Perrin Hero<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jared Lockeson, Human Hero</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lamm, Hobbit Cleric of Aru<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brolaf Truth Ecclesiastes, Human Hero</span></li>
</ul><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This run began shortly before 5am Sunday morning and finished up at 11, just in time to get the characters off to a final run. I had managed to not get the previous run to Black Mesa, and Broseph (brother of Brolaf) had become an NPC in possession of a shard of Malchion, so instead of hunting down John Bly (as I'd originally planned) they were hunting down Broseph. If I'd been thinking faster at this point, they would have managed to hunt down Broseph, who was in turn hunting down Bly (for his shard). D'oh. That would have been truly epic.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As events panned out, the party first delivered the letter to Tirion Elkone, who turned out to be in the possession of a shard. He had been corrupted by it, but not overcome due to the power of his famous blue oilskin, which gave him an indomitable will. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They then tracked down Broseph at an old Sumerilon war golem factory, at which he was trying to recreate a "cake mix". This <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/mlynnh/TheSaturationPoint?authkey=Gv1sRgCOK0iejygYTtAw&feat=embedwebsite&fgl=true&pli=1#5583729790199678706">picture of the final battle</a> more than adequately sums up what happened. The BRO on the left is Brolaf, fighting the war golems. The BRO on the right is Broseph, having just been 1-shotted by Jared (JER), who is invisible and flying (and, up until the spell was dispelled, was 48 feet tall). You see, while 48 feet tall, invisible, and flying, Jared grappled Broseph. The war golem shaped to look like Ronkel ended up on Jared's back, and the one shaped to look like Mavors struck him with a Sword of Equality, which attempted to dispel all the enchantments on Jared, as he attempted to fly backwards out of the window in the side of the building. The only enchantment that was dispelled was the Size Change, so the Ronkel war golem ended up flying into the wall as Broseph and Jared went out the window. Jared then struck Broseph from behind with enough Sneak Attack damage that it was a good thing two Aru clerics were on hand...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Otto is on the far right of the action, wondering WTF just happened.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, on this run, in the vein of "With Fey like these...", </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phage was considered *so* trustworthy that his fellow party members made him sign a contract that would make him a felon in the eyes of Mavors if he did not promptly return an item when it was needed to destroy a shard. It read</span><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I, Phage, will receive permission to use the ring of the Archmage until such time as the crystal or rod is recovered from Broseph, but only while within 1 mile of Brolaf.</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S. This contract is really legally binding</span></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phage *still* planned to teleport away with the ring of the Archmage until his fellow party members pointed out that his interpretation of the "loophole" he'd found in the contract was flawed.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-21420752104351334182011-03-23T20:36:00.000-07:002011-03-23T20:36:01.010-07:00Hugh's scenario writeup<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My scenario ideas hinge around a Champion who was at the final battle, but did not "survive" in the conventional sense. They disappeared, and then when they later did turn up, it was believed that they were a fraud.<br />
<br />
Synopsis:<br />
<br />
Ironhewer understandably had vague feelings of distrust of the circus, due to some of its performers - - its Ronkel clerics, to be precise. As a premise for the Players to investigate them, Ironhewer sent the Players “In Search of Ice Cream”. Ironhewer’s suggestion that they be even willing to steal was a clue to his own dark designs.<br />
<br />
What the Party found, was that as far as the Epon Mavors Paladin was concerned, the Circus was indeed a bunch of ‘evil’ liars and charlatans. But perhaps deception as entertainment can be an honest profession? Particularly in light of their willingness to perform at a loss in the poverty-stricken regions that economically never recovered from the Great War. After much roleplaying dancing, one of the oldest circus members, “Pappa Bob” did prove willing to divulge the Circus’s secret of (inexpensive) non-magical ice cream. Afterall, it was for the good cause of benefitting the Old Heroes, of which Old Pappa actually was one of himself [Brother Bob]]<br />
<br />
The Party then sought the source of the “coldest water” (it has to warm up in order to freeze), and traveled to a region of unnatural cold in the middle of the Hellenic Plains. After defeating a pack of giant snow leopards, they traced upstream to a clearly unnatural large glacier in a pocket valley, for the next Run to continue from.<br />
<br />
META:<br />
End of Hugh’s runs; Margaret’s dislocated elbow of domestic summoning<br />
<br />
A subsequent Party would have found their way into an ice laboratory inside the Glacier, to find a hunchbacked Hobbit named iGor, and his [mini-Mal]] master, a clearly evil Vivisectionist in the midst of cutting open a middle-aged woman to extract a shard from her gut.<br />
<br />
The victim was none other than Shieldmaiden Vyma, who had gone on to the final battle yet disappeared, surviving only because of a 30 year teleport warp eddy in the great shattering of Malchion. Despite being removed, the Shard’s influence over her would have given the Players the breadcrumbs to lead back to the Circus and the proper shard destruction ritual, to fully release her from its influence (and to reunite her with “Pappa” Brother Bob).<br />
<br />
Finally, the glacier also contained a great olde weapon which a greater mini-Mal had finally made operational: a huge cylinder of supercooled water & ice which was to be launched on Sunday to create a blitz of ice storms upon the island of Hadriania. Presumably, the final run Players would have been on the top of the ‘Ice Rocket’ to fight the min-Mal for its guidance controls. Of course, even if they were to have won, there’s still the question of if they would still be onboard when it came back down to Earth.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-17101723159359835172011-03-22T20:31:00.000-07:002011-03-22T20:31:00.083-07:00PrinceCon 36 photos<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some good pics of the convention posted by a player at <a href="http://mypyai.blogspot.com/2011/03/princecon-36-photos.html">The Saturation Point</a>.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Tim also put up some photos of his players <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/tiger.tim.gamer/Pictures_3_18_2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJHFkdC2mNTdxwE">here</a>.</div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-20052967559936282642011-03-21T20:04:00.000-07:002011-03-21T20:04:00.133-07:00Tiger Tim's scenario writeup<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">To start with let’s get some general information about the runs. First, given the con goals (to get artifacts and shards), there was no need to have a combined plot for my runs and because of that, they did not. Each run was unique. Alex had given a guideline of what each run should have (based upon how far we were into the con) and I used that as a high level start. From there I just tried to come up with an interesting combat or role-play situation and add an exciting setting and colorful NPCs. I had an outline and run notes, but all of my runs were left intentionally open ended to allow the players plenty of opportunity to be creative. From this frame of perspective, let’s take a look at each of the individual runs.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Run #1 Return to the Village of Hommlet. <br />
</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Theme Goals that were addressed in this run: <br />
</span></div><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">discover existence of mini-Mals and defeat some (though not that they are connected to Malchion). Each has some special item (rod/staff/ring/necklace etc) that is clearly evil and clearly is the source of their power. <br />
</span></li>
<li><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">get first hints that there is an active god aside from Aru, Daglir, Gaia, and Mavors (i.e., cleric casts unknown prayers; unknown holy symbol; etc) <br />
</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Run high level summary: <br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">The characters have a chance to save a small village from a mini-Mal who has taken it over. I used the village of Hommlett (from the temple of elemental evil) as my backdrop for this run. Years ago two sisters from the small town of Hommlet, one a sorcerer (Emeralis – The mini-Mal), the other a seer (Kandella), find one of the fragments. The wizard is corrupted, the other one (knowing its danger) hides the fragment. Years later the sorcerer finds another fragment. She now realizes that the first stone, the stone her sister kept from her is another fragment and she wants it. She chases her sister back home (where the sorcerer is known as a murderer), and tries to get the stone back from her. <br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Players: <br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Blazing Star (Suzanne Bergeron) 5th level Epon Mavors Cleric <br />
Lefty Darkpaw (Spencer Kipe) 5th level Perrin Hero (Ratri) <br />
Witch of the Wood (Steven Wolfson) 5th level Human Mage (Gaia) <br />
Fishmen (Monty Rubin) 5th level Perrin Aru Cleric <br />
Alain G. Leandre Sylvain (John Kliminski) 5th level Cat Hero (Leo) <br />
Duff (Michael Brokes) 5th level Dwarf Hero (Mavors) <br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">How it unfolded: <br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Players meet Prince Conrad Ashland, get mission details (go to Hommlet and ‘rescue’ his lover). The Prince is Charmed (note this is not a standard pcon spell, it came from a scroll of Ratri). The players did figure out that the prince was charmed and more importantly, that an item (the first shard) had been stolen by his lover. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Before they reach Hommlet, they encounter a local farmhand wounded and running on the road ahead. An Orc band has attacked the village! Ready for action, the players get to the outskirts of the town. 1st encounters are with typical orcs, who are no match (unless in great numbers) for the PCs. The only real danger is that the orcs may alert the rest of the horde that the players have a counter attack in progress (this would be done by the orcs blowing a bone horn). Note that the horn, in addition to calling reinforcements could also sound retreat (getting the orcs to flee the village). The players smash a number of Orcs before they find their target (the prince’s lover) is down the road at the local inn. <br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">On the way there Lefty sees a black cat trying to catch his attention. Lefty – not taking any chances – fires an arrow at the cat and it disappears in a magical flash. Had the cat been followed it would have lead him to a dying healer (the cat was a familiar to the healer). This would have opened up other options for the party. At the inn a battle develops with the key moment being the mini-Mal attempting to summon a large fire elemental (had this happened, there was the potential that the whole battle – at that point the PCs had the upper hand – to reverse). Alain (using a successful disarm) managed to prevent the summoning. Alain flicked the charm (which was used to summon the creature) across the room and almost into the hands of Witch of the Wood. Witch of the Wood (using knowledge Arcana) was unable to identify the item. In spite of this, the Witch of the Wood activated the item – an uncontrolled and angry large fire elemental). It immediately attacked its summoner (the witch) and knocked her unconscious. On the plus side, as it was not commanded by the mini-Mal, it returned to the plane of fire and was not a problem for the other PCs.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Without the firepower of the fire elemental, the battle was quickly (ok, using pcon combat rules – not so quickly) won by the players. They captured the mini-Mal and the shard. They discovered why the mini-Mal had returned to Hommlet (she pursued her sister – who had another shard hidden there). Discovering the existence of the other shard the players tried to get the seer to give it to them but she refused telling them that they could not keep it safe. Note this was intended to be a hint to the players that – all good intentions aside – they did not yet have a way to destroy the shards. The mini-Mal had several scrolls and items that were intended to hint to players that they needed to keep an eye out for clerics of other religions. And so ended my first run.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;"><b>Run #2 Into the Orcs’ Lair</b><br />
Theme Goals that were addressed in this run:</span></div><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">discover that the other active god is Ronkel</span></li>
<li><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">get first hints at the specifics of the ceremony</span></li>
<li><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Recover artifacts that can be used to destroy shards.</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Run high level summery:<br />
<br />
This run was to recover an (Aru) artifact from an orc tribe. The players need to penetrate an orc stronghold, recover the artifact and get out. The idea here is a stealth mission as the orc tribe is far too powerful for the players to be able to handle. In addition to the artifact a human Ronkel cleric was working with the tribe. This cleric gave the players a chance to get more hints about Ronkel’s involvement with the plot.<br />
<br />
Players:<br />
<br />
Ozymandias (Greg Arzoomanian) 7th level Fay Mage (Mavors)<br />
Aris Blackthorn (Janet Anderson) 6th level Elf Gaia Cleric<br />
Kenworthy Lord (Paul Anderson) 7th level Human Hero (Pantheist)<br />
Phage (Joe Appel) 6th level Fey Mage (Pantheist)<br />
Jared Lockeson (Tyler Vogt) 6th level Human Hero (Ratri)<br />
Malank (Rob Greer) 5th level Dwarf Cleric (Gaia)<br />
<br />
How it unfolded:<br />
<br />
Players meet a hobbit Aru cleric and her agent (a hobbit thief) and uncover that an orc tribe has ambushed a caravan that was transporting both a friend of hers and an aru artifact back from frontier lands. This was a straight role-play segment (giving players a chance to learn of the goal and ham up their characters – which all players did very well). No real hidden information (except for the fact that the Aru’s agent was a thief with guild ties). It was also a chance for the players to have the agent come along, but none of the players attempted to push this issue (we will see later, this was a good thing) so the NPC thief stayed behind.<br />
<br />
The players go to the ambush site and find everything you would expect. In addition, they found the following clues:<br />
<br />
Some of the Orc shields left at the battle site had a sickle painted in blood by a small (human female) finger. This was a clue that a human cleric was with the party. The sickle is a symbol for Ronkel. In story, this symbol marked Orc followers of Ronkel that had received his blessing prior to the attack on the caravan.<br />
<br />
Some of the items taken were luxury goods. This was intended to be another clue to tell the players that non orc forces (specifically the female Ronkel cleric) were working with the tribe.<br />
<br />
The players follow the orc raiders into the woods and to the edge of centaur lands. The no trespassing sign is the decaying bodies of several humanoids (orcs, gnolls, goblins), demi-humans, and grafts. Players (if they were inclined would have noted that there were no elves among the demi-human bodies.<br />
<br />
The players decided to follow the orc raiders through centaur lands. This led them to an encounter that was intended to be the toughest of the run. The centaurs in their domain are unbeatable by the players (they will be supported by mage and gaia spells and have numbers and home field advantage). This encounter did not turn out as hard as I expected for a few reasons. The 2 key reasons were first; there were no grafts in the party. The centaurs treat the grafts like orcs and would not give a warning shot or use non-lethal attacks. Second the players did not have the NPC thief with them (the thief would have panicked and not held fire – even if ordered to do so by the players). As it turned out the encounter was equivalent to a two groups pointing guns at each other and talking but with no shots being fired. I had expected this encounter to start with a few shots being traded before any attempt to parley.<br />
<br />
The group of players managed to get accepted by the centaurs, which gave them a number of advantages. For example, they found out about a ceremony that the Orcs were having in a few days. While this sounded like simply an opportunity to sneak in, it also was a chance to get information (the ceremony was to Ronkel and being run by the new cleric). In addition the centaur knew of a tunnel system that players could use as a back door to sneak into the orc camp.<br />
<br />
At this point (as tends to happen) Players knew the keys to the mission (Greg said that the key was finding where the artifact was, Janet later said that because it just looked like a stick the artifact was very probably with the slaves). But with the information about the Ronkel cleric, the party sensed that she was important to the run, but did not understand exactly how. As a result, they decided to go in before the ceremony and take out the cleric (in the hope that she had the artifact). While this was a brutal combat, there was never much of a chance the Ronkel cleric and her lover would win. As a dying action the Ronkel cleric cursed one of the players (Jared Lockeson). This was (as a curse at the con can be) used by other GM’s to make the follow-up runs a lot more interesting for Jared. After killing the cleric and her lover, the players (wisely) decided to end the run.<br />
<br />
Some what if notes to the players: had they observed the ceremony they would have gotten more insight into the Ronkel cult. In addition, had they run their attack after the ceremony, they would have found the artifact with the cleric (because she would have sacrificed the NPC carrying it at the ceremony). However, the fight would have been much tougher because at the ceremony she would have been grated an aspect of Ronkel as a minion. This minion would have been in the fight against her and made it much more dangerous. And so ended my 2nd run.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;"><b>Run #3 That Lying mage</b><br />
Theme Goals that were addressed in this run:</span></div><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Provide more information that Ronkel is the active god.</span></li>
<li><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Recover artifacts that can be used to destroy shards.</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;">Run High level summary:<br />
The manipulative mage Mordenkinen has found where an artifact of his patron Magus is kept in some lost tombs. Unfortunately a rival (a Beholder) has stolen his key to the tomb and is on his way to recover the artifact before Mordenkinen can get his own forces there. Knowing that the players are looking for artifacts, he decides to see if he can trick them into recovering the artifact for him. He gives them all the information they need to hunt down his rival (and the artifact) and provides the party with a 2 magic items that he thinks will allow him to steal the artifact from the players once they have it.<br />
<br />
Players:<br />
<br />
Blazing Star (Suzanne Bergeron) 8th level Epon Mavors Cleric<br />
Lefty Darkpaw (Spencer Kipe) 8th level Perrin Hero (Ratri)<br />
Witch of the Wood (Steven Wolfson) 9th level Human Mage (Gaia)<br />
Brolaf Truth Ecclesiastes (Joshua Gabai) 9th level Human Hero (Janda)<br />
Alain G. Leandre Sylvain (John Kliminski) 9th level Cat Hero (Leo)<br />
Kors Damiszoon (Kermit Cuinn) 8th level Perrin Hero (Gaia)<br />
<br />
How it unfolded:<br />
The players met with Mordenkinen and were informed of his rather unsavory reputation. In spite of this, the meeting went smoothly with the players getting all the mission details and accepting Mordenkinen’s trapped magic items with such calm that I started to think that I would be able to trigger them during the run (one item was a teleport scroll, the other was a powerful magic item that was intelligent).<br />
<br />
The players first encounters were with scouts from the gnoll tribe in the area. My intention was to turn this into a nasty fight, but the players bypassed it. First, they did not wait for the strength of the gnoll tribe to be gathered, second (and more importantly), they realized they did not need to deal with the gnolls. The gnolls knew the location of the tomb that held the artifact that the players were after, but Mordenkinen’s rival (the beholder and his party) was already there. So instead of negotiating with the gnolls for the location of the tomb, they started a search for the beholder.<br />
<br />
Eventually the players were able to find the tomb where the beholder and his party were extracting the artifact. A rather nasty fight broke out, but even with the high powers I had given the beholder the players were able to win an impressive victory. They recovered the artifact, but were smart enough not to use the scroll that Mordenkinen had given them (which he told them would take them back to the city of Delft, instead it would have sent them to a magical prison where they would have been relieved of the artifact and all the other ‘annoying’ magic items they had collected). With the successful recovery of the artifact this ended my 3rd run.<br />
<br />
In looking back on this run, I regret the opportunities that I missed. The first was not one that I planned, but that developed. The players all met with Mordenkinen except Brolaf who stayed on the street alone holding all the party’s magic items! I should have at least tried to pick pocket a minor magic item, or better yet, run a good old fashioned mugging.<br />
<br />
The next missed opportunity is that 2 party members had shards and were in some stage of corruption by them. Had the combat with the beholder been more intense, I might have gotten them to use their shard items and there would have been a very good chance that one (or both) would have lost control of their characters for several rounds – this would have made the combat something to remember!<br />
<br />
The final opportunity I missed is to trigger Mordenkinen’s final trap. I had given the characters a very powerful intelligent weapon. My intention was that it would go to a hero (who tend to have the worst will saves). The weapon was loyal to Mordenkinen and would have tried to take control of the character wielding it (Blazing Star), if it got control, it would have forced the player to seize the artifact and use the scroll to return to Mordenkinen. As it was, I never triggered this item. York, the GM of this player’s next run noted the item, but I had not included just what artifact it was after (and that artifact I think was on another run anyway). So this trap never got used. Triggered at the right moment this could have lead to a very interesting encounter. <br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Run #4 Enter the Dragon</b><br />
Theme Goals that were addressed in this run:</span></div><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">Recover artifacts that can be used to destroy shards.</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Run high level summery:<br />
<br />
This run was to recover an (Mavros) artifact from a dragon’s horde. An old and powerful dragon is kept calm by a dragon song lyrist who servers as his emissary. But this calm has been threatened recently when a thief has attempted to steal the Mavor’s artifact. The players are sent to get the artifact (the method of ‘get’ was left up to them, they could kill the dragon and recover the artifact or negotiate for it). At all costs the players needed to avoid angering the dragon or this would cause tremendous collateral damage to the surrounding towns.<br />
<br />
Players:<br />
Vel Rille (Ayse Gursoy) 9th level Fey Aru Cleric<br />
Malank (Rob Greer) 9th level Dwarf Gaia Cleric<br />
Otto Streamswimmer (Tim Sullivan) 10th level Perrin Hero (Gaia)<br />
Brolaf Truth Ecclesiastes (Joshua Gabai) 10th level Human Hero (Janda)<br />
Zhindyra (Tom Carman) 9th level Elf Mage (Pantheist)<br />
<br />
How it unfolded:<br />
The players met with their patron who wanted the Mavor’s artifact found and returned. The item was currently believed to be part of a dragon’s hoard. She told the players that she had hired a thief who specialized in stealing from dragons but had lost contact.<br />
<br />
It was at this point that problems started to develop. I designed this run so that there were 2 ways to recover the artifact: fight and kill the dragon or negotiate with the dragon. While the party decided at this point that they wanted to negotiate with the dragon, I did not get the feeling that everyone was really committed to that. While the group may not have been on the same page as far as the plan, what this group did a good job of was playing their characters to the max!<br />
<br />
The party tracked down the hoard stealer’s front man (or woman in this case) and after convincing her that they were not a danger (the hoard thief feared that the dragon my still seek revenge) brought them to the hoard stealer. The key information that the hoard stealer had for the players was that the dragon’s real liar was not the tower (which everyone else assumed it to be). He also told them about the dragon’s emissary (but not her role in keeping the dragon calm).<br />
<br />
With this information the party headed out to dragon’s domain. They joined a caravan on its way to offer tribute to the dragon and met the dragon’s hobgoblin servants. They told the hobgoblins that they wished to negotiate with the dragon where the hobgoblin told them they would summon the dragon’s Emissary and she would meet with them in the morning.<br />
<br />
The party discussed what they wanted with the emissary and she warned them that the item they wanted was dear to the dragon and any trade would not be a bargain. The players were unconcerned however. Lastly the emissary told the players that her word (as a representative for the dragon) was only good for things the dragon received (negotiation of tribute for example). For a trade they would need to deal face to face with the dragon. At this point, I attempted to placate the players that were disappointed that no battle was planned by offering a chance for the players to demonstrate their power, but it fell flat (players who wanted to fight, wanted to fight a dragon!).<br />
<br />
The negotiations with the greedy dragon the next morning almost became a disaster. One player made the mistake of upping the players’ current offer (for the Mavor’s artifact) with another artifact! Brolaf realized that this was a loss as far as the run was concerned (this is where it is critical to understand the con and it’s plot – the goal was to recover artifacts to destroy shards, trading 1 artifact and several powerful magic items for another artifact would have been a loss). He attempted to convince the dragon to trade for something else, but once the artifact was on the table, the dragon wanted it. The dragon finally in anger decided to end the barter and fly away (basically: no deal). It was at this point that Brolaf decided to attack the dragon!<br />
<br />
I am not sure how many players I have killed in my time as a con GM but the number is small (I unlike many other GM's at the con have never had a TPK and this is the closest to that I think I have ever come). While I admit that it was intended to allow players to use combat as an option to achieve this run, the idea was they would find the dragon’s lair, get surprise, and get a good solid round of damage before the dragon could counter attack. Attacking the dragon on a lark, with it ready (it had all it’s magic items on, and a number of spells cast before it went to the negotiation) and it’s large hobgoblin army surrounding the players was not what was intended!<br />
<br />
Still players can get a little heady with the power that a high level character and his magic items brings. I tried hard to make it clear to Brolaf (the only player so far to attack) that this was not going to be a combat, but a massacre and to his credit he found a solution. He used his attack as a chance to demonstrate the power of his magic item and gestured for the dragon to take it. The dragon found it clever and bold and agreed to take the magic item (in addition to several more) as a trade for the artifact. So ended my final run.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="fixed_width" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-49646200136347174762011-03-20T19:56:00.000-07:002011-03-21T09:17:53.295-07:00PrinceCon 36: wrapping upOnce again, we wanted to thank everyone who was able to come to PrinceCon 36 and once again having the stamina to participate in the world’s finest 46-hour roleplaying marathon that can be completed in only 45 hours. This year you braved a complex overarching theme that featured dozens of moving pieces, PCs turning into NPCs, and combinatorics in addition to the usual array of monsters, bandits, thinly veiled cultural references, and sleep deprived Game Masters.<br />
<br />
Below is a brief explanation of the what happened to lead up to the events of the con. GM-specific wrapups to come as they're available. <br />
<br />
Sixty-three years ago Malchion, the Mage-King of Sumerilon, sought to remake creation in his own image. In secret he strove against the gods themselves, and devised a spell that would subvert the faith of a deity's followers and rechannel those energies to fuel his personal power. But while his might was great, Malchion found himself seconds from death at the hands of Romulus Pendragon. Desperately, he prepared to Teleport away, as Pendragon held his combat action to gain the final blessings from the High Priests, and as Malchion started to Teleport, Pendragon struck, shattering Malchion’s crystalline heart into 36 pieces. While Malchion's body died that day, his spirit lived on in the shards of his hear that teleported to random locations around the continent. Over time, they were slowly found, and slowly corrupted their owners, until the last shard was found, and they willed their owners to seek each other out. <br />
<br />
All in all, the Champions of the Light fared badly against their former enemy, and the list of corrupted champions is long, including General Ironhewer, King Romulus Pendragon, Gladys Lamplight, Foxley, Allison Searock, and others. BUT there are also stories of redemption, from the clearing of Morrigan Pendragon’s name, to Broseph Veritas Ecclesiastes being saved from complete corruption and possession by the spirit of Malchion.PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-50290109467700230022011-03-09T19:10:00.000-08:002011-03-09T19:10:00.194-08:00Know Thy Gods<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">While only Aru, Daglir, Gaia, and Mavors remain active in mortal affairs, there are still many who remember the other five of the Nine.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Aru</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is the god of Life, Health, and Peace.</li>
<li><b>Daglir</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is the god of Craftsmanship.</li>
<li><b>Gaia</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is the goddess of Nature.</li>
<li><b>Mavors</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is the god of Justice.</li>
<li><b>Hermit</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was the god of Knowledge, symbolized by a lantern. The Order of the Sage was devoted to the acquisition and preservation of knowledge, to be shared with all who would learn from it.</li>
<li><b>Janda</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was the goddess of Truth, symbolized alternately by scales in balance and the white rose. The Knights of Justice were devoted to the cause of truth, and regarded law and order to be the greatest good.</li>
<li><b>Leo</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was the god of the Glory of Combat, symbolized alternately by a flaming sword and a crested helm. The Chosen Warriors believed that fair combat was the greatest test of a being's worth, and consequently that the best fighter was the noblest and holiest.</li>
<li><b>Magus</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was the god of Magic, symbolized by the lemniscate (infinity sybmol). The Adepts of Magus were dedicated to the use of magic in the advancement of society.</li>
<li><b>Ratri</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was the god of Concealment, symbolized by a new moon or two-headed coin. The Shadows of Ratri believed in the safety of secrecy, and keeping dangerous objects and information out of the hands of the ignorant.</li>
</ul></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><h4 class="showhide_heading" id="Other_Gods">Other Gods</h4>The Pantheon includes many other deities. Some have not had a significant following in modern times, their rites long absorbed into that of one of the Nine Gods. Thus Sol and Luna are mostly worshipped as companions of Gaia. The same fate is befalling the Five: Mavors has taken over the judicial role formerly played by Janda and has replaced Leo as the patron of warriors. Other deities are local or otherwise very specific in their influence: No one other than a fisherman would worship Iswal. The patron gods of the various races have been long neglected, except for Daglir, who is now recognized as supreme patron of all crafts. There are, however, two powerful Gods of Darkness whose priests elected not to join the War against Sumerilon, and whose cults have been little seen since.<br />
<ul><li><b>Ronkel</b>, the Grim Reaper. Pale and chill, his cultists danced for delight at funerals and were always shunned by decent folk. </li>
<li><b>Thoki</b>, God of the Undead. Prohibited by ancient edict of the Hellenic Empire, Necromancers are hated and feared wherever they are found.</li>
</ul><div class="icon_edit_section" style="float: right;"><a href="http://www.princecon.org/gm/tiki-editpage.php?page=PrinceCon+36+Theme+Pack&hdr=19" style="color: #1174a5; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Edit Section" border="0" class="icon" height="16" src="http://www.princecon.org/gm/pics/icons/page_edit_section.png" style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px ! important; margin: 1px 2px 2px 1px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Edit Section" width="16" /></a></div></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-58310076758211444382011-03-07T19:48:00.000-08:002011-03-07T19:48:00.689-08:00A Little World Geography<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is a little more than what's in the <a href="http://www.princecon.org/downloads/conbooks/conbook36.pdf">conbook</a>. </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIx5ZEULFn2SsCnEYRvx1Rl3Jb4xfxv50u4-Cg_AENCInTFAxvLROVz57l6IL1LHlGjicFFffDkO2TM6ULA-BUYuOpV0xZaT9AxMbUrNZ2wOltBvYdelaos59vwbVFGo0sNjN8wakLmHQ/s1600/sumerilon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIx5ZEULFn2SsCnEYRvx1Rl3Jb4xfxv50u4-Cg_AENCInTFAxvLROVz57l6IL1LHlGjicFFffDkO2TM6ULA-BUYuOpV0xZaT9AxMbUrNZ2wOltBvYdelaos59vwbVFGo0sNjN8wakLmHQ/s200/sumerilon.jpg" width="196" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><b>Sumerilon.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Sumerilon began as a small, mountainous, landlocked country. When Malchion took power, Sumerilon had expanded northward to the coast and was considered an "up and coming" continental power. Under Malchion's rule, the black-and-purple uniformed Sumerilon armies crushed the Hellenic Empire, Ljung, and Auritania, occupied Thisted, and invaded Almere and Falconberg</span></span><br />
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<b> Hellenic Empire.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This was the premier power on the continent prior to the Sumerilon War, and fell quickly as Malchion's first conquest. The Empire did not survive the war, though its greatest city, Delft, was never taken and enjoys a reputation of invincibility. It is the location of Hireling Hall. Delft and Wooking, now city-states, are ruled by the city Archons, Adon Zandra in Delft and Talia Horos in Wooking.<b> </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-QQ0tCUXf5zVNddVEtQAN9tgvXlCxCtvzkLW-MtIAJMr7CCBvMpDHn_usblxooUJfFC1i01XIF6aOx1YO1A2-UnkHL-tJKKuNRhBgsno9yibu6ADFl9eYo7VgBAFFmxLneO4na-TEW4-/s1600/hadriania.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-QQ0tCUXf5zVNddVEtQAN9tgvXlCxCtvzkLW-MtIAJMr7CCBvMpDHn_usblxooUJfFC1i01XIF6aOx1YO1A2-UnkHL-tJKKuNRhBgsno9yibu6ADFl9eYo7VgBAFFmxLneO4na-TEW4-/s200/hadriania.png" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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<b>Hadriania</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is the island nation of King Romulus Pendragon. His Knights of Mavors, both traditional horseborne and a skilled griffon air force, expert longbowmen, and a powerful navy held off the vicious attacks of Sumerilon after the Hellenic Empire fell.<b> </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoOEiir0ri2q_AyeHLv-AA1IOdJ-hvXAc5VsEQugCiPJvamxTnDAljHYfYNMdCaL29BPKdDWjA5_iASPuScO_deU4S7Dy3z-KXBACRZI5wFEdbqoAYo1DLssECciNbGH4VUxy8x6ZhxBs/s1600/umwelt.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoOEiir0ri2q_AyeHLv-AA1IOdJ-hvXAc5VsEQugCiPJvamxTnDAljHYfYNMdCaL29BPKdDWjA5_iASPuScO_deU4S7Dy3z-KXBACRZI5wFEdbqoAYo1DLssECciNbGH4VUxy8x6ZhxBs/s200/umwelt.png" width="200" /></a></div><b>Umwelt</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is a mostly dwarvish country and Ironhewer's home. The people of Umwelt held off the Sumerilon army at the neck of Thisted (the piece of land connecting it to the continent) and eventually pushed them back to join with the elves of Almere. A Sumerilon assault on the Umwelt homeland was foiled by the Floating Cities of the Perrin and the Hadrianic navy. Umwelt is ruled by a cousin of the famous General Ironhewer's, King-Under-the-Glacier Delven Ironhewer, but the Craftsman's Guild, headed by Theodoric (a Champion), is probably more influential to the daily lives of the people of Umwelt.<span class="Apple-converted-space"></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidw7tfRpuWHCPAMFJlVtIWwjErU_qgh5tKCJW4q7ChIXnEVAxxg53-v8hfn8QY2jjzUnn7rRkALrYDjXmZfTH2olBdRqNkhBnMTyT_Ixem4s_86hu-254weWxeMQQnhne5bLlmQHCgEInC/s1600/thisted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidw7tfRpuWHCPAMFJlVtIWwjErU_qgh5tKCJW4q7ChIXnEVAxxg53-v8hfn8QY2jjzUnn7rRkALrYDjXmZfTH2olBdRqNkhBnMTyT_Ixem4s_86hu-254weWxeMQQnhne5bLlmQHCgEInC/s1600/thisted.jpg" /></a></div><br />
While the Neck of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Thisted</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was able to hold out against Sumerilon (with the aid of Umwelt), the rest of the country suffered a long and brutal occupation. The natives of Thisted are still proud of the underground resistance efforts to aid the Umwelt army to connect with Gal Pol-Li's and Pendragon's forces to go on the offensive against Sumerilon. Magnus deCharle, leader of the Free Thisted Resistance during the war, is the current sovereign of the country.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEify-vnUEuJWRxd-a_IZ43RFxpDQc2sjymrmRHzsD0NqbR2oEIifSSRIH1IFHv_cqi0YQ_Wpe0l7eRFbtHfCAO2IEDY5R7GEc1aBL6VnTsAlYSS4yBDIZUYnr-RmdRAzGf2jjyzTxNckxwy/s1600/almere.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEify-vnUEuJWRxd-a_IZ43RFxpDQc2sjymrmRHzsD0NqbR2oEIifSSRIH1IFHv_cqi0YQ_Wpe0l7eRFbtHfCAO2IEDY5R7GEc1aBL6VnTsAlYSS4yBDIZUYnr-RmdRAzGf2jjyzTxNckxwy/s200/almere.png" width="200" /></a></div></span></span></span><b>Almere</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is the Elvish homeland. After the fall of the Hellenic Empire and the occupation of inland Thisted, Almere's fate was sealed, but for the leadership of Gal Pol-Li, who brought his people through the worst times, long foiled Sumerilon attempts to penetrate the heart of the woods, and finally brought together an alliance of dwarves (led by Ironhewer), humans (led by Pendragon), and elves (led by himself) that would ultimately defeat Sumerilon. Current Almere policy is guided by the three members of the Elder Council, Alassë Elensar, Erle Pallanén, and Elessan Véneanár.<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"></span></span><b> </b><br />
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<b>Camborough</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is a quiet land largely untouched by the Sumerilon war, aside from the heroes who went to fight in it. Camborough does not have a king (and most citizens feel it doesn't need one), so most outsiders look to the mayor of Blennam, currently Prisca Hamwich, to fulfill the normal executive duties of Camborough.<b> </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijT43gcTh5u8Y3JBXqpkgcIGeoml37Ep6ap1CP_6hxwkxbRiuWI_na1vcu4fgzsJ3M7Z1eg5NPnVFmfKVz8XM0R88mfuSmYeRtbHOMD2s4-LgDB86CaXgFYzeLmLM4oUQJUQv8fyr7btBm/s1600/falconberg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijT43gcTh5u8Y3JBXqpkgcIGeoml37Ep6ap1CP_6hxwkxbRiuWI_na1vcu4fgzsJ3M7Z1eg5NPnVFmfKVz8XM0R88mfuSmYeRtbHOMD2s4-LgDB86CaXgFYzeLmLM4oUQJUQv8fyr7btBm/s200/falconberg.png" width="200" /></a></div><b>Falconberg</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is a land of sea cliffs that house the largest concentration of Fey on the continent. Sumerilon made some attempts to wipe them out, but found it not worth the effort. Falconberg is currently nominally ruled by King Tam XXXVI, but no one knows whether he's actually the 36th of his line, or if Falconberg history stretches back far enough for there to have been 36 kings (much less 36 king Tams), or if fey actually pay attention to anything he says or does, or simply do whatever they damn well please<b>.</b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO55AIlqQzPU4katjeqpUBphxzlB5lKys8Tyi4DMVh6kNBv1nOi6jpQB-HWRd3iszciaBmBI6nJWBH9jwdzICfX77G3YpZU7ouj9c5QCgoVEgnDJVsGoLFE4na5Q2Gd3rBy3EohcUqcG7K/s1600/auritania.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO55AIlqQzPU4katjeqpUBphxzlB5lKys8Tyi4DMVh6kNBv1nOi6jpQB-HWRd3iszciaBmBI6nJWBH9jwdzICfX77G3YpZU7ouj9c5QCgoVEgnDJVsGoLFE4na5Q2Gd3rBy3EohcUqcG7K/s200/auritania.png" width="200" /></a></div><br />
An old country with a long-gone military past,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Auritania</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was a favorite destination for travelers who enjoyed mountain views. It secretly joined Sumerilon shortly before the war, and Sumerilon troops secretly prepared for the surprise attack on the Hellenic Empire. After the war, Auritania's government was not brought back, and it is an occupied territory of Hadriania.<br />
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<b>Ljung</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was a sparsely settled land prior to the arrival of the grafts, the population more than doubled with the arrival of Eponai who liked the open spaces and a smaller number of Catfolk who enjoyed the grassland hunting. The demihuman population was killed during the graft betrayal, and what government exists among the remaining Eponai and Catfolk is unrecognized by other governments.<br />
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The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Floating Cities</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>were the pride of the Perrin and the delight of the peoples the Perrin saved from Sumerilon's naval strikes. After the graft betrayal, however, the Perrin were no longer trusted and people refused to trade with them. Over time, the floating cities lost their motive power and are stuck in the northern seas. It is a haven for Perrin outcasts from society.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-90585255541788989622011-03-06T16:29:00.000-08:002011-03-06T16:29:00.086-08:00Spotlight on: the many War Veterans<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There were many faithful soldiers who carried arms into battle against Sumerilon. Many died anonymously on the battlefields. Many also were the "Ones Who Returned" as Veterans. They did their best to return to a life of peace.<br />
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Clerical healing was always in short supply during wartime, which made much rarer still the Great prayers of restoration from grievous wounds. The war's end and the return of peace helped reduce the demand, but with the<br />
loss of so many healers and the cursed nature of many of the wounds, shortages were acute for years: the records show that it took the Aru Order six years and three months just to cure all of the known war-caused cases of deafness. For a foot soldier trying to return home from war to a life of peace, disabilities were profound and long-lasting. Nevertheless, many did well and lived their life as best they could, but many were also utterly destitute due to their war-caused infirmities that prevented them from making a living.<br />
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By 1614, the Archon of Delft decided that these destitute veterans merited additional compensation (and compassion). An act was passed in Delft to provide for "Adjusted Compensation" for their prior war service. Unfortunately, his expectation was that he would only have to finance the local veterans and that the other City-States would enact similar measures. When the latter did not happen, the poor veterans from many regions descended upon the city of Delft and expected payment. Thus, another large "Army" threatened the city, although it was claimed to be a "friendly" siege. The Delft army was ordered to clear the veterans' encampment, which was performed by Brigadier Gabriel Baton in 1617, and the Compensation Act was suspended. It took years of<br />
diplomacy for the situation to be resolved, but eventually, State Aid was given to the Aru Healers who ran small clinics and infirmaries to help them build great Hospital-Churches, Hospices and peaceful Godshuizen courts in various cities, to service the veterans. We also recognize and thank the Dwarven craftsmen who were sent south to help build these edifices. We also recognize and thank the service of administration of these Aru houses by their friends the Mavor Oblates: they reduced fraudulent claims of veteran status. Any week now, the Mavors will again have their annual spring banquet and 'roast' of their Aru friends with the more brazen examples of healthcare fraud that they have found in the old Aru records. Last year's story was from the 1633 records, when a human woman (who wasn't even thirty years old) claimed to have been an Aru Shieldmaiden in the War. In this year 1663, the institution to aid veterans is now 36 years old since its formal incorporation, and is entering the twilight of its charter: many of the human veterans have left this mortal coil, so with each passing year, more of the old Godshuizen courts are now empty of their honored guests.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-69925801105358620772011-03-05T19:59:00.000-08:002011-03-05T19:59:00.170-08:00Spotlight on: Broderick Bracegirdle<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Broderick Bracegirdle, hobbit hero (pantheist), is credited with discovering Auritania's allegiance to Sumerilon </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">while on holiday in Auritania. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">He noted, in a letter to a travel journal he occasionally wrote for, the greatly increased number of statues commemorating Auritania's long-gone military past. The journal article caused immediate concern in certain high circles, and just as they were confirming that the new statues were, in fact, Sumerilon war golems, Malchion gave the signal to attack the Hellenic Empire. Fortunately for us, his forces for attacking Thisted and Almere were not in position yet, and so those countries were not overrun. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Broderick later marched in the Army of Unity under Gal Pol-Li's banner, and survived the Graft Betrayal. He </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">is retired to his native Camborough in a manor outside Blennam, where he plans to celebrate his eleventy-first birthday in the near future.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span></span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-52431555809108772011-03-03T17:40:00.000-08:002011-03-03T17:40:00.562-08:00Spotlight on: Nasiat Stoneblood<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Perhaps better known under his stage name, Foxley, Nasiat Stoneblood was a dwarven jester employed in the Sumerilon courts. Early on in the war he </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">was recruited by the boggies; Foxley's ability to insult people in such a way that the one insulted was usually laughing harder than anyone else quickly gained him access to the High reaches of Sumerilon nobility. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Soon Foxley was performing regularly at the Imperial palace. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Even though Malchion himself rarely attended the performances, Foxley gained much information from the leaders who did. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">In the brief leadership vacuum that followed Gal Pol-Li's death in the Graft Betrayal, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">William the Brown-Haired set up a desperate </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">assassination attempt. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Armed with magic supplied to him by the allies, Foxley tried to maneuver himself near Malchion during a feast, but was captured by the guards before he could strike. He was summarily handed over to Malchion’s torturers and soon the other members of his cell operating within Sumerilon were hunted down and destroyed.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The Allies were therefore surprised when he was delivered weeks later to Ironhewer’s command base by Berin Viperson. This was the first step in Berin’s great betrayal of Malchion.<br />
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Crippled in body and spirit Foxley was given over to the clerics of Aru and spent the rest of the war recovering, though he never performed again. After the war Foxley, reverting to his birth name of Nasiat Stoneblood, was knighted and given land to the southwest of Thisted as his fee. He has spent the years since involved in local politics and amassing great wealth.</span></span></span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-59953469498617132132011-02-28T18:03:00.000-08:002011-02-28T18:03:00.465-08:00Spotlight on: William the Brown-Haired<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">While the heroic exploits of the great generals and heroic warriors are justly celebrated, great wars cannot be won solely by following the Seven Commandments of Janda*. There is a need for deception, spies and dark deeds in the service of the Light. The Order of Redoubtable Ratri was founded by the colorful and accomplished William the Brown-Haired: scholar, adventurer, magical adept and sometime priest. Its agents performed many dangerous missions inside Sumerilon-held territory: the most dangerous performed by a secret circle within the order, known as the Department of Dirty Tricks, dominated by hobbits and somewhat affectionately known as the Boggies. The master (she preferred not being called mistress) of the boggies was Allison Searock. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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The most famous and successful of William's exploits was Operation Arctic Wolf, better known as the "Army that Wasn't". This was an elaborate deception in which numerous Janda clerics were systematically fed false information that certain Sumerilon agents were themselves being told lies about Ironhewer's plans. Because of the commandment "never through inaction [to] allow a lie to be believed", they were compelled to reveal the "true" information in their possession, then to turn themselves in for violating the laws regarding secrecy, expecting an ignominious death on the scaffold. Because they were believed, Malchion diverted significant force away from Ironhewer's army at a critical juncture. When the operation became public after the War, it caused a rift in the religious community. The few remaining Janda clerics abandoned public life, and the judicial functions formerly performed by her clerics were taken over by Mavors.<br />
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William the Brown-haired never settled down after the War. Although human and well over sixty when the war ended, he led several fact-finding expeditions deep into Sumerilon territory, adamant that all of Malchion's secrets should be searched out long after others had lost interest. Twelve years after the end of the War, he fell down a crevasse and his body was never recovered.<br />
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Allison Searock served for a time as spymaster for King Pendragon, but the strain of working among so many Mavors caused her to leave and to take service with Almere. She now lives in retirement in Camborough and has recently celebrated her eleventy-first birthday.<br />
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* = "I am Janda, goddess of Truth, and these are my commandments. Obey them all if possible, but if not, obey the one stated first in preference to the latter-stated. Thou shalt not tell a lie. Thou shalt not through inaction allow a lie to be believed. Thou shalt give worship to Janda as meet and due for your station in life. When Thou art called to judgment, thou shalt give true judgment to the best of thy ability. Thou shalt obey the laws of the land wherein thou art. Thou shalt perform all thine oaths. Thou shalt endeavor to do justice in all things." </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
</span></span></span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-6639240178587373862011-02-25T15:10:00.000-08:002011-02-25T15:10:00.710-08:00Spotlight on: Tirion Elkone<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Twin brothers Tirion and Cadmus Elkone were members of the Janda order of the Wrathful Avengers, and active leaders in the western resistance against Sumerilon. Their unit captured a strongpoint in the mountains that allowed safe passage for the Army of Unity, and the Elkone brothers themselves defeated the twin guardians of the citadel in single, er, double combat.<br />
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Sadly, a few weeks after Malchion was defeated, a madness took Cadmus and he tried to kill Tirion. Cadmus fell to his death, and though the gorge was searched, the body was never found.<br />
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Shouldering his magical blue oilskin, Tirion went into the Sumerilon wastelands, seeking answers from his god, and his current whereabouts are unknown. He was unavailable for comment at the time of the printing of this article.</span></span></span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-76480735259822203992011-02-21T15:20:00.000-08:002011-02-21T15:20:00.975-08:00Spotlight on: Gladys Lamplight<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9446249771863222" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gladys Lamplight, a human on the wrong side of middle age, did not earn distinction on the field, but was invaluable to the Army of Unity because of her research. Unfortunately much of what Gladys had to offer was incomprehensible to the High Command without an interpreter. Zerlana, one of the younger elven battlemages, was assigned full-time to the task after Gal Pol-Li noticed her exceptional ability to keep Gladys on task and to the point “so we can get back out there and blow stuff up.” In what would prove to be the waning days of the war, Lamplight and Zerlana disappeared from the main force (with Theodoric, Asha Half-Elven, ``Hellenic" Trebor, and Escher Coli). The nature of their mission is secret, but is believed to have played a role in Malchion’s ultimate downfall. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the war, Zerlana enjoyed a brief period of adventuring fame, then returned to her people to instruct the next generation of elven battlemages. She is loathe to interact with non-elven demihumans, and categorically refuses to speak to the press. Bereft of his deity, Theodoric returned to his homeland in York to work with Daglir craftsmen. Trebor and Escher died on the mission and were given heroes’ funerals after the war. Gladys participated as a functionary in the postwar celebrations, then disappeared into the research stacks of the great libraries and then from the public record. </span></div></span>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-3121324169025914362011-02-18T15:02:00.000-08:002011-02-18T15:02:00.508-08:00Spotlight on: Berin Viperson, The Golden Traitor<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">During the height of the great war Berin Viperson was one of Malchion's greatest agents in the shadow war of spies that almost went unnoticed beside the great battles. Tall (for an elf) and dark, he was trained as both a thief and a mage a hundred years before the war in a defunct school of magic. He is the last survivor of this tradition, as the others died during the war. Called Malchion’s own thief by those, on both sides, who knew of him and his exploits it shocked everyone when he betrayed Malchion just before the final battle of the Neck of Thisted.<br />
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No one knows what drove him to this betrayal. Whispers of a secret devotion to Ratri are generally discounted because of his part in the fall and looting of Ratri’s secret temple near Delft. All that is agreed upon is that without him the Great Leviathan, built by the Artificer Urzo, would have fallen on the defenders of the Neck without warning. Instead his information led the heroes, Keithose, Jescott, Maione, Gohen and Somay to the place of its construction where they destroyed it and its maker, though Gohen and Somay died during the fight.<br />
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After the war Berin was allowed to retire to the village of Spanday in the northeast of Umwelt, where Ironhewer figured he could keep an eye on the elf. The long years have relaxed the vigilance of the watchers, and now he has disappeared, to Ironhewer's dismay. "I've no doubt that we'll find Viperson has had a hand in all the troubles we've seen lately," growled the General when asked. "Once a traitor and all that."</span></span></span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-31434368878657472332011-02-15T18:58:00.000-08:002011-02-11T21:36:39.762-08:00The Graft Betrayal<h4 id="head-71f7506976c0f66917f59486d563df032952b8b2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;">As we now know, Malchion, in his pride, thought to create new races with which to people his world, and that would be totally subservient to him. The graft races were thus born during the prelude to the War, while the Champions had other concerns. It is not known what foul means were used to create the grafts nor when, but they first began to be noticed a scant ten years before the war began. They told a harrowing tale of flight from a far-off land, where their kind was oppressed, and they seemed eager to enter the service of any lord who promised them fair treatment, be the wages ever so low. Faithful and honest, they soon found their way into positions of trust, and the fact that a few seemed to have wandered into Sumerilon and become slaves there seemed to grieve them greatly.</span></h4><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">When the Army of Unity was formed for what is now known as the Campaign against Sumerilon, the grafts were accepted eagerly into the fighting ranks. Under the leadership of the great Elvish General Gal Pol-Li, the Army of Unity won victory after victory, until it stood at the very heart of Sumerilon, with a small opposing force before it in the valley, girding itself for a last stand in defense of their master. Confident of victory, Gal Pol-Li decided to lead his forces onto the plain without waiting for Generals Ironhewer and Pendragon to catch up with their armies, which were delayed by skirmishing.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">As Gal Pol-Li's forces strode onto the plain, armies that had been concealed among the hills and rocks suddenly appeared, flanking them. Even so, they still outnumbered their foes until treachery struck. As if on a single command, every graft in the Army of Unity struck out, fearlessly and with a sure hand, against their comrades-in-arms. The carnage was fierce, and few survivors of the Army of Unity outlived that day. Some blamed Ironhewer and Pendragon for being late, and some blamed Gal Pol-Li for moving on too soon, but the truth is that the Champions were saved that day. The treachery extended to all armies, and even to civilian areas. Ironhewer and Pendragon were able to suppress the rebellion because they faced only scattered foes. Had the full combined armies been there that day, the defeat might have been total.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">After the retreat, many grafts were slain in revenge, and the surviving grafts were imprisoned. Needless to say, no graft was ever trusted again. When the war ended, the spell of obedience was broken, for their master was dead, yet to this day, few demihumans will trust a graft and some believe they should have been exterminated.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</div>Alex Reutterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13260495502948868776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-77654886213550835112011-02-12T21:13:00.000-08:002011-02-11T21:36:55.188-08:00Spotlight on: King Romulus Pendragon<div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We all know the story of the boy prince of the Hellenic Empire, who fled to Hadriana when the armies of Sumerilon swept the continent. Under the guidance of his tutor Meirden, the paupered prince was briefly squired to a cousin, then <span style="border-collapse: collapse;">withdrew the legendary Sword of Kings from the tomb of Marcus Aurelius, and was declared by the Gods as Heir to the Hadrianic throne. He armed his new subjects for war, and the Hadrianic Navy quickly won several important sea battles and blockaded Sumerilon's southern ports. </span><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">The Gray Gulls flew at King Pendragon's command, while his newly-formed Knights of Mavors drove the Sumerilon Cavalry from the field in battle after battle. The King's successes were so spectacular that, despite his age, Gal Pol-Li declared him the natural choice to lead the free human forces in the Army of Unity.</span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We all know that </span></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">it was King Pendragon who, backed by the combined magic of the Gods, struck the death blow to Malchion, and he alone emerged </span></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">from the ensuing explosion. With the end of the war, </span></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">King Pendragon delivered a brief statement. "Today the battlefields are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. I thank the Gods that they have given us the faith, the courage ,and the power from which to mold victory. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we won in war."</span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br />
<div><span style="border-collapse: separate;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">King Pendragon returned with his army to his island nation. He continues to rule in peace and harmony with his wife, Queen Ismere, and their son, Prince Azoun. Admired by many, romanticized by others, he remains a figure known to stand for Honor and Justice to All.</span><br />
<div><br />
</div></span></span></div></span></div></div>Alex Reutterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13260495502948868776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-80363421790996389042011-02-05T18:19:00.000-08:002011-02-11T21:09:10.511-08:00Spotlight on: General Ironhewer<div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A combat veteran of three major wars and the commander of northern Dwarvish forces during the campaign against Sumerilon, General Ironhewer thought he'd seen the end of his adventuring days with the death of Malchion. "Sixty years ago, I was more'n ready to retire to the ancestral mines and lead a quiet life. But I made friends in the war, and while I have the strength to help them, by Daglir I will."</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While no one doubts the General's strength of arms or suggests that he has lost his ability to command, some observers, pointing to his slightly protruding belly and his acceptance of the so-called "graft" races, believe that Ironhewer should have stayed retired. When asked about the controversy over welcoming Catfolk, Eponai, and Perrin adventurers into Hireling Hall, he stated, "Some of my best friends in the war were grafts. Don't tell me the Eponai lack courage, and we would never have held out in the north without the Perrin blockade of key Sumerilon seaports. I can't believe that they willingly betrayed us in the High Steppes; Malchion had some kind of hold over them, and now that he's dead, the grafts can lead a free life, if we can only forgive them."</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Next week:</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> a brief recounting of the Graft Betrayal</span></div>Alex Reutterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13260495502948868776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-26228543416502266872011-01-31T21:05:00.000-08:002011-02-11T21:08:12.961-08:00In the Offices of General Ironhewer<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Begging the general's pardon, sir, but won't you reconsider? This is a younger man's job. Is it really necessary?" <br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Time will tell, Atkins, time will tell," the general rumbled fondly to his aide of so many years. "Though I expect there isn't a younger man to do it." Atkins noticed the general stroke his long Dwarven beard as he turned to business. That much never changed, at least. <br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Now, have the reports I asked for started coming in?" <br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Sir, from East Lauritton, in Thisted. A fortnight ago. It's Frederick the Faithful. Killed in his bed." <br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"In bed? Fred survived the entire occupation! He led a cell in the resistance!" <br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Sir, it's bad," Atkins added, reading ahead. The general growled for him to continue. "They say he was... torn open. As if by a madman with a scythe. But not a drop of blood! Almost as if he had been — drained <br />
— ahead of time." </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">General Ironhewer grimaced. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Apparently all the blood was used in the next room. The report says there might have been writing or drawings in it, but his granddaughter was scrubbing the walls when the investigator arrived. Can you imagine? His granddaughter! And there's more. Eight of his manservants were slain in the household as well. Plus there was an additional rash of murders in East Lauritton that night — another 26 dead, though it may be 27 by now — one was only just hanging on." </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The general had focused on the blood, though. "We have to find out what was in that room. And take care of the granddaughter of course! But if there was a message there... Who do we have? Has Jamison reported back yet?" </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was the first of a great many reports. </span>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-8125420323292213062010-10-23T18:10:00.000-07:002010-10-29T19:19:24.624-07:00Announcing PrinceCon 36: Champions of the Light<div><div class="im"><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">Sixty-three years ago, a generation saved the world; now it is our turn to save them.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">The name of Malchion, Mage-King of Sumerilon, is a byword for cruelty and evil. After a long and hopeless campaign by the alliance known as "Champions of the Light", he was destroyed against all expectation. The great General Ironhewer forced a path through Malchion's armies, and none other than Romulus Pendragon struck the fatal blow. He led the Archmages and the High Priests and Priestesses of the Nine Gods to the final confrontation where they combined spells and prayers too deadly and dangerous to be risked again. Though they destroyed their foe, all save Pendragon were consumed along with him. In the wake of the devastation, only four of the Gods remain active enough in mortal affairs to have numbers of miracle-working priests.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">The Champion's children lived in relative peace. In turn, their children (and their adventurous contemporaries) were raised on tales of the grandparent's exploits, wistfully imagining what they might have done in a generation called to heroism. But be careful of what you wish for: there have been a series of high-profile murders under circumstances that suggest dark magics, and word has leaked from the Justiciar's office that each victim was or had a connection to a famous Champion.</div><div class="im"><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">General Ironhewer himself has come out of retirement to lead the investigation out of Hireling Hall, and is calling on adventurers of all races: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Fey, Hobbits, and even the Catfolk, otterlike Perrin and horselike Eponai to assemble at 5PM on the 11th of March, 2011 to help investigate these murders, and to discover what lies behind them.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">====================</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.princecon.org/pcon36/">PrinceCon 36</a> will be held March 11-13, 2011 on the Princeton University Campus. The Simulation Games Union's annual convention consists of tabletop roleplaying in a shared world, centered around a common goal. Rules are a variation of the Open-Gaming version (3.5SRD) of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, incorporating many ideas developed over the years by the SGU. Admission is $20, free to Princeton University undergraduates. Certificates are awarded for Strategic, Tactical and Role Playing excellence.</div></div></div>Alex Reutterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13260495502948868776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004972858001381972.post-25705172024184713782010-10-21T19:30:00.000-07:002010-10-21T19:30:48.390-07:00Welcome to the PrinceCon blog<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"></span><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.princecon.org/">PrinceCon</a> is a 46-hour role-playing marathon held on the Princeton University campus every Spring (since 1976). The character you create on Friday afternoon stays with you throughout the weekend, growing more powerful and accumulating potent magical items as you adventure in a single world with many different talented GMs.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The purpose of this blog is to provide regular announcements concerning the upcoming convention; the <a href="http://www.princecon.org/">website</a>, <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/princecon">Google group</a>, and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2253564608">Facebook group</a> will continue to be active, but players can use RSS to get regular updates from this blog and comment on posts without requiring a special login.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cheers,</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">PrinceCon Staff</span></div>PrinceCon Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13328781340734006547noreply@blogger.com0