Notes
from the GM
In
the long narrative below, real dates are shown in blue
and game-world dates are in red.
This allows you to scan through the text for a particular
year, either for the players
or for the characters. Only
the first entry for each Lian year is highlighted. An
"R" next to a real date means the adventure
was played "retroactively" to a previous time
period of the characters'.
The
Cosmic Reset . . .
Some
time between 1999 - 2000, I decided to switch from the
DragonQuest™ RPG system to the GURPS®
RPG system. The "Point of Know Return"
scenario was NOT created for the purpose of switching
the campaign over to GURPS, but it facilitated
the change quite nicely. However, a few reluctant
players kept their characters defined under DQ rules,
so I simply ran a 2-system game for a while. This
page of the history documents adventures that took place
after I began the switch to the GURPS gaming
system.
Is
it live, or is it ScreenMonkey ? . .
All
of the adventures told on this page occured via ScreenMonkey™
online gaming. On this page, we introduce a new
player & character and we bring an old RK back into
the fold of regular players. Mark Baumann created
his hobbit gadgeteer Nucleon Stormbrow and played him
with gusto. Devo finally joined us on ScreenMonkey
and found it to be a reasonable substitution for actual
'round-a-table' gaming. I'm happy to say he's been
a consistent player ever since. This page also includes
the 25th Anniversay session in which all the active RoachKings
as well as Mark Bauman & Hollis Alden battled several
blue dragons and their Suzerain, Vurlymak.
---
Charlie |
The
Journey to Jaro [2007-'08]
(10/07
-12/07) After the battle with Bankoran
Stormtroopers at the drilling platform in the cypress swamps,
the RoachKings flew back to the Grey River (which the locals
call the Mis'sip,) then followed the river southeast, back to
N'Orleón. As they neared the city, they saw a number
of riverboats that had been damaged by the recent hurricanes,
many of which were under repair in docks along the riverbanks.
One such riverboat was a cargo vessel with a familiar name on
its hull: "DaJaro Exports Limited - Qam Pah."
When they got back to Ozone's airship in the center of town,
they informed Salád that they had seen his surname on
a riverboat. Salád recognized the company name
as the enterprise of his uncle Raja, who exported textile goods
down the Grey River from Qam Pah to N'Orleón. Salád
decided to visit his uncle Raja, and several RKs accompanied
him, including Shady, By-Tor, Raal & Draken.
Raja
DaJaro was busy overseeing the repairs to his boat, but he took
the time to welcome his long-lost nephew & his associates.
When all the pleasantries were over, he told the RKs that he
had heard rumors from other riverboat captains that the recent
storms had awakened the Grey River Drake. Apparently,
the drake was once again attacking riverboats & sinking
them. Since the hurricanes had badly damaged Raja's riverboat
& he had put everything he could afford into repairs, he
could not chance losing the boat entirely now. He offered
to hire the RoachKings to escort his riverboat back upriver
to his home port of Qam Pah. They accepted the offer and
guaranteed Raja that his boat would make it to Qam Pah in one
piece.
While
on the riverboat, Raja gave the RKs a tour, showing them that
his cargo vessel was equipped with unique devices & mechanisms
that made it extremely efficient for river travel. For
instance, it incorporated gear & pulley assemblies on the
oars, making it much easier for the crew to row upstream.
Of course, these devices intrigued By-Tor, who wanted to know
more. In response to By-Tor's questions, Raja introduced
the RKs to the chief mechanician on board - a halfling named
Nucleon Stormbrow. "Nuke," as he preferred to
be called, was of course busy with repairs to the boat's more
advanced mechanisms, which struck By-Tor as well ahead of their
time. The halfling showed an amazing talent for mechanical
devices and his knowledge of advanced machines fascinated By-Tor.
Not since meeting Commander Montgomery Scott of Starfleet had
By-Tor been so intrigued by another man's skill with machines.
Once
the repairs were completed on his riverboat, Raja notified the
RKs that he was ready to depart for Qam Pah. Once aboard
the riverboat, the RKs saw something of how the vesssel worked,
which included some unique machinery. By-Tor was intrigued
by this, as well as by Raja's head mechanic, a halfling named
Nucleon Stormbrow. "Nuke" was charged with the
maintenance of all the mechanical parts of the vessel and he
struck the RKs as an interesting personality. They soon
learned that he had a unique habit of pulling just the right
tool from his many pockets at exactly the time it was needed.
By-Tor recognized him as a fellow lover of gadgets and learned
that he might even have some skills even the renowned RoachKing
mechanician (& Starfleet engineer) didn't have. He
certainly was quick to fashion a gadget or tool to get a particularly
difficult job done.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
As
the RKs suspected, they did indeed run into the river drake
on their way up the Grey River; in fact, they encountered several.
First, they fought off a single river drake about a third of
the way up river to Qam Pah. During this brief run-in,
Raal pierced both the drake's eyes with spears and By-Tor dished
out heavy damage with his mace, killing it easily. The
RKs weren't very impressed with the beastie, and Raja pointed
out that this drake didn't seem to measure up to all the hype
in the legends of old. They decided that this might not
be the actual drake of old, but an offspring, so they remained
vigilant.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
(2/22/08)Their
vigilance paid off when the riverboat was attacked by several
more river drakes upstream. They anticipated the attack
when they saw unusual ripples in the river. One of the
river drakes flew up out of the water and charged at By-Tor
as he stood on the command deck with Raja. By-Tor
held his ground and awaited the drake's approach with his mace
at the ready, but when the beast got within reach and By-Tor
swung his weapon, he slipped on the deck and accidentally threw
his mace overboard. On the up side, the drake missed By-Tor
because of the slip, although it still bit a chunk out of the
railing on the command deck of the riverboat. However,
this turned out to be a distraction; another drake flew up out
of the water and grabbed a crewman from the fore deck of the
riverboat as the RKs battled the drake aft. It dragged
the man under the water and tried to take him away downstream,
but it didn't get far. Shady flew after the beast just
above the water surface, then teleported to a position just
ahead of it and grabbed the crewman, then teleported him out
to a position well above the river. Yet another drake
tried to eat the crewman in the crow's nest, but the RKs killed
it. When there was just one drake left, Shady performed
a "Control Creature" on it, bringing it under his
control. He ordered it to tow the riverboat upstream to
Qam Pah.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
(4/4/08)The
remainder of the voyage up the Grey River was fairly uneventful.
However, they did notice half-ogres among the populations of
the small riverside villages in the area (verified by Shady's
aura detection.) The RKs briefly considered stopping in
the river port town of Tum Ki when they saw that there was a
festival going on, one that included a cage fighting tournament.
However, By-Tor reminded them that this would be an unnecessary
distraction from their primary goal of getting Raja's boat upstream
- and then hunting down a blue dragon in the desert mountains
of Al Qam. From there, the drake towed the riverboat the
rest of the way to Qam Pah and the RKs enjoyed a relaxing trip
for the rest of the journey (the drake obviously kept any other
river creatures at bay.) As they approached Qam Pah, Salar
suggested that Shady get rid of the drake, since it would frighten
people in the port. Shady asked Nucleon to cast a lightning
bolt on him (it turned out to be a double-damage bolt,) which
he absorbed for extra energy and then put the drake to sleep.
Once
the riverboat reached Qam Pah intact, the RKs had honored their
contract with Raja DaJaro. He offered to pay them according
to their agreement, but they refused his money, considering
it a family matter. Nucleon Stormbrow decided to end his
employment with Raja DaJaro and travel with the RoachKings,
so he took his severence pay from Salar. He left town
with By-Tor and Shady, traveling south-southwest toward the
mountains in search of a blue dragon. The 2 RKs flew by
griffin back, Nucleon used a "Hawk Flight" spell.
Meanwhile, Salád visited his uncle's home and
had dinner with his family, reminiscing about old times with
his aunt & uncle, as well as some cousins.
After
flying south by southwest for about 160 miles, the RoachKings
saw a caravan in the distance; it was heading north on the main
road along the Kelnor Mountains. The caravan was moving
very quickly and the people looked to be in a panic. A
moment later, By-Tor noticed a heat signature in the sky just
beyond the caravan; switching to telescopic view, he saw that
it was a small blue dragon carrying a camel. Nucleon saw
it as just a glint in the sky. Shady, By-Tor & Nucleon
hurried after the blue beast, passing by the panicked caravan
travellers. After giving chase to the dragon for a short
distance, the RKs watched in surprise as it dove for the ground
and plunged into the sand, diving below the surface as if it
were water. It left behind only a still wake and a dead
camel.
The
RKs landed near the spot where the dragon had plunged into the
sand. As they approached to try various detection techniques,
the blue beast sprang back up out of the earth and spat lightning
at By-Tor, who skillfully dodged the bolt. Returning the
sentiment, By-Tor lunged at the dragon, attempting to grab its
tail and wrestle it from the air, but the dragon swung its tail
to avoid him. Shady let loose one of his new "Black
Lightning" spells, but the dragon dodged the black bolt
with minimal effort. Nucleon fired a grav pistol at the
dragon, but it didn't seem to have any useful effect, so he
quickly drew out to a manna blaster. He fired, but the
dragon dodged the blast.
(5/30/08)As
By-Tor & Nucleon were busy grappling & blasting the
dragon respectively, Shady went into deep psionic concentration.
His mind searched the dragon's surface thoughts, then dove deeper
into the beast's consciousness. Shady brought to bear
everything he had ever learned about the nature of psionic abilities
& natural magic aptitude. He focused all his will
& power into a single gargantuan feat of psionic intrusion
that overwhelmed the dragon's will and stretched his own mental
abilities beyond their limits. When the mental contest
was over, the dragon was left with absolutely no aptitude for
the use of magic, and Shady was left with an incredible new
psionic ability. The mental attack jolted the small blue
dragon, taking him aback and causing him to shake his head in
pain & roar at the top of his lungs. It released a
bolt of lightning from its mouth at Shady, who dodged out of
the path of the lightning in an acrobatic leap.
Meanwhile,
By-Tor ran up to the dragon from behind. He grabbed the
dragon's tail with ease, but lost his footing in the sand and
got tossed 12 yards for his trouble. Luckily, he managed
to land on his feet. As the dragon continued to cringe
in pain due to the mental attack, Shady went invisible and By-Tor
once again made a running charge at the dragon. Using
the dead camel as a springboard, By-Tor grabbed the dragon's
tail and brought it to the ground with a WHUMP, causing it substantial
damage.
At
that very second, a single human figure blinked into existence
not far from the melee. He was an elderly gentlemen obviously
from somewhere in the Delmoric Alliance. He had a long
grey mustache & goatee and he was dressed in multi-colored
silk robes and a hat with a long colorful tail. He waved
a hand nonchallantly and the dragon was immediately engulfed
in a stasis field just as By-Tor released the tail to get a
better grip. The old man said simply, "So sorry,
I cannot allow you to kill this dragon." Shady shot
a black lightning bolt at him, but he easily dodged it with
an acrobatic leap that made him seem as agile as someone a fraction
of his apparent age. Enraged, Shady ran up to the dragon
an reached for its jaw. In his soft, yet strangely audible
voice, the old man said simply, "I would not do that if
I were you." By-Tor suggested, "Shady, let's
find out who this guy is," then turned to the old man and
asked straightforwardly, "Who are you?"
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
(6/1/08)
The
old man replied, "My name is Hu Shi Hau, Dai Fu.
I am Professor Emeritus of Temporal Philosophy at University
of Tu In in Imperial Kingdom of Samuso."
Nucleon,
having pondered the nature of the stasis field surrounding the
small blue dragon, recognized it for what it was. He bowed
to the old man, pointed at the stasis field and asked, "How
did you do that?" The old man simply smiled and said,
"Ancient Delmoric secret."
Shady
realized this was a man of honor & breeding, so he cooled
his approach a little. He introduced himself and By-Tor
as RoachKings and introduced Nucleon as their friend & associate.
Then he apologized for the lighting bolt and asked why they
couldn't kill the dragon.
The
old man responded respectfully, "Ah, I have heard of you.
Most honored to meet you." He bowed. "So
sorry, but I cannot allow death of this dragon. He may
hold key to finding irreplaceable item he or one of his kin
has taken in recent attack on caravan here. My interest
is in finding lair of dragon or his master. I seek return
of ancient artifact taken from recent caravan through this area.
Investigator hired by myself to find this item was among caravan,
on his way to deliver item to me. He and many others killed
by blue dragon and my item lost." He paused a moment,
seemingly for dramatic effect, then said, "The Hourglass
of Epoche."
The
RKs discussed the situation with the old man. Shady
& By-Tor were adament that this dragon should be killed,
but understood his need to find the lost artifact. The
old man replied,
"I would be most honored to have assistance of legendary
heroes, RoachKings. If you are determined to kill this
beast, perhaps you have other way of finding his master's lair?"
"Indeed
I do," Shady said. "Searching and finding is
a specialty of mine." Of course, Shady also cast
a "Sense Foes" spell, just to be sure this old man
wasn't an enemy in disguise. The old man mentioned that
he had one other path of investigation he could pursue: he could
seek the advice of the merchant who had financed the lost caravan,
one Salar DaJaro. Shady said, "Y'know, he's the father
of a friend of mine & fellow RoachKing." The
old man seemed intrigued.
Nucleon
spoke up just then, saying "Professor Hau, if you can release
the dragon from the stasis field for a minute, I can read his
mind."
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
As
Nucleon prepared his "Mind-Search" spell, the old
man replied, "So sorry, honorable sir. I must respectfully
correct you in matter of my name and title. In my culture, family
name is spoken first, followed by given name, then title.
I hold advanced degrees in both Temporal Mechanics and Philosophy,
thus the title 'Dai Fu,' or in your language, 'Doctor.'"
He paused a moment (as if to see if anyone got it yet,)
then offered, "I am properly addressed as 'Doctor Hu.'"
Everyone finally acknowledged him by his proper name and title.
By-Tor
readied himself to grab the dragon by the tail again, and Dr.
Hu released the stasis field. The dragon was still reeling
from Shady's psionic attack and the physical damage, so Nucleon
had no real resistance to his mind search. He discerned
that the lair of the Suzerain (leader of blue dragons in this
area) was 67.3 miles west-southwest of this location.
Dr. Hu asked By-Tor to release the dragon's tail and he reactivated
the stasis field.
When
Nucleon realized what this meant - that they would be facing
a huge, ancient blue dragon - he searched his memory and his
pockets for anything that might give him an extra advantage
in such a situation. As he patted himself down, his hand
came upon the buckle of a unique belt he had engineered some
time ago and he realized that it was perfect for the job.
The belt was fashioned with overlayed layers of truelsilver
and it magically transformed into a complete suit of truesilver
battle armor with robotic/cybernetic enhancements. The
suit had a "heads up display" helmet & full life
support and gave the halfling extra strength & jumping ability,
as well as incredible protection from damage. As Nucleon
smiled to himself about his re-discovery, everyone heard a distant
voice call out in salutation.
"Greetings
again, all! My, what an interesting scenario."
It was Salád, flying in on a magic carpet provided to
him by his uncle Raja. After telling them how he came
to have the fine quality flying carpet, Salád asked,
"Who whomped on the little dragon?" Shady told
him it was By-Tor & himself. "And who's the old
wise man?" Shady introduced him to Dr. Hu.
Nucleon also introduced himself to Salád, since they
had never officially met aboard Raja's riverboat (Salád
had spent all of his time in Raja's quarters, studying.)
Salád told Nucleon that Raja had spoken highly of him;
Nucleon acknowledged that Salád's uncle was a good man.
After all the introductions were made, the RKs explained to
Salád that they now knew the location of the Suzerain
(leader) of the blue dragons. Everyone agreed that they
should make their way there immediately; Salád was eager
to see his mother & father, but knew that bringing news
of the dragon's demise would make the homecoming especially
sweet. Dr. Hu told them that he couldn't fly, but that
he had another means of transportation and would meet them there.
He then blinked out of existence much as he had appeared earlier.
Salád remarked, "That's a neat trick."
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
After
Dr. Hu left, the RKs decided to calm & question the people
in the panicked caravan just north of them. As the RKs
approached the caravan, Salád called out to them, "Peace!
We bring aid!" They slowed their hurried pace
and looked back, seemingly curious, yet anxious about the return
of the dragon. The RKs approached in a non-threatening
manner (as best they could manage, anyway,) and as the caravan
came to a stop, one man came forward.
"I
am Naison Haisur. I am the lead wrangler of this caravan.
We have lost 3 of our number and 2 camels worth of goods.
Who are you?"
Salád
replied, "My sincere condolences for the loss of your people
and of your goods. Pray be calm, Naison Haisur - we have
dealt much damage to the dragon and seek to make this place
safe for caravans, especially because my family is heavily involved
in the trade.
To
this, the camel wrangler retorted, "But dragons are not
felled even with 'much damage!'"
Salád
calmly continued, "I am Salád DaJaro, and my companions
are muy pelligroso." Althought he had no
idea what "muy pelligroso" meant, Naison Haisur seemed
to recognize the name "DaJaro" and he asked if the
merchant Salar DaJaro had sent him to rid the caravan route
of these blue beasts. Salád replied, "The
honorable Salar knows not of my presence, but it is in my family's
interest to attempt precisely that."
Just
then, another look of sudden recognition passed over Naison
Haisur's face and he asked, "Do you mean the Salád
DaJaro? And are these your associates, the RoachKings?"
"The
same," said Salád.
At
that, Naison Haisur exclaimed "Aha! Perhaps there
is reason to have hope after all!"
Salád
replied, "Hope indeed, good
man - and good days ahead. Let us share water together
and converse of the route." The caravaners answered
all the RKs' questions, although they didn't have much new info
for them. Neither they nor the other caravan they had
recently passed had encountered any other creatures or bandits.
They did convey, however, that the Merchant Coalition of Benghaz
had established a reward for the killing of any dragon along
the trade routes. The caravaners also made sure
the RKs had plenty of water & food for their journey to
the dragon's lair. When they had
finished their conversations, Salád bid them farewell
and said, "Keep faith in a brighter future, good Naison
Haisur."
Shady
added, "Count on us to have everything taken care of,"
and with that, the RKs were off.
The
RoachKings flew up to a height of about 250' - 300' above the
desert, Shady & Nucleon using shadow wings, By-Tor with
his battlesuit's flight pack, and Salád
on his flying carpet. As they flew up out of the
lowlands into the mountains, they looked back to see the view
at left.
After
flying just a few miles west-southwest into the Kelnor Mountains,
the RKs spotted a column of smoke rising from a ravine about
20 miles up ahead. Shady immediately scanned the area
with psionic "Detect Life," but sensed no lifeforms
from that distance. Upon investigating, they found that
the smoke was coming from a narrow crevasse among the rocky
hilltops. They made preparations and flew into the crevasse,
2 from each end. Once there, they discovered that the
smoke was coming from the mouth of a cave. Shady teleported
into the cave to scout the situation out. Of course, he
found himself surrounded by smoke, but he smelled burnt flesh
and realized that it reminded him a little of cooked snake.
By-Tor followed Shady into the cave, while Nucleon & Salád
remained outside the cave entrance & discussed the fact
that they had not gone far enough yet for this to be the main
blue dragon's lair. Nucleon confirmed that they were still
40 miles or more from the location he had gleaned from the mind
of hte small blue dragon. 
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Inside
the cave, recalling Kendril's earlier research, Shady remembered
that blue dragons were the sworn enemies of nagas. By
telepathic link, Salád reminded everyone that nagas have
treasure, but quickly realized that this might not be true if
blue dragons had any say in the matter. Still, the RKs
decided to fly in and check it out. Salád activated
his Phantasmal Armor before he & Nuke flew into the cave
to join Shady & By-Tor. They all flew deeper into
the twisting cave, the smoke & the smell getting worse as
they went, until they arrived in a cul-de-sac. Shady still
detected no signs of life, and Salád sensed no danger
other than that of smoke inhalation. After searching around,
they found the charred remains of a naga and some unidentifiable
smoldering wooden items. Shady cleared the air with a
quick spell so they could get a good look at everything, but
nothing appeared to be of any use to them. However, Salád
searched through his memory and realized that naga flesh is
used in some knowledge-based magic potions, so he collected
some samples. Of course, Nucleon couldn't resist asking
him how the naga meat tasted The
RKs then flew out of the naga's cave and continued on their
way toward the blue dragon's lair.
(7/6/08
R) Meanwhile, about 25 miles to the east-northeast, Draken,
Kendril & Standing Bear approached the caravan that had
been attacked earlier by the young blue dragon. Once again,
Naison Haisur greeted the RKs and introduced himself as lead
camel wrangler for the caravan. They introduced themselves
as RoachKings and Naison told them that Salád
DaJaro & some other RKs had assisted them earlier
when they were attacked by a blue dragon. He said that
they had told him the beast was dead, but that they had sought
to defeat its master, a greater blue dragon. Draken simply
replied, "That sounds like them." Naison told
them what direction the other RKs had flown, and they headed
off in the same direction. Within minutes, they passed
by the smoldering cave of the dead naga; the other RKs were
already gone, but they knew they were on the right track.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
After
flying about 40 miles further to the west-southwest, Shadwostorm,
By-Tor, Salád & Nucleon approached a pyramid-shaped
mountain, which looked like this:
Nucleon
confirmed that this location matched the information he had
gotten from the small dragon. Shady & By-Tor recalled
from Kendril's research that blue dragons tend to allow shifting
sand to cover the entrance to their lair since they can burrow
through it easily. The RKs discussed their various options
for finding the entrance to the lair. By-Tor reminded
everyone that blue dragons also have the ability to create illusory
terrain. Shady actively tried to disbelieve any of the
terrain around the mountain, to no avail. Salád
half-jokingly suggested turning himself into a giant badger
and digging through the sand, but instead used his illusory
expertise to look for a hidden escape tunnel on the mountain.
He, too, had no success. Shady used his psionic "Detect
Life" ability, but saw no unusual signs of life.
Of course, he realized he would have more luck at a closer range
than their current 2-mile distance, so they all moved closer
to the mountain.
When
the RKs got within 200 yards of the pyramid mountain, Shady
began to notice a slight static in his psionic senses and he
urged everyone to stop. Although he still didn't detect
any unusual life signs, he sensed that the psionic static was
coming from the mountain and he asked that they hold at 200
yards. Shady said, "I think we're here. Full
armor. I am sensing an interference to my psionics from
within this mountain. I suspect a psionic dragon."
Nucleon activated his truesilver power suit; Salád
thought that was a cool effect, so he made his Phantasmal Armor
look just like it. Salád also made sure he had
his RK mind crown activated for protection from psionic attacks,
since he also detected significant danger from this mountain.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Nucleon
then cast a "Wizard Eye" spell, which he performed
with such skill that the resulting incorporeal eye moved 3 times
faster than normal. He quickly sent it into the mountain
to recon the interior & try to find an entrance. Of
course, he initially saw nothing but solid rock, but as he moved
the eye lower into the mountain, he found a tunnel.
Meanwhile,
the RKs all moved 50 yards closer to the mountain. As they did
so, Shady's psionic static got worse. He attempted to locate
the specific source of the static by psionically triangulating
as he moved closer to the mountain. He sensed that the
static was emanating from a location near ground level, in the
center of the mountain.
 |
Nucleon
began moving his Wizard Eye through the tunnel inside the mountain,
working his way back toward himself, looking for an entrance.
It soon became apparent to Nucleon that his Wizard Eye was moving
through a maze; he often had to backtrack from a dead end to
find a through path. Of course, he could have sent the Wizard
Eye through the rock, but he wanted to track down the right
path through the maze. After about 20 minutes of searching through
the labyrinth and making mental notes about the turns he had
made, Nucleon's Wizard Eye found a passageway buried in sand.
He pushed the eye through about 20' of sand and it emerge from
the mountain into the open air. He announced to the RKs that
he had found the sand-covered entrance, and that it was located
in the funnel-shaped recess on the near side of the mountain.
As
the RKs discussed possible ways of burrowing through the sand
into the maze of tunnels, Salád mentioned that Dr. Hu
had said he would meet them here. Shady agreed and wondered
where the good doctor was. Just then, as if on cue, the RKs
heard a strange, grating noise coming from the top of a small,
rocky hill nearby. They turned to see something materializing
on the hilltop. It appeared to be a fully enclosed sedan chair
- Salád recognized the style as that used by nobles in
the Delmoric Alliance. When the sedan had materialized completely,
the door opened and Dr. Hu stepped out. The RKs told him what
they had discovered about the entrance to the maze of tunnels
under the mountain and they asked him if he had any way of getting
them through 20' of sand. Dr. Hu replied, "Honorable heroes,
I have some bad news. The teleporting function of my SEDAN does
not work within this mountain. I cannot enter by this method."
This information, combined with the psionic static he had already
experienced, led Shady to assume his own psionic teleporting
ability wouldn't work in the mountain, either.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
At
that point, Nucleon started to think his sonic blaster might
be the best option, so he fumbled through his oversized pockets
and drew out the gizmo. The RKs were all for it, but as he prepared
to fire the blaster and shift the sand aside (and Salád
prepared to listen with care so that he could mimic he effect
later,) Nucleon realized how loud it would be & he thought
better of it. He didn't want to announce their arrival to any
sentient beings inside the mountain. After further discussions,
Shady & Nucleon came up with a better idea. Nucleon would
shift the sand with a "Shape Earth" spell, creating
a 5'-diameter tube, and Shady would blast the sand with a wide-angle
bolt of "Black Lightning," solidifying it into glass.
It was risky, but they decided to go with it.
As
they approached closer to the mountain to get within range for
their spells, Shady's psionic static got worse, but it was not
yet debilitating. Nucleon cast his spell and successfully
shifted the sand, but Shady's spell produced limited results.
Only about half the sandwall was turned to glass, so
the RKs quickly flew through the tube single-file before it
filled in again with sand. Most of them got sand in their
cracks & crevasses, but they all made it through OK.
The sand tube filled back in completely after just a few minutes.
Once
inside, the RKs noticed the distinct smell of ionization in
the air, and Shady's psionic abilities were now slightly impaired
by the psi-static. They were in a chamber with a tunnel
leading out the far side. The walls appeared to be solid
excavated stone (just as Nucleon had described them earlier.)
Nucleon sent his Wizard Eye back into the maze to scout further
and find a way through. While he concentrated on the Eye,
searching through the maze of tunnels at breakneck speed, Shady
extended the RK telepathic link to include Nucleon. Eventually,
the Wizard Eye found a pathway that climbed upward, then passed
through several large veins of gemstone deposits, and emerged
in the floor of a large chamber of interest. The wall
behind the entrance was glassy smooth and curved forward on
either side & above. Another concave wall stood directly
in front of the Wizard Eye as it entered, so Nucleon moved the
Eye around it to the left. 
That's
when he saw a huge blue dragon standing in a larger chamber
beyond, looking directly at (& stepping toward) his Wizard
Eye. Nucleon immediately dispelled the Wizard Eye.
Of course, the RKs knew what he had seen because of their telepathic
link.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
(7/6/08
At
about that time, Draken, Kendril & Standing Bear arrived
at the pyramid-shaped mountain. Although there was no
immediate sign of the other RoachKings, they saw Dr. Hu's SEDAN
on the small hilltop. As they got closer to the mountain,
they began to sense the other RKs through their telepathic link.
Draken said hello and the other RKs directed him to the sand
pile over the tunnel entrance. Meanwhile, underground,
Salád cast some preparatory spells, including a Special
Knowledge Illusions Counterspell on everyone and "Invisibility"
& "Phantasmal Armor" on himself.
Once there, Draken saw a sizeable dip in the sand above the
entrance and he decided to blast his way through with a cosmically-powered
"Bolt of Energy" spell. He advised those RKs
on the inside of the chamber to stand back from the sandpile,
then blasted a tunnel through the sand with such energy that
it solidified into glass tube. Draken, Kendril & Standing
Bear then flew in with no trouble.
Everyone
agreed that they needed to make haste to the chamber of the
blue dragon. Even if it hadn't seen Nucleon's Wizard Eye,
Draken's energy blast had been a fair announcement of their
presence. Nucleon said he could lead them through the
labyrinth (remembering where his Wizard Eye had gone.)
Shady took the point and they all flew into the maze - only
to stop after the very first left turn when Nucleon realized
that the tunnels didn't seem the same as he had seen through
his Wizard Eye. Shady & Salád both suspected
illusion at work and actively tried to disbelieve the apparently
misplaced wall, but the stone stubbornly remained real.
Shady suggested someone cast another Wizard Eye spell, so Draken
did just that. After searching through the new maze for
about 22 minutes with his Wizard's Eye, Draken had an overview
of the labyrinth and knew how to reach the same uphill tunnel
Nucleon had followed into the dragon's chamber. With only
10-12 minutes left on Salád's Counterspells, the RKs
flew through the maze of tunnels at top speed. Dr. Hu
rode on Salád's flying carpet, while everyone else used
their own means of flight.
As
soon as they took off, they began to hear a constant laughing
roar that seemed to taunt them. At first, it was just
an annoying noise, but as they progressed, it got louder &
louder and by the time they neared the exit tunnel, sentences
could be heard through the booming roar. "Foolish
trespassers, do you honestly believe that you can enter my domain
and survive to tell the tale?" and other such taunts were
clearly discernible. Of course, the RoachKings merely
offered mocking replies and continued on their way. Shady
retorted, "Yes. Yes, we do," and Salád
quipped, "Gosh
guys, he's right. This will make a swell tale."
Unfortunately
for Shadowstorm, the psionic static got geometrically stronger
as they progressed through the maze as well. His psionic
impairment got worse & worse and by the time they reached
the exit tunnel, Shady had a really bad headache and his psionics
were at a major disadvantage.
/\
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When
the RoachKings finally reached the exit tunnel and started following
it uphill, the path was suddenly blocked by a solid stone wall
that appeared out of nowhere. The dragon's voice continued
to boom & roar unhindered, "None enters my lair without
first answering a riddle to prove your worth as an adversary!"
Of course, Salád tried actively to disbelieve the wall,
but it remained real enough to stop them. Even a very
effective Counterspell did not dispell the wall, a development
that fascinated Salád. He studied the wall closely
and came to the conclusion that this was indeed illusory magics,
but made permanent or "real" in some way. Shady
touched the wall, but got a roaring warning, "You will
not pass without answering a riddle!" The RKs decided
to listen to the riddle, and the booming voice said, "This
one is just for you, Shadowstorm:
"I
am as small as an ant, as big as a whale. I'll approach
like a breeze, but can come like a gale. By some I get
hit, but all have shown fear. I'll dance to the music,
although I can't hear. Of names I have many, of names
I have one. I'm as slow as a snail, but from me you can't
run. What am I?"
Salád
wanted to discuss the riddle amongst themselves before giving
an answer, and he asked the other RKs how many guesses they
thought they'd get. However, Shadowstorm was as impulsive
as ever and just blurted out, "a shadow." Amazingly,
the stone wall immediately disappeared (opening up the path
to the dragon's chamber,) so Shady simply replied to Salád,
"I only needed one." Salád complimented
Shady on a job nicely done. Shady then said, "I'll
take the point."
The
RKs quickly made their way to the dragon's chamber. On
the way, Draken made himself invisible & created a sword
from cosmic energy, Shady activated his invisibility enchantment,
and Salád extended invisibility to his flying carpet
& Dr. Hu. The
psionic static doubled in strength again just outside the chamber
of the dragon and Shady's psionic abilities were now practically
useless. As they entered the dragon's chamber, Shadowstorm
reminded Salád & the others that their goal was to
retain the dragon's hide for magical armor, so they didn't want
to do any direct damage to it with weapons or magic. Salád
wryly replied, "So don't hurt the poor dragon! Is
that what I'm hearing? Jeeze - all my life all I really
wanted to be was the best troubador I could be......but no,
here I am staring down a big nasty dragon and the party leader
says 'make sure you don't damage it in any way.' Right
then - 16 ton weight. Got it."
Shady
assured Salád, "We're gonna' break its neck."
At
the same time, the
dragon's roaring taunts continued, "You have no idea what
you've gotten yourselves into. I hope you've left instructions
for your next of kin to dispense with your estate. I can
taste your bones already - mmmmm, tastes like chicken."
etc. etc. . .
Shady
answered the dragon, "Buddy, we've heard it all before,"
and he & By-Tor rushed into the dragon's chamber.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
The
moment the RKs entered the chamber, a bolt of lightning came
from the far end of the chamber (out of sight beyond the curved
wall in front of them,) ricocheted off the curved, glassy-smooth
wall to their left, hit the ground directly in the center of
the entrance and exploded upon impact. Luckily for the
RKs, Shadowstorm & Draken shrugged off the damaged &
By-Tor's armor absorbed it.
As
they flew further into the chamber, the dragon roared, "A
lucky break, peons!" Salád flew his carpet
(with Dr. Hu on board) into the chamber and to the right, just
to the end of the curved wall. Shady, By-Tor & Draken
fanned out to the left, just at the other end of the concave
interior wall. As soon as they were all in position, the
area filled with tons of pure sand. Salád &
Dr. Hu both performed acrobatic leaps from the flying carpet
& landed out of the sand, but Salád's carpet was
buried. Shady & By-Tor managed to jump aside &
avoid being buried. Draken found himself under the sand,
but blasted his way out with a bolt of cosmic energy.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Shadowstorm
then attempted a flying slam attack on the huge blue dragon
they now saw at the far end of the large chamber beyond the
crescent-shaped wall. However, the dragon easily stepped
aside and dodged Shady's charge. By-Tor attempted a similar
slam attack on the dragon's front knee, but the dragon pulled
his leg aside & twisted out of the way. By-Tor and
Salád were both impressed with the agility of the big
blue beastie. Draken flew into the large chamber, getting
closer to the dragon. Salád was unsure if the dragon
was an illusion or real, so he cast a "Detect Invisibility"
spell, planning to search the chamber for other foes.
Dr. Hu also prepared a spell. The dragon attempted to
stomp on By-Tor, but the RoachKing dodged the huge clawed foot
of the beast.
Shadowstorm
quickly drew out his Wand of Crimson Bands. By-Tor grabbed
for the dragon's leg, planning to grapple the beast, but he
couldn't get a grip on the huge scaly limb. Draken then
flew up to a position just above the dragon. Seeing no
other invisible enemies, Salád used his Ring of Molecular
Disruption on the dragon's heart. Although the dragon
resisted the spell, he still took significant [half] damage.
Dr. Hu finished his spell and faded into incorporeal ether.
By this time, Shady cast his "Crimson Bands" spell
and the dragon failed to resist it, so the wrists of his front
legs were trapped by "handcuffs" of red energy.
/\ BACK TO TOP /\
By-Tor
slammed against the dragon, knocking him up against the chamber
wall but failing to take him off his feet. Still, with
By-Tor's superhuman strength, the slam caused serious internal
damage to the blue beast. Draken followed suit and punched
the dragon, also causing great damage. Salád once
again cast "Molecular Disruption" on the dragon, this
time successfully targeting its heart for even greater damage
than his previous spell. The dragon roared and chomped
at Draken with huge gnarly teeth, but Draken easily dodged the
attack.
Shadowstorm
performed an acrobatic flip & flying kick to the back of
the dragon's head. Since he was busy trying to bite Draken,
the beast didn't see it coming and took more serious damage.
By-Tor then punched the dragon's leg, debilitating it with more
serious damage. Draken then punched the dragon in the
head again, causing even more serious damage. Finally,
Salád used his Wand of Illusory Molecular Disruption.
When his double-damage spell took effect, the dragon disintegrated
into a whoosh of pure sand, which poured onto the floor of the
cavern. With that, a different part of the chamber floor
rumbled and another huge blue dragon erupted from the sand.
"Fools,
all you have done is destroy my doppelganger! Now face
my true wrath!"
/\
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GM's
Notes: The very next session was, in my estimation,
the "25th Anniversary" game for the RoachKings.
It occured via Screen Monkey on July 27, 2008, clearly
25 years after the formation of the RoachKings Campaign
in the late spring of 1983. Furthermore, all 6 of
the currently-active RK players took part in the session,
as well as one fairly new player and a second-generation
player, making it especially memorable for me. I
have included in this history the entire meleé,
turn by turn, directly from the Screen Monkey chat log.
The log is color coded by character and the conversations
through the Telepathic Link of the RK crowns are denoted
by: [ [ [ TL ] ] ]. Enjoy . . .
-
Charlie
|
/\ BACK TO TOP /\
Vurlymak
Meleé
(The following is edited from the Screen Monkey
Chat Log of 7/27/08)
ROUND
ONE (1)
1L)
LEO: I attack with a flying kick to the face 3(3d6)
Dragon gets no dodge
Leo rolls 28d6: 99 Damage for kick to face
Shady
& Raal hovered above the pummeled body of the huge blue
dragon exchanging fatigue bars & dragon-skinning tips. Nucleon,
Draken & By-Tor stood victorious over the blast-charred
& pummeled body of the second blue dragon. Kendril’s
dragon sword Varanor, sliced deeply into the third blue dragon’s
scales as the beast’s teeth ripped into Guy (Salád’s
illusionary hill giant warrior.) Standing Bear hovered over
Kendril’s shoulder, questioning the ethics of killing
the dragons & “crying inside.” Varanor tasted
the beast’s blood once more and Guy inflicted a critical
double-axe deathblow. Guy then bowed to Shady; Salád
just smirked. The RoachKings enjoyed a collective telepathic
“Hell Yeah!”
/\ BACK TO TOP /\
“The
battle’s over and the dust is clearing . . .”
As
soon as the melee was over, Dr. Hu reappeared, fading into existence
from an ethereal state. As soon as he was corporeal enough,
he began to speak: “Ah, so very happy to see that
you all survived the evil blue beastie . . .“ His voice
trailed off when his quick glance around the chamber revealed
no fewer than 3 dead dragons, and only the stone giant Guy in
need of first aid. It was obvious that he didn’t see the
battle & that he was only now deducing what had happened
from the aftermath he saw. After briefly inquiring as to who
the giant was, he said, “Clearly, I have chosen my associates
well in this matter.” For the first time, the RKs saw
a small grin begin to spread across the good Doctor’s
austere face, but he quickly resumed a more serious expression
and said, “I humbly offer my most sincere appreciation
to you all.” As he said this, he bowed deeply to all those
who had battled the blue dragons; Raal & others recognized
this as a sincere gesture of deep respect. He looked to Raal
and said, “Obviously, my life was in excellent hands with
you at my side,” but then he turned to all of the RoachKIngs
and said, “Even so, I might not have succeeded here without
the help of you all. But succeed I did . . .”
From
a large pocket in his multicolored robes, he produced a beautiful,
ornate hourglass. “Behold, the Hourglass of Epoche.”
Its 3-sided outer frame was made of marble, inlaid with countless
gemstones and engraved around the rim of the top & bottom
with ancient gilded magical symbols. The glass enclosure looked
like 2 crystal balls connected by a short flared tube. As he
held it up, the lower side glittered with a nebulous prismatic
fluid like a multi-colored lava lamp. Some RKs noticed that
the artifact itself seemed larger than the pocket from which
he had retrieved it, but this didn’t seem unusual for
the Doctor. “I have studied ancient tomes & scrolls
for nearly 15 years to correctly surmise where it could be found.
The men who recovered it for me were expert archaeological investigators
and they lost their lives trying to bring it to me. I believe
this artifact is the key to finally finding the fabled Fountain
of Lamneth. According to my research, the fluid inside
this hourglass is a sample taken directly from the legendary
fountain. I have invented a scanning device that can pinpoint
the location of the source of any material I put into it. My
only regret is that I must destroy this beautiful & powerful
relic in order to do so.” He paused a moment, seemingly
overwhelmed by the simultaneous joy & tragedy of the moment.
He quickly recovered his composure and continued: “I
believe the Fountain of Lamneth will provide me with the final
component I need in order to accomplish a goal I have had for
nearly seven decades. I require a stable, enduring source of
temporal manna where I might establish an academy devoted to
the study of time magics. Of course, the discovery & exploration
of this legendary place will be fraught with danger and I seek
to secure the location well enough to establish a continuing
presence there. I would be honored if the RoachKings would agree
to accompany me, for which you may well be rewarded with the
gift of the ages – immortality.”
At
this point, several RoachKings believed the Doctor was slightly
overstating the rewards to try to convince them to go along.
Still, all of them knew that if the legends about the Fountain
of Lamneth are even partly true, the possibility did exist.
(Even for a grey elf, death does eventually come.)
Either way, Dr. Hu left it there and allowed the RKs time to
consider the offer.
The
walls of the chamber had thick veins of crystalline deposits.
The curved wall behind the entrance tunnel where the RKs had
come in was multi-colored and ultra smooth – as if millions
of crystals had been melted and fused into a solid sheet of
curved glass. It formed a parabolic curve so that any lightning
bolt fired from the other end of the cavern ricocheted and automatically
hit the tunnel entrance.
Salád
took the time to retrieve his really nice flying carpet from
the pile of sand in which it was buried. Meanwhile, Shady,
Raal & By-Tor (along with any other RK who was willing to
help,) carefully skinned the huge blue dragon. This took some
time, so others went through the treasure hoard in the meantime.
Shady used enough skill to preserve the magical properties of
the huge blue dragon's hide. In addition, there were enough
scales & uncharred hide on the other 2 dragons to make at
least 2 very nice suits of armor & a several shields, although
they would not have the special magical properties of the primary
dragon’s hide – like immunity to electrical attack,
etc.
The
huge, ancient dragon’s chest scales were encrusted with
thousands of blue sapphires, along with some other gems and
at least one very large specimen of psionicite – a rare
cubic crystal with special properties that amplify the range
of psionic abilities. The RKs recently had learned of this mineral
and Shady was now convinced that these crystals enhanced such
traits as “Psionic Static” as well.
/\ BACK TO TOP /\
The
treasure hoard
By
the time the dragon-skinning started, Dr. Hu spoke about the
remainder of the treasure the dragon had accumulated: “Of
course, I will ask for no other part of the treasure hoard I
found here in the blue dragon’s lair. I will leave that
to you, the true heroes of the day. Surely, your connections
with local merchant houses will help provide a means to return
much of it to its rightful owners.” He described the location
of the dragon hoard, allowing Nucleon to tunnel into the large
treasure chamber.
Because
much of the treasure in the dragon’s hoard had been stolen
from local merchant caravans, Salád agreed that the RKs
should offer to return as much of it as possible to those local
merchants who had lost it in dragon raids. He offered one possible
way to do this, which was to let his father set up a “clearinghouse”
where merchants could reclaim certain items or make a claim
for a given amount of gold & silver by offering manifests,
invoices &/or other merchantly documentation establishing
ownership. Salád assured the RoachKings that a reward
would be offered for killing the dragons and recovering the
treasure. Of course, this didn’t necessarily keep anyone
from staking a claim to any item they found. After all, no one
would know what was found and what wasn’t.
Of
special note in the dragon’s treasure were several ancient
scrolls kept in jeweled cases in a separate treasure chest.
The scrolls contained writings in a language that only Salád
& Kendril recognized. The script was derivative of the oldest
known tongue of the College of Illusions. These scrolls contained
spells that took illusion to a level Salád had never
before seen – with titles such as “Create Object”
and “Create Warrior.”
Dr.
Hu agreeed to wait until after the RoachKings' journey to Jaro
to move forward with his plan to find the Fountain of Lamneth.
He understood and respected the fact that this was Salád’s
homeland and that there were duties and obligations involved.
He said he would meet them there. However, he also said he would
begin the process of analyzing the sample of fluid from inside
the Hourglass of Epoche, to which no one objected.
/\ BACK TO TOP /\
A
homecoming & feast in Jaro . . .
When
all was said & done in the dragon’s lair, the RoachKings
made their way southwest out of the mountains. The huge blue
dragon’s hide was so large it would have been nearly impossible
to conceal, even if they had wanted to. Besides, it made an
impressive trophy & it was completely appropriate to display
it prominently (without scaring anyone, of course) as they flew
across the Long Valley to Salád’s hometown of Jaro.
There, Salád’s father, Salar DaJaro, greeted them
all and especially welcomed his son home after his many years
away. As soon as he fully realized the significance of their
huge trophy hide, he immediately called for a celebratory feast
to be held that evening in his villa. He also sent out the official
word to all the prominent merchant families in the region that
the threat of the blue dragons had been ended at last. Of course,
he made sure to include the fact that his son, Salád,
was among the dragon killers. He assured the RoachKings that
word would soon reach the king and that songs of the heroic
RoachKings would be sung throughout the kingdom of Al Qam. He
seemed quite certain that the RKs would be offered a percentage
of the treasure they had recovered as a reward from the local
merchants and he stated that the reward offered by the Merchant
Coalition of Benghaz would be paid to them as soon as it could
be brought there. He enthusiastically cooperated with Salád's
plan to arrange a clearinghouse for returning money & goods
to the rightful owners, with a nominal commission for himself,
of course, just to cover administrative costs.
By
the time the celebration began that evening, Dr. Hu arrived
to join in the festivities. He told the RKs that he believed
he now knew where the Fountain of Lamneth was located and he
awaited their answer to his invitation to join him. Still, he
agreed that it could wait until after some well-deserved merriment.
He had waited many decades for this opportunity; a short while
longer would not cause him distress.
The
RoachKings partied hardy. For days.
The
celebration culminated in a reward ceremony. Halim DaFaraj,
a representative of the Merchant Coalition of Benghaz, arrived
and asked to see the dragons’ heads to officially verify
that they were dead. He acknowledged and certified that there
were indeed 3 blue dragon heads, including a huge, ancient one.
He then ceremoniously presented the RoachKings with 3 coffers
– two filled with 12,500gp each and one with 25,000gp
(the equivalent of a million dollars total bounty.) Salar DaJaro
then stepped up as the chosen representative of the local merchant
families and officially offered the RKs a reward of 30% of the
recovered coin & gemstones – a value of 16,130gp (which
could be taken in any combination of gems &/or coin.) Cheers
rang out in the villa as the RoachKings collected their prize
and stood before the crowd in front of their 3 blue-dragon-head
trophies.
When
the party was over . . .
Once
the wine & food was gone and all the guests had wandered
home, Salar began making the arrangements for returning the
remainder of the treasure to its rightful owners. He also now
had time to sit and talk with his wayward son. They caught up
on family news and reminisced about Salád’s childhood.
Salád relayed the story of the RKs’ recent journey
up the Grey River with his uncle Raja.
Salar
also mentioned that no one had heard from Salád’s
uncle Javeed for several months. Apparently, he had gone off
on one of his crazy expeditions and probably wouldn’t
return for some time. According to Salar, “The last time
anyone saw Javeed, he said he was headed for the Valley of the
Lost ‘to make sure that evil Führen of Bankor doesn’t
get his hands on the Staff of Saurius,’ whatever that
means.”
/\ BACK TO TOP /\
On
to the next adventure . . .
And
so, when everyone had fully recovered from the festivities and
Salád had finished reminiscing with his famiily, Dr.
Hu approached the party with a map and said: “Perhaps
the time has come to move forward with the next chapter in this
tale, my friends. I have here a map showing what I believe is
the location of the legendary Fountain of Lamneth.”
He rolled out the map and it looked something like this:
The Doctor continued, “When we first met, I was reluctant
to allow you inside my SEDAN. Its many secrets are best kept
guarded against strangers. However, now that I know you better,
I would be honored if you would all join me and teleport to
this location at the same time.” (Raal confirmed that
the inside of the SEDAN was much larger than the outside dimensions.)
“We can leave any time you wish and be there in seconds.
What say you, RoachKings?"
/\
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