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'.
Much
of this
is still a work in progress, so there may be incomplete
sections or parts that are in the wrong place chronologically.
This is being distilled from my own 2-inch-thick stack
of notes, as well as dozens of pages from Devo, so be
patient. If you have notes of your own, please
send them to me so I can make this history as complete
& accurate as possible.
The
World of Lia was created in late 1982
as a DragonQuest™ RPG setting
and the
RoachKings Campaign started in the spring of 1983.
Because the RoachKings played
far more often than any other group, they outgrew the
single-genre DQ system by about 1987. That's
when I launched the "Starbridge" campaign arc,
which took the RKs to other worlds & distant galaxies.
In the process, I borrowed monsters, charts & whole
sections of rules from other games in order to present
scenarios that challenged the RoachKings. Aftermath,
Marvel Super Heroes, Car Wars, Traveler,
and the Star Trek RPG are just a few of the games
I adapted for use in my expanding RPG universe. This always
meant a lot of work converting things, but I stuck to
DragonQuest
as the core rules system; everything else was converted
to DQ.
My RPG universe remained so throughout the end of the
millenium. Then,
around 2000, I decided to switch to the GURPS™
gaming system, making my job as GM much easier. This is
why the RKs left from the DQ World of Lia on
their voyage around the world in the "Point of No
Return" scenario, but returned to the GURPS
World of Lia.
This
page documents
the "DragonQuest Era"
of the RoachKings Campaign. It
was only after going back through all the notes mentioned
above and transcribing them onto these web pages that
I realized the fact that the beginning of the "Point
of No Return" adventure coincided with the RKs' 30th
year in game-world time.
So, this page also documents the first 30 years of adventures
for the RoachKings.
This narrative
grew organically out of 17
years of gaming on the World of Lia & beyond. The
storyline is not set in stone; there is plenty of room
for growth or adaptation anywhere anyone else's memories
are stronger than mine. -
the DragonQuest Era.
The
adventures of the RoachKings from the "Point of Know
Return" forward are documented on Page
2: Beyond the Point of Know Return and Page
3: The Journey to Al Qam. The current, ongoing
adventure is documented on Page
4: The Current Adventure.
---
Charlie
|
Early
Campaign History [1983-'84]
The
elite fellowship of heroes known as the "RoachKings" ("RKs")
was formed in the town of Görbén in the spring of
the year 11339 with the unlikely
teaming of Shadowstorm - a chaotic wood elf fighter-mage - and
Shalomar - a nomadic dwarf with a grizzly bear companion named
"Fuzzy." Their founding ideal was "Honor & Friend
Above All" and they set out on several lucrative adventures
together, including the Island of the Ring of Life & the
Black Mansion. Before long, the fellowship grew to include the
hawkman healer Ozone, the burly human fighter By-Tor, and the
gray elf Namer Kendril Longstride. Tragedy
eventually struck, however, when Shalomar lost his life on a
solo mission (although he did technically have his bear along
for back-up.) The loss was sorely felt, but the addition of
the tiger shape-changer ninja Raal a short time later seemed
to bring the RKs out of this bad-luck slump. Eventually, the
RoachKings membership would include the elven sorceror Prince
Draken, the cloud giant Myrddin Quindoklyn, the Kelnor dwarf
Quandrony, the elven shukenja Dero Zane, the elven fire-mage
Yngwe Moonflame and, most recently, the human illusionist Salád
DaJaro.
During
the early years, the RoachKings operated out of a northern port
town called Görbén, located on the shores of the
Icy Ocean in the Braish Barony of Gönham. The town served
their purposes due to its location on the northernmost frontiers
of the kingdom of Bráhüm. While the Braish King
maintained many rigid laws against magic-users within the Nèr
Brahûm
Kingdom proper, those laws weren't quite so enthusiastically
enforced in a frontier town like Görbén. In fact,
to the southwest, in the "Kupal" (or "Wizard Lands") area of
the Gönham Plains, many wizards had established strongholds
in defiance of the Braish king's strict laws. There was even
a small village called "the Shacks" - located inside the giant
crater of some ancient meteoric impact on the Gönham Plains
- where one might find herbal, mineral, or tutorial resources
for studying the magic arts. (Many of these wizards had been
vanquished within recent years by a young local hero named Amblinon
and his friend Salád, but that's another
campaign altogether.)
The RoachKings set out on many adventures in the Wizard Lands,
gaining experience, new magical weapons & a considerable
amount of gold along the way. They broke into the Ice Pyramid,
probed the depths of the infamous Endless Pit, and vanquished
a dreaded black mage.
In contrast to the grim, bloody business of dungeoneering &
monster-killing, the RoachKings also formed a musical band (in
fact, talent with a musical instrument is one of the requirements
for membership.) They toured frequently, playing taverns & inns
along the way to their latest adventures. However, to a public
accustomed to harpsichords & mandolin-strumming troubadors,
the RKs' hard-edged musical style - which they called "rock
& roll" - was an assault on defenseless eardrums. It took many
people aback in the early days. Their act really came into its
own when the RKs stretched the envelope further by introducing
special audio & visual effects created by the illusory stylings
of Lazaruk Philor, a short-term associate of the RKs. No one
on Lia had ever heard a guitar sound like this (nor had they
ever seen a light show like it) and the RKs soon acquired a
cult following among the younger crowd.
For
the most part, the RKs were only in the adventuring game for
the money & the glory in those days. They did some hired-gun
work for the governor of Görbén as well as some
freelance adventuring in the southern highlands. They collected
a lot of treasure, including valued magic items and better weapons.
Within a few years, their combined skills with sword & spell
(as well as their increasing popularity as a tour band) brought
them the means to afford Party Central - an estate east of Görbén,
along the rocky shores of the Icy Ocean.
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RoachKings
Take Flight [1984-'85]
c.
11343 - After capturing several
gryphons on an adventure in the Ered Atin (Long Mtns,) the RKs
began to breed the fantastical creatures and soon became well-known
for their flying mounts. (It was during this time that they
explored Krakltop?) Along with certain magics that allowed them
to fly, they used the gryphons to extend their range of exploration
to the west.
Into
the "Untamed Lands."
First,
they defeated frost giants in the icy Cone Hills along the borders.
However, this cost the life of a young human mercenary from
Bromalas named Jonas Dimerius III, who took a javelin through
the heart.
The
RoachKings went on to explore many dangerous places in the Untamed
Lands, including Siltwood, Devil's Tower, Grizzville in the
Briny Swamp, gnoll country, the ruins of Ivincus, Cratertop
Mountain, and Haddiger's Wood. It was during this period that
they first became aware of the increasing number of dragons
in the Delsen Hills to the south. The black dragon Spaal became
the first of its kind to meet its demise at the hands of the
RoachKings. The RKs also encountered an army of fire giants
in the north, led by one Kradrinko. This ambitious general among
fire giants had established a keep in the Untamed Lands & actually
had tamed some red dragons in his chaotic desire to wage war
on the other dragons AND the Braish Barons. The fire giant Blaze,
who had started out with the RKs, later joined with Krad's army.
Roots
Later,
the RoachKings were instrumental in the re-discovery of the
Roots of Thaumaturgy deep in the craggy Dirbain Mountains. This
re-introduced many lost arcane magic colleges & spells to the
world.
To the east of Kendril's homelands in the Old Forest, in the
frontier hill country leading up to the great Dirbain Mountain
Range, the RKs vanquished an evil necromancer from is castle
and Kendril took possession of the estate, which he renamed
Castle Kendril. This castle is not far from Kar Tola, the tree-top
city Ozone calls home in the giant feather-firs (the only treetops
above the natural treeline of the Dirbain Mountains.)
Dragon
Wars
Some RoachKings then became involved in the so-called "Dragon
Wars" between the western Baronies of
Brahûm
(Gönham & Eblerhüm) and the invading hordes of dragons
from the Delsen Hills. Kendril, Shady & Raal became well-known
for standing beside the mighty Dragon Knights of Bráhüm
(such as Sir Amblinon) during several dragon attacks on the
keep at Terin Ketdel, now called Terin Drakül. For his
service to the Baron Von Ebler during this time, Kendril was
knighted Sir Kendril Longstride of Eblerhüm.
Time
Bomb
Once, in a battle against wights & other greater undead in the
Eblerhüm Barrows, the RoachKings were flung into the distant
future by a "Time Bomb." In this future, all that remained of
the world of Lia was a string of small islands. In order to
return to their own time, the RKs had to decipher the secrets
of the Gates of Time.
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The
3 Wishes Tour [c.1985]
In
11347, the RoachKings joined with
the mysterious ranger Kal-El in reclaiming the ancient kingdom
of Antoros. They spent much of this adventure playing as a band
in local pubs & taverns along the way as a cover. After
covertly invading lands held by a conquering dictator and kept
under a curse for centuries, they found the keys to lift the
curse. In the process, they freed a female djinni named "Jeannie"
and discovered that Kal-El was in fact the rightful heir to
the throne of Antoros. In gratitude for all they had done, Jeannie
blinked her eyes and granted the RKs one major wish:
the creation of a small cloud-enshrouded island in the sky upon
which stood their new estate - truly a palace in the sky.
9
Sept 11347 - Upon leaving Kal Terin, "Party Central II"
(PCII) flew around the Lordion Forest to the south, the air
ship docked in its hanger. Draken was dropped off at Castle
Kendril to check up on the elven troops and to discover Quandrony's
factor. Cathol was dropped off at Gergen to seek out Lorben.
Ozone, with Kendril, flew the air ship to Kar Tola to deliver
special herbs to the healer there, with whom Kre was staying.
Kre, in return for his eyesight, offered his service to Kendril,
who optioned him to serve Baron Von Ebler instead. Meanwhile,
PCII was flown to PCI, white flags flying, and the task of moving
was completed during RoachKing training. By-Tor & Quesfar
partied face. Kendril arrived from Telerba in the meantime and
insisted that Baron Von Ebler would be happy to hire Shady &
Raal.
11348
And
so
the new Island Party Central (IPC) began its trek south, white
flags flying, at about 30,000'. Ozone docked with Party Central
for a short while as it floated southward and divided treasure
from as far back as Krackletop. Ozone left long before they
reached Terin Ketdel (formerly Ket Amon.) At Terin Ketdel, Kendril
was recognized as an Eblerhüm knight but, with proper papers,
was excused from service for the time being. However, he did
invest a chalice & holy water with counterspells for illusions
as a favor to Hollister, leader of the Dragon Force. Meanwhile,
Raal & Shady fought it out in a mock hand-to-hand combat
in front of some troops to demonstrate some self-defense techniques.
Then, after a small black dragon attack, IPC was taken to Kendril's
home village of Greybark in the Old Forest & parked.
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RKs
& the Baron Von Eblerhüm [c.1985-'86]
On
gryphon-back, Kendril, Shady & Raal flew down the Drawberry
River toward Telerba. They passed Tridot the Tripple "playing
cello" on the river bank on shroomies. Then, on to Telerba
and to Baron Von Ebler. Kendril, Raal & Shady were all briefed
on the Baron's plot & the two spy/thief/assassins were asked
to take on false identities while in Telerba. They assumed the
roles of the merchant millionaire Bruce Wayne and his bodyguard
Random Blackmane. Kendril learned of the Baron's plans, including:
building clout with the Braish King, developing a secret alliance
with the Fire Giants of the Chaos Lands (formerly Untamed Lands)
so that they do not attack south of Ered Atin, & buying
off a few Dragon Guards for his service after his secession
from the kingdom. The RoachKings asked to be assigned to a mission
to the South (Delmor.) The Baron offered to give them one rune
weapon each for fulfilling the quest of returning to him a ship
designed to handle even the waterways of the Lesi Nais. They
seemed to think they'd need the weapons now, so he sent them
on a spying mission to Terin Ketdel to find some greedy Dragon
Guards. They did not impress the Baron: Sir Kendril Longstride
of Eblerhüm escorted a new squadron of men to Terin Ketdel
and with them were a merchant (and his bodyguard) who sold magic
armor (6) to Hollister for his sargeants & lieutenants.
Bruce Wayne, millionaire, gave a certain Lt. an hypnotic stare
over dinner and the two rendezvoused later, the Lieutenant in
a post-hypnotic trance & answering questions about knights
on the take. He knew of none. The next morning they left, escorted
by a tired squadron of guards & Kendril, and returned to
Telerba. Although unimpressed, the Baron provided the promised
blades, assured by Kendril that the two would return with the
ship. Kendril was assigned to escort R & S to the Dinli
Dale & return.
March
11348 - Raal, Shady & Kendril were flying up the River Drawberry
from Telerba when they spotted a troll chasing a herd of mustangs
with no success. Not paying the scene much attention, the RoachKings
flew on to Greybark, home village of Kendril's family in the
Old Forest, to IPC. There they trained and headed off in their
respective directions.
Cathol,
having met with Lorben, contacted Kendril about the quest for
the arcane realm of Antoros. Kendril, meanwhile, was investigating
suspicions of a voodoo cult near Skilly Lake. He discovered
mostly orcs there and rotting corpses under a tentacled creature's
hold (actually in its septic.)
Ön
11349 - After training time, Raal
& Shady partied hardy with the Valkyries for New Year's
Eve in Kel Ket. Then, an agent of the Baron Von Ebler brought
news of the threat in Nefaron. IPC flew south over the southern
provinces of Llofal and late in the afternoon, the fog set in
from the Forest of Ween in the south. Suddenly, Shady was snatched
up by a giant buzzard and carried off into the forest. Raal
& his twins and the Valkyries followed the huge feathered
beast to a multi-obelisk altar. Upon arrival, Shadowstorm's
wrists and ankles were grabbed & bound by silver snake-shackles.
The RoachKings pondered for a short while but soon the buzzard
men arrived and Raal & the Valkyries had to defeat them
w/out Shady. This accomplished, Raal gave it all he had to break
one of the silver shackles binding his partner, but he seemed
to pull a muscle. However, the condition only lasted a short
while. After a little more pondering, Shady asked a Valkyrie
to stand over him, creating a shadow out of which he could shadow-walk
to freedom. This worked, with one side effect: the Valkyrie
was then entrapped by the 3 unbroken shackles. Raal, while punching
the obelisk in anger over his lost strength, realized by the
crack he caused that his strength was back and he took it upon
himself to break the rest of the shackles. He proceded to do
so and the RK entourage flew on to Nefaron. They searched the
garden for a while and only afer dark did Shadowstorm make the
key observation in the stars which lead Raal to the answer to
the way in. They arranged a dial in a hidden apperture to the
zodiac sign that was in its highest stage (Cancer?) The RKs
discovered only the first 2 traps and maze of the dungeon, including
the pit where they had to fight their alter-egos, before they
shadow-walked to Kendril, Raal by way of a potion, of course.
spring
11349 - the RKs celebrated their 10th year as an adventuring
fellowship.
They
found Kendril training in Greybark and wondering where IPC was
& where Cathol was. They trained for a month or so (until
March 11349) and it was only a few days before By-Tor showed
up with IPC.
Renegade
Slaver - Grindri? Raal?
Back
to Nefaron (w/ Kendril?) where they (apparently) retrieved the
box with the evil mage's force in it.
Chiles
had learned of riches & adventure to be had out Bromalas-way.
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The
Twilite Zone [1987]
RoachKings'
Quest of the Distant Stars - Beginnings . . .
Raal
was told by Aklar that the roots of the Ninja cults lay in the
ancient realm of Delmor. Shadowstorm made a reading which indicated
that many ships have passed through the "starbridge"
without necessarily trying or wanting to. Meanwhile, Cloak &
Dagger arrived to "talk."
Cathöl
found out that Lorben had had corresppondence from the high
elves and knew now what he must do. He explained his past and
his lineage and offered them all his knowledge of time travel
if they aided him in retrieving the triple-crown. Kendril knew
of the Dream-Weaver and was offered a fantasy test of his worthiness
to gain the knowledge he sought. Quesfar was given a task to
complete on his own at first. Red Beard saw potential in the
young barbarian and used him to kill in the arena on Frost Isle.
By-Tor
was meanwhile searching for the Sea Hermit of the Northern Waters,
in order to find the secret of keeping one's pirate fleet afloat
on waters shaken by the storm giants. After doing a small favor
for the Shaman, Blaze was made leader of Kradrinko's Dragon
Force, but to prove himself worthy, he had to kill a young dragon
single-handedly in its cage. It was captured and knew nothing
and so had to be killed.
A
messenger found Ozone to warn him that his home, Kar Tola, was
threatened by growing armies of gargoyles in the north. Meanwhile,
Bolderskol, gnome anti-paladin, arrived on the scene to destroy
the air ship, as commanded by the clerics of Urdlen. Ozone's
religious overtones became apparent more & more as he began
showing great respect for the falcons of he world. Intelligence
reports claimed the cloud giant army which had circled the Erekets
had disappeared. They also spoke of a knight hero, Amblinon
of Brah, who was stirring things up in Maloria.
The
RoachKings gave Draken his first official duty: to check on
the elves at the Cabros Palace & discover Quandrony's excuse
for settling down. What's he, found a wife?
In
11350, the RoachKings travelled
south to investigate a strange phenomenon that would lead them
on an adventure to the stars and back again. A "zone of unending
twilight" had moved in from offshore and slowly was spreading
over Halfast & the southern reaches of the Coastal Steppes.
Apparently, this "Twilite Zone" was causing widespread hallucinations
and mass insanity. Furthermore, anyone who ventured into the
Zone either didn't come back at all, or they were completely
insane upon their return.
Investigated
Bromalas; By-Tor's father was in Bromalas & wanted to take
them to Safeport, went on w/out them. Went to Bagagdad &
hired Dar (Beastmaster) as guide, went to Oracle of Mun, told
them "The Temples of Syrinx hold a secret to the Zone of
Unending Twilite. The key to it can be found in the Great Pyramid
of Vuté. Use the key, unlock the door, see what your
fate might have in store. No escape, no place to hide, you and
time and space collide." Then took on "Grasshopper"
as an NPC & went to Great Pyramid. Found a statue w/footlockers
in which were many red metal triangles & "guitar-like
device w/metal strings & a solid, 2" thick body."
21
Okt 11350 - From there, they went to the Temples of Syrinx &
became belligerent, were sent to the dungeon w/Hinjon, where
they found out that the priests were from another world &
represented the "Federation." Tunnel and shadow walk
out, leaving an angry Hinjon behind. It was here that Shady
became obsessed with the "tunneled intelligence" that
he now knew was "out there somewhere."
Having
sought wisdom in the stars & from the Oracle of Mun, and having
gathered keys & clues to its origin, the RoachKings sailed into
the Twilite Zone aboard several ships, including By-Tor's. Once
in the Zone, nearly all the RKs began to experience odd, indescribable
things and some of them lost their sanity. They also encountered
a field of absolute vacuum, through which they sailed with the
aid of shaping & other magical preparations by Kendril, Ozone
& Shadowstorm.
Upon
finally reaching the island at the heart of the Zone, the RKs
marched inland to discover an odd group of buildings unlike
any they had ever seen. They were airtight with a maintained
atmosphere, etc., to support life. Gaining access took the most
skilled lock picks & trap specialists in the party. Inside,
the RKs found what seemed to be a strange "port of call" including
a tavern area with many different types of customers and rooms
to let down the hall. However, as they mingled with those at
the bar (most of whom were not completely sane either,) the
RKs began to realize that many of them were not even of species
from this world. Then, they were approached by several priests
and things soon began to fall into place.
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The
Starbridge
The
complex had been built by the devoted followers of Celestian,
the "god of the stars & distant travel." The priests maintained
their temple here and had created a "Starbridge," a way to travel
to other worlds, stars, galaxies, etc. In fact, its frequent
use had made it necessary to provide quarters & services for
visitors from other worlds during their temporary stays here.
However, the priests explained that someone, somewhere, had
used the Starbridge for a purpose opposed to those of Celestian
and that the deity had put the portal under some form of curse,
causing the spread of the Twilite Zone, along with an increase
in the severity of its effects. They believed that the only
way to repair the damage was for a group of prophesied heroes
to travel to the source of the problem and somehow correct it.
They dared not send anyone through the Starbridge unless it
was to repair what was done, so all the alien travellers were
stranded here.
By-Tor,
intrigued by the apparent advantages of worshipping Celestian,
began to investigate the religion & after months of study, he
became a cleric of the order. Eventually, he learned the extensive
ritual required to travel via the Starbridge.
As a "test run," the priests agreed to allow By-Tor & the other
RKs to travel to another world within the same star system for
several months. They journeyed to the ice world Ogh!, where
Myrddin rode a woolly mammoth and Kendril was nearly crushed
by an abominable snow man. Eventually, the RKs taught the coastal
centaurs the secret of smelting iron to help in their fight
against the viking sailors of the invading dragonships.
All
the following characters signed the "Travel Agreement"
and journeyed through the Starbridge:
By-Tor,
Myrddin, Draken, Shady, Kendril, Quandrony, Ozone, Raal, DZ,
and Mutt
 |
The
RoachKings then attempted to Starbridge to a certain red star
which Shadowstorm was sure held their destiny. However, By-Tor's
Starbridge Ritual was not as successful as they had hoped and
they landed on the planet Austi in some far-off galaxy. This
world was the apparent result of a technological society that
had destroyed itself, but humanity was hanging on by a thread
in the wastelands. It was full of post-holocaust mutants and
strange two-wheeled riding machines that held some kind of fascination
for Shadowstorm. Raal made a name for himself in a death-fight
arena the locals called "Thunderdome" and some of the RKs made
a killing betting on him. Imagine the fools not wanting to bet
on the "little guy." Although they were eventually
healed of the wounds, Shady & Ozone both were shot by the
strange projectile weapons common to this world (which used
a small chemical explosion to propel small balls of lead.) The
RKs did manage to take out a large storage of fuel kept by the
wasteland militants who had shot Shady. Still, it didn't take
the RKs long to adapt to this world and find the location they
needed to build a Starbridge altar and leave. This time, however,
By-Tor was much more accurate with the Starbridge Ritual.
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The
Federation
The "star" pointed out by Shadowstorm turned out to be an entire
galaxy, but By-Tor did transport them to a planet in the right
galactic neighborhood. As the RKs explored the woodlands in
which they found themselves, Kendril began a conversation with
a maple tree, who seemed quite insensed with the local oak trees
but had little information of use to them. After locating a
town, however, the RKs soon found a tavern in which the hedonistic
atmosphere reminded them of the tents of the dessert bedouins
near Baghaghdad on Lia. By mingling with the locals, they learned
that this world was called Argelius II & that it belonged to
an interstellar "Federation of Planets." In fact, the Federation
starship USS Enterprise was now in orbit here. It didn't
take much asking around before the RKs met James T. Kirk, the
captain of this starship, enjoying some shore leave on Argelius
with his Ship's Surgeon Dr. Leonard McCoy & Chief Engineer Montgomery
Scott. The RKs introduced themselves as ambassadors from what
they believed to be a distant galaxy and struck up a cordial
conversation with Cpt. Kirk & his crew. By-Tor & Scotty hit
it off almost immediately when they both ignored the "light-blinking"
devices in their tables and demonstrated their own way of applauding
the beautiful Argelian dancers.
 |
 |
The
RKs spoke with the crew of the Enterprise for some
time before some of them wandered off with young ladies. However,
a scream in the night led to the discovery of Kendril, bloody
knife in hand, standing over the dead body of a dancing girl.
Kendril had no memory of the critical few minutes when the woman
was killed and, while embroiled in the murder mystery as its
prime suspect, he didn't even know for sure whether or not he
had killed the young dancer that foggy night. The investigation
eventually took the parties aboard the starship Enterprise,
where the RKs were remanded to the briefing room as suspected
accomplices for a short time. Raal asked about the "facilities"
and Draken made a wise crack about "don't you mean 'litter
box,' Raal?" which nearly led to Draken being pummeled
into a bulkhead by the ninja.
 |
 |
Eventually,
the Vulcan Science Officer, Spock, attempted to "mind-meld"
with Kendril to confirm his innocence. Although the link nearly
caused damage to both Mr. Spock & Kendril due to their diametrically
opposed neural patterns (one logical, one magical,) it was discovered
that an evil, non-corporeal entity that fed on fear had possessed
Kendril that night. Once the demonic creature was exposed, the
RoachKings' experience in dealing with such beings made them
well-qualified to help Cpt. Kirk & his crew vanquish the entity
from the ship, which they did. Ozone was on the "Earth
park" deck of the ship (working to control the climate)
while some of this occurred.
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Kirk
asked Kendril & Shady for the phasers back & they agreed,
but Shady secretly took one anyway. The RKs were given a tour
of the Enterprise & they saw the bridge, VIP lounge,
etc. Shady quickly realized that the "channeled intelligence"
he had forseen in the stars from Lia all those months ago was
in fact the computer technology on board the starship.
The RKs played a concert with Spock, who joined them
on Vulcan lyre; Kendril played an actual electric guitar for
the first time. Kendril gave Kirk a "Naming 101" lecture
on the use of manna. Scotty took By-Tor on a tour of Engineering
& the maintenance shops, etc. DZ asked Spock to teach him
the Vulcan nerve pinch.
Bones
made a "trade of knowledge" with Ozone after witnessing
his resurrection of the Argelian dancer. Ozone was allowed to
examine a medical tricorder & in return, he tought McCoy
about herbal healing & his art of resurrection. It was agreed
that no one outside of Kirk, Spock, Bones, and the dancer's
family would learn of the resurrection. DZ obtained operating
instructions from the computer for the Federation communicator
& tricorder.
Draken
sat down and told the Enterprise computer all about
elves and his homeworld of Lia. By-Tor gave the computer detailed
charts of the Son system (location of Lia) & of the Feiin
system (location of the "Road Warrior" planet, Austi.)
DZ also probed the computer memory banks for info on the Priests
of Syrinx. He discovered that they had disappeared in the Old
Earth Chalendar year 2112 when they had fled Earth after the
return of the humans from the outer planets. Their warpdrive
ship had been caught in a strange beam of energy. DZ got together
with By-Tor & they deduced that this mysterious beam was
in fact a Starbridge. DZ described to the computer the effects
of the deep Twilite Zone, its size & rate of spread, and
asked for an estimate of when the spread began. The computer
answered with "approximately 50 Lian years." By-Tor
correlated this with the appearance of the Priests of Syrinx
on Lia, then fed into the computer a diagram of the "circuit
board" floor of the Temples of Syrinx on Lia as he remembered
it. The computer identified this as a flawed circuit board.
By-Tor then described the Starbridge and all its time-dilation
effects to the computer (relating it to the transporter technology
he had seen on the ship.) DZ then asked the computer if it was
possible that the Priests of Syrinx from Earth's past and the
Priest of Syrinx now on Lia could be one & the same. "Affirmative.
964.362:1 probability." Somehow, the Priests of Syrinx
had been transported through time as well as space, from Earth
in the year 2112 to Lia a hundred years later. By-Tor fed in
star charts from Lia to inform the computer about its location.
He then prayed to Celestian, which led him to believe that the
Priests of Syrinx were a "disease" on Lia. At Kirk's
suggestion, he began to search the computer banks for a suitable
starbridging planet (and he found Delta Vega.) The next step
called for two of the Federation Starfleet officers - Kirk and
Spock - to travel back to Lia with the RoachKings, apprehend
the Priests of the Temple of Syrinx & return them to face Federation
justice for alleged past war crimes.
Afterward,
the RoachKings transferred to the USS Yorktown for
transport to Starbase 17. Shady found himself in the brig at
one point (and got all the other RKs confined to quarters,)
over nothing more than smoking strange herbs in the Officers'
Lounge with Raal. The problem was made worse when Shady refused
to submit to security personnel onboard the ship. Raal used
his metabolic control to simulate choking to death, but when
Dr. Smith awakened him in sickbay, he apologized to Cpt. Serring
for their misunderstanding of Federation law. Raal was confined
to his quarters with the other RKs while Shady sat it out in
a "soft cell."
Two
weeks after the Argelius II incident, the RKs arrived at Starbase
17. Shady exchanged some ivory tusks, others traded in gems,
etc., for Federation Credits. At a summit meeting with Commodore
Burke and several Federation ambassadors, the Commodore asked
the RKs if they were "official" ambassadors from Lia,
they said they were. He asked if they had any official message
from their world, they didn't (their world is not united.) When
asked how the Federation could contact their world, Raal, DZ
& Shady respond in unison, "Don't call us, we'll call
you!" Burke stressed that the "technologies"
(magic) from Lia must not be allowed to influence Federation
worlds, and likewise Federation technology should not be introduced
to Lia.
The
RKs (except Shady) were invited to visit Memory Alpha to search
the Federation database for any information they sought (an
attempt to convert the RKs to techies?) Shady was not allowed
on any Federation world other than Starbase 17 & the planetoid
where they built the Starbridge altar.
The
Ambassador
from the Skorr (an avian species with
beaks) introduced himself to Ozone at Starbase 17 and then called
Ozone "a disgrace." (The Skorr race believe that the
weak or injured should be allowed to die for the betterment
of the species.) Ozone set a mist creature on the ambassador
and this led to a confrontation; Commodore Burke had to step
in to stop it. Meanwhile, with a vehement recommendation from
Dr. Leonard McCoy, Ozone got a limited clearance to visit Earth
& to study Federation medicine. While on Earth in the Old
Calendar year 2267-'68, Ozone visited Stonehenge (& did
a wind-speak ritual.) He also visited the cloud city of Stratos
on Ardana and neutralized the zeinite gas poisoning of at least
one miner. By the time he arrived at Delta Vega to Starbridge
home, Ozone was a Rank 10 Healer.
Commodore
Burke informed the RKs that the Federation was ready to strike
a deal about the extradition of the Priests of Syrinx from Lia.
The Federation Council wanted the Priests to stand trial and
they wanted a way to control the Starbridge port in Federation
space. Kirk & Spock, along with a group of Federation ambassadors,
would travel back to Lia with the RKs. By-Tor would supervise
a Starfleet Corps of Engineers crew to build his "shrine"
on Delta Vega. That way (as By-Tor allowed them to believe,)
they could shut it down if necessary. Three months after arriving
at Starbase 17, By-Tor began construction on Delta Vega. When
the Celestian altar was finished and the appropriate time of
year came around, the RKs, along with James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock
& several Federation Observers & Ambassadors, went through
the Starbridge and travelled to Lia.
From
the time they left Lia through the first Starbridge to the time
they finally returned to Lia from the Federation, the RoachKings
were gone from their homeworld for a total of 2 years, 1 month.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Return
of the 'Kings [1988]
The
RoachKings sailed back out of the Twilite Zone in the spring
of 11353.
The
RKs took Kirk & Spock to the Temples of Syrinx; the Starfleet
officers arrested the head Priests & took them back to the
Celestian Temple in the Twilite Zone. As soon as the celestial
bodies were alligned correctly, they starbridged back to the
Federation. As soon as this occured, the Twilite Zone ceased
spreading its malevolent manifestations out over the mainland.
The curse was lifted, the debilitating effects of the Twilite
stopped, and the Twilite Zone immediately shrank back to its
original size. A small area, a sphere of influence just larger
than the Isle of Trile, remained in a perpetual dusk-like twilight,
but with only benign "strangeness" effects. Of course,
the RoachKings were hailed as heroes in the Morkan Rain Forest
(where Raal's hometown of Benfang is located,) in Halfast, and
among the bedouin tribes of the Coastal Steppes.
Late
April, 11353 - The RKs (Kendril, Shady & By-Tor) went back
to Castle Kendril to drive out the dragon that had taken up
residence. Amblinon & Rorq aided the RKs with this endeavor.
Okt
'353 - Ozone & Rorq visited the Plane of Air through a nexus,
(retrieving?) the Star of Bali.
Meanwhile,
DZ joined the other RKs & they traveled with Amblinon to
Greybark and then to Highbrow, where the RoachKings (Shady,
Kendril, By-Tor & DZ with Amblinon?) played for the Viscount.
Then they movde on to Hold O'Pey, where they played for Duke
Llancy. With their gigs under their belts, the RKs traveled
to Nogar's Canyon in the N. Topeka Wilds & dealt with some
evil druids. Then it was back to Castle Kendril to discuss Antoros
before heading back to PI for the rest of the year.
mid-Ön
11354 - Kendril & DZ traveled
to Kel Ket (bearing gifts) to catch up with Quandrony. The dwarf
had been studying earth magics there under a mage named Alde'
the Baldy. The 3 decided to head down to (DZ's old) Master Ng's
(in the eastern? Forest of Ween,) where they trained for a month
or so. Eventually, they found themselves fighting a slime dragon
in the nearby swamps (near an Ent grove.) Shady & By-Tor
shadow-walked into the midst of this battle, and the dragon
didn't stand a chance.
20-21
Feib '354 - Shady & By-Tor were in Palmar to see the Travelin'
Man about a "48 Hr. Notice of Invasion" ('Vette Butler
& Johnny Hapgood.) Meanwhile, DZ, Amblinon (who teleported
in) & Quandrony travelled from PI to the "House of
the Rising Sun" in Kel Ket. (After they got there, Ozone
teleported in to replace Amblinon.)
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Invasion
of the Mechs
Öen
23 Feib 11354, giant mechanical monsters - called "Mechs"
- invaded Lia and the RoachKings (Ozone, Myrddin, DZ & By-Tor,
then Shady, Kendril & Draken) intercepted them. By-Tor smashed
steel, as did Myrddin, who also helped Ozone freeze key components
of some of the mechs and cause them to topple to the ground.
(These mechs now stand in By-Tor's mech shop on PI.) Draken
immediately traveled to the cloud city of Huka in Maloria, where
he sought out Rorq & "Dealer Don." The next day,
Kendril, Draken, Shady & Rorq were in the southern Delsen
Hills taking on "X."
In
March 11354, Raal sailed from the Isle of Death to Bromalas,
then rode to the location of PI in the hills above Kel Ket.
There, he was joined by Draken & (later) Kendril. They flew
by gryphon back to Bromalas and went on to kill a Medusa. Raal
was then joined by Shady, who helped him commandeer a Bromalian
ship, which they sailed to Safeport. From there, Raal made a
quick day trip to Ninja Isle. The next day, the 2 RKs went to
Vlaad's county in Halfast "to surf," where they killed
Count Vlaad. Raal attained Level 7 Ninja on Trile on 13 March.
He & Shady then sailed back to Safeport & on to Bromalas.
A
few days later, Ozone, Kendril, Raal, Rorq, Tamara, and Wan
Talla Han flew by gryponback from just east of Bromalas to somewhere
near Hai Alai. They entered Hai Alai as the "Circus of
the Sub-Genius" and began performing a show in the Silver
Palace, the Sultan's Court. Of course, they were merely gathering
intelligence, but they put on a helluva show, too. From there,
they traveled south, speaking with the Oracle of Mün. They
encountered a roc, then found Alikir's sub-river headquarters,
and took Alikir to Hai Alai.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Attacks
on Bankor
24
March 11354 - Ozone made a trip to Kar Tola, Castle Kendril
& PI. Kendril & Draken visited the Towers of Trimon,
then Castle Kenril & PI, which was moved to an alternate
location. A couple days later, Kendril, Draken (& others)
took off for Kal Terin, heading through Tasep's Gap. On the
western slopes of the Dirbain Mtns., they encountered a nest
of gargoyles. Now joined by Raal & Rorq, they took care
of the gargoyles and camped on the Silverway in the High Forest,
then traveled over to New Antoros, where they were met by an
escort.
They
had dinner with Kal-El at Kal Terin, then traveled to the port
of Sefar. During this travel time, Raal left and flew to the
Untamed Lands Assassin Guild; he found Grindri wandering in
the Wilds of the Untamed Lands, and met George (of the Jungle?.)
Meanwhile, from Sefar, the other RKs sailed to Pelturf along
with Red Beard (on BT's ship?) In April, from Pelturf (now joined
by By-Tor, Shady, Amblinon & Won) the RoachKings traveled
east and encountered some brigands. Traveling north into the
southern regions of Qressan, the RKs ambushed some policemen
& took their place. Rorq-sponge then joined Raal in the
Untamed Lands. The RKs traveled north, deeper into Qressan,
to Castle Claudee, and ended up using a teleport pad to get
out. They then flew south at high altitude to the Crimson Castle,
where they (Kendril, Shady & By-Tor with Amblinon &
Rorq) "roached" the House of the Crimson King before
returning to Kal Terin on 5 April 354.
Meanwhile,
Rorq-sponge appeared with Raal, Grindri and George; they all
shadow-walked to Castle Kendril on 4 April. They adventured
in the area for a day or so, encountered the "Blue Rider"
nearby, as well as a stone giant, then returned to Castle Kendril.
Raal shadow-walked to PI, picked up Quandrony, then they all
shadow-walked to Bourgn. From there, they explored lost caverns
beneath the Dirba Mtns, encountered a manticore, and met Skrimit
(Quandrony is no longer with the party.) They encountered a
dragon, camped overnight, and then had another encounter at
a pool of acid. After this, Raal & Grindri shadow-walked
to the "Shacks" and back (probably for healing &
more potions.) They encountered large fishes in the mote, but
still managed to demolish the Tower of Terin Dirba, "the
Fuhren's Mountain," and shadow-walk out, leaving an RK
symbol in cloud of dust the sky. So the Crimson Castle and
Terin Dirba were destroyed on the same day, 5 April 11354.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Back
to Their Roots
spring
11354 - The RoachKings
celebrated their 15th year as an adventuring fellowship [5 years
as players.]
Over
the next few days, By-Tor, Shady, Kendril & Draken traveled
the north route to Ker Thom, where they encountered dwarves
& pegasi. They eventually shadow-walked into a natural cavern
below the Roots dungeon. There, they encountered lizard men
& a wraith. After exploring the caverns, etc., for a day
or so, all the RKs shadow-walked out of the Roots dungeon. They
spent differing amounts of the next several months training.
DZ
went back to Master Ng's for a week and finished his M/C training.
Returning to PI, DZ joined Ozone & a new aquaintance, Salád
(along with Tahi,) on a trip to Salád's home realm in
the south. [06/22/88]
By
the end of April, they had joined Shady to take another peak
at the Roots dungeon. Otherwise, all RKs trained through Okt
'354, when Kendril, By-Tor, Quandrony & Rorq went to Bourgn
& to the Frost Fords, where they encountered some blue dragons.
On
the full moon of 1 Nov 11354, Shady & By-Tor made a trip
to a silver dragon's castle with Rorq. The 2 RKs wound up with
a geas on them, Rorq wasn't seen until the following spring.
Later that month, By-Tor, Shady & Kendril went on a shopping
spree at the Shacks. Also in Nov., Raal traveled to the Temple
of Kuan Yin in Sumoso.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Dragon
Hunts & Interdimensional Travel [Cross-Campaigns]
Over
the winter of 11354-'355, By-Tor, Shady, Kendril & Myrddin
searched several dragon hordes in the Delsen Hills to find a
"Remove Geas" item.
May
11355 - By-Tor, Shady & Kendril,
with Amblinon, Tamara & Rorq traveled to the "Lost
Isle of Materhatrix" with Conan. Then Shady joined Ozone
in a strange adventure into the Elemental Plane of Air, in which
they met another hawkman, Perregrin, and a cloud/frost giant
named Fandar, along with Aquis & Malwel, all worthy adventurers
from some alternate dimension [cross-campaign.]
Augst
11355 - Shady, Betelgeuse & Kendril dealt with the Ettins
of Drawberry. Then Shady, By-Tor & Kendril journeyed "To
Hel and Back" [cross-campaign] and met Flow & Aquis.
Soon afterward, Kendril & By-Tor used a crystal of vision
to find Myrddin & they shadow-walked to him in the mountains
near Qindo. They heard about the loss of a silver mine in the
Untamed Lands to Shadow Dragons. They were told to see Quent
at the Rosy Pearl Inn in Hobart, which they did with Kendril
disguised as a half-elf & By-Tor disguised as someone else.
They learned of the Shadow Dragons that roamed the forest every
full moon (it was a half moon at the time.) Shady joined the
battle with the shadow dragons, taking out the female of the
pair. He was cursed & malformed in the process, but Kendril
removed the curse [with an 08% roll.]
Sept
11355 - Shady, Kendril & Betelgeuse played Görbén
and ended up actually painting it 13 coats of red. They then
took on some red dragons.
Okt
11355 - DZ, Ozone, Kendril & Shady went to the Black Temple
in Samuso. Later that month, Kendril joined Draken & By-Tor
in Kel Ket and traveled to the Dinli Dale, where they entered
a cave with some fungus. Shady then joined them [BT was NPC;]
they journeyed to Sanctuary (which involved fighting some "type
V demons" on the astral plane?)
Nov
11355 - Shady, Kendril, Raal, (Quandrony later) went on a dragon
hunt - Thraxan.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Across
2 Galaxies [1988-'89]
Ön
11356 -
Ozone,
Kendril, Draken, DZ & Quandrony (along with Inferno &
Lupar) dealt with Kaslaer on Lia [10/88.]
After that adventure, most of the RKs who remained on Lia spent
the following 6 months training on PI.
Meanwhile,
Shady and By-Tor, joined by the Braish knight of Görbén,
Sir Amblinon, travelled back to the Barown Galaxy to establish
official diplomatic relations between their homeworld of Lia
and the Solar Federation of Planets [11/88.]
They starbridged directly to Memory Alpha, arriving in February
of the Earth year 2271, according to the 'Old Earth Calendar.'
They met the Commander of Memory Alpha, Jules Karinar, and Ambassadors
Sulek, Ckraig & Zora Laang from Vulcan, Andor & Alpha
Centauri respectively. They then began months of diplomatic
meetings, negotiations & pageantry with the Federation.
Raal's
missions to Kel Ket & Terin Bráhöl
early
11356 - [5/11/89R]
Raal traveled solo (as "Fred E. Rated") to the House
of the Rising Sun in Kel Ket to secretly seek out Kyle Saphe',
his next target. He used all his ninja cunning to take out Mr.
Saphe' without anyone knowing it was him. The job involved a
needle between the toes, a 20-minute- delay poison, a brilliant
drunken acting job, the coersion of a reluctant alchemist, the
theft of a thumbprinted receipt & the killing of a street
rat informant. [7/7/89]
spring
11356 - Raal showed up at Pasadena Island from Kel Ket and took
Lupey & the Valkyrie twins with him to Terin Bráhöl,
where his "associate," Mutt, got tossed into jail
for vagrancy. In the guise of Lord Bartholemew Trillium, Raal
fetched Mutt and they got involved in an adventure with Lupar,
Grindri & Blitz. This mission involved a lot of leaping
from rooftop to rooftop and it cost the lives of both Grindri
& Mutt. After offering Raal a greatly needed diversion in
the form of some illusory fire elementals, Grindri fell to his
death from a ledge. Mutt was killed by the spear of a Braish
city guard. Raal finished the mission solo, nearly falling to
his own death from a high city wall. Still, he managed to make
it into the mansion of the Regent of Magic Affairs unseen and
take him out. He also decided to take out Blitz, who was a loose
end.
He
then went to Ninja Isle, where he trained for 3 years.
Efreeti
in the Untamed Lands
July
11356 - Grindri &
Grady
took some henchmen and went after an efreeti in a chasm above
a village in the Untamed Lands. They took an empty chest for
"tribute" and were run off by some minor fire elementals.
They shadow-walked to PI to get Lupar, then shadow-walked back
to the village, only to find it in flames and the villagers
scorning them. They vowed to return the village's wealth, then
shadow-walked to the "Shacks," only to find the bazaar
closed. They still managed to find a couple ice magic items
and then they flew back to the village, which took a week (so
Lupar trained with a "Hammer of Ice Construction.")
When they arrived, they found that the efreeti was now demanding
"tribute" from another village. They flew up to the
chasm to vanquish the efreeti, only to discover it was an illusion.
Ozone
& Kendril, along with Inferno, were flying over the hills
north of the Drawberry Wood at the time (just finishing 6 months
of training,) traveling north toward the Delsen Hills. They
had intercepted a group of gnomes with a strange weapon for
this world: a cannon. Ozone warned the gnomes about the device,
Kendril charmed his way to examining it closer. It was then
that they saw the flames to the north and flew off to the aid
of Grindri & Lupey. Kendril dispelled one elemental, which
only brought reinforcements. Kendril executed several great
moves, including spinning kicks, before he choked on one attempted
kick & hurt himself. Nonetheless, the RKs vanquished the
fire elementals. Then they passed through Squintville &
dropped off a wounded Grindri before heading up the mountain.
Passing through a wall of smoke & 4 more fire elementals,
the RoachKings heard a voice from the narrow pass entry to a
gorge. They ended up facing an efreeti & 2 more fire elementals,
which Ozone vanquished with Whirlwind Vortex spells. The RKs
donated all extra funds from the adventure to rebuild the village
of Squintville.
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
More
Dragon Hunting
Ozone
& Kendril (with Varinor) found a (Dragon Lord's) slave camp
in Haddiger's Wood in the Untamed Lands, where they "roached"
one green dragon & subdued another.
Ozone,
DZ, Kendril, Quandrony, Lupar & Inferno headed into the
Dragon Hills after reading high levels on their newly-invented
"Kendril Meter for Ozone Radiation." They happened
upon a red & a blue dragon fighting, and subdue them to
learn of the stolen map to the "Prism of Time" by
the "wraiths from the south." After bringing Mxlplx
back to life (with scars,) they bind both dragons to a boulder.
Then they head down to Terapin and to the head of the Grey River,
where they encounter a large group of daemons. At one point,
DZ falls unconscioius & begins to fall from the sky, but
Ozone catches him and lowers him to the ground.
The
River of Sha Po Ame
late
summer 11356 - Ozone, DZ & Draken, with Blitz traveled south
to the Valley of Sha Po Ame's river and deal with Hzu Tsu. In
the form of a green dragon, Hzu Tsu chomps on DZ, killing him.
Fortunately, Ozone swoops down & plucks him up, then heals
his wounds & brings him back to life. Draken kills Hzu Tsu,
but has to pay with his head when they face Sha Po Ame. Luckily,
Ozone is able to regenerate an extra head on Draken so that
he doesn't lose his life in the process. Ozone & DZ part
ways with Draken & Blitz, then travel to Qam Pah.
[04/12/90R] After splitting with
the party at the jungle town south of Halfast (Benfang?,) Kendril
returned to Castle Kendril.
[Draken
may have had a few years of scouting planets for Galactus in
this period.]
Meanwhile,
in another galaxy . . .
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Federation
Starfleet Service [1989]
After
months of diplomatic liaisons and treaty meetings, Amblinon,
By-Tor and Shadowstorm were given full diplomatic status. In
the fall of 2271 OEC (Augst 11356 Lian date,) they were allowed
to enter Starfleet Academy in a cultural/information exchange
program. Some Federation diplomats traveled to the RKs' homeworld,
also; the Priests of Celestian processed their papers and they
did some limited travelling to other ports on Lia, investigating
the use of magic & magic items. Through this program, the
Lians would receive advanced training at Starfleet and in return,
the UFP would gain the unique insights of these "magical"
beings in the starship exploration service for several years.
Their Starfleet records are as follows:
Starfleet
Service Records |
| |
By-Tor
D'Redbeard |
Shadowstorm
Wildmane |
Amblinon
Von Kupal |
| Starfleet
Academy |
enter
fall 2271
grad fall 2275 |
enter
fall 2271
grad fall 2275 |
enter
fall 2271
grad fall 2275 |
| Branch
School |
Engineering
grad spring 2278 |
Security
grad. fall 2276,
Helm
grad spring 2278 |
Helm
grad spring 2277 |
|
Starship Tours |
CADET
CRUISE
USS LaFayette NCC-1720
Cpt. Uriahl Harchon
Feb 2278 - May 2278
USS
Niwen
Cpt. Ann Onymus
March 2280 - June 2280
completed w/Honors,
promoted to Ensign
[CCR 12%]
GALAXY
EXPLORATION
USS
LaFayette NCC-1720
Cpt. Sak Tunder
June 2280 - June 2282
OER - Excellent [19%]
promoted to Lt. (JG)
|
CADET
CRUISE
USS LaFayette NCC-1720
Cpt. Uriahl Harchon
Feb 2278 - May 2278
USS
Niwen
Cpt. Ann Onymus
March 2280 - June 2280
completed w/Honors,
promoted to Lt. (JG)
[CCR 05%]
GALAXY
EXPLORATION
USS
LaFayette NCC-1720
Cpt. Sak Tunder
June 2280 - June 2282
OER - As Expected [51%]
June 2282 - June 2283
OER - Outstanding [07%]
promoted to Lieutenant
|
CADET
CRUISE
USS LaFayette NCC-1720
Cpt. Uriahl Harchon
spring 2277 - fall 2277,
promoted
to Ensign
[CCR 18%]
GALAXY
EXPLORATION
USS LaFayette NCC-1720
Cpt. Uriahl Harchon
fall 2277 - May 2278
USS
Niwen
Cpt. Ann Onymus
March 2280 - June 2280
USS
LaFayette NCC-1720
Cpt.
Sak Tunder
June 2280 - June 2281
OER - Excellent [22%]
promoted to Lt. (JG) |
| Notable
Experience |
on
bridge crew & landing party during Ronis I mission
SD 8060.2
on
bridge crew & landing party during investigation of
abandoned secret Romulan Base
SD8497
on
bridge crew & landing party during Rasca/Markista
mission
SD 9511.19
|
on
bridge crew & landing party during Ronis I mission
SD 8060.2
on
bridge crew & landing party during Rasca/Markista
mission
SD 9511.19
|
on
landing party during successful First Contact with the
Gra'lar of S'schaeh (Theta 12-12 VII) SD 7658.9
on
bridge crew during encounter with Klingon vessels &
Orion vessel near Omega 12-12 IV SD 7709.7
on
bridge crew & landing party during Ronis I mission
SD 8060.2
on bridge crew & landing party during investigation
of abandoned secret Romulan Base
SD8497
on
bridge crew & landing party during Rasca/Markista
mission
SD 9511.19
|
| Commendations |
Ronis
I mission, SD 8060.2 |
Ronis
I mission, SD 8060.2 |
Ronis
I mission, SD 8060.2 |
| Resign
Starfleet Commission |
June
2282 |
June
2283 |
June
2281 |
| |
|
|
|
/\
BACK TO TOP /\
Bögenhafen
spring
11359 - The RoachKings celebrated
their 20th year as an adventuring fellowship.
summer
11359 - After training for 3 years, Raal passed the obstacle
course and defeated 4 other ninjas to become a Rank 8 Ninja.
He then went to the Celestian Temple hoping to go back to the
Federation with Shady & By-Tor, but he was too late. He
did, however, catch up with Shady soon afterward, however, when
he popped home during his vacation before his senior year at
Starfleet Academy.
They
traveled to the jousting tourneys in Altdorf & Bögenhafen
(Terin Konor) with Blitz and the "Valkyrie Babes on Tour
- A Rock & Roll Revival Show," which was an RK Production.
Shady was in disguise as Sunntarian Solann and he entered the
jousting tourney & won the first 3 rounds; Raal had a contract
on one of the knights in the tourney. As a diversion, Raal took
on the "Brainless Brawler" to win the 1,000 gp for
staying in the fight for 5 minutes. Sunntarian jousted against
Raal's target, Baron Knight Zemmel Von Zenc, aiding in the ruse
that lead to his death by poison from a dart. In the semi-finals
the following day, Sunntarian was unseated.
[04/12/90R]
When Draken arrived at CK, Kendril had heard of the other RKs'
exploits in Bogenhafen, so they headed there, too. Once there,
the RKs (Draken, Shady, Kendril & Raal, with Grady) got
involved in a rivalry between Frehr Bolz, a merchant of fine
alchemical powders, and his competition, La Vianna. Draken donated
his payment of 50,000 gp to the poor folk of Bogenhafen, making
him something of a celebrity there. The rivalry between the
2 merchants ended when the golden dragon brought La Vianna to
Bolz in its teeth.
During
his stay in Bogenhafen, Raal "found god" - or at least
a god. He learned of a deity called Wen Chung and he
began to believe this religion may be to his liking.
[04/24/90]
From Bogenhafen, Raal headed to southern Llofal and then into
Hoki & Paldui. He prayed for weeks, offering to build a
temple to Wen Chung and asking for the speed of lightning. Eventually,
he received a message from a minion of the god, who told him
to build his temple in New Antoros (Lord Bartholemew Trillium's
lands.) He travelled to New Antoros, built for weeks (into summer
11359) and completed the temple. While standing atop the temple,
praying and offering tribute, Raal was hit by lightning and
gained the speed of lightning he had asked for in prayer.
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"Ragnarok
& Roll" and Beyond [1989]
It
was during his commission in Starfleet, just after the Ronis
I incident (Sept 11363 Lian date,)
that Amblinon was called to service by his god, Thor, and he
joined in the battle of "Ragnarok & Roll." Of
course, the RKs went along with him, taking leave from Starfleet
just as they neared completion of their Cadet Cruise. They were
transported by Thor to Asgard and tasked with finding the 3
pieces of Galactus that had been scattered to separate outer
dimensions by a cosmic cube. The resultant chaos in the universe
was bringing about the Ragnarok battle on the Rainbow bridge
before its time. The RKs & Amblinon travelled to various
dimensions, including Hades, and recombined the 3 pieces of
Galactus, for which he granted them each a great cosmic gift.
[It
was at this time that the RKs got the "Magic Bus,"
which travels astrally. (By-Tor got superhuman strength?)]
Galactus,
however, was immediately taken by Death and imprisoned on her
plane, with Tiamat & her entourage guarding the cage. All
RKs, et al, were returned to Asgard by Thor.
[05/28/89]
Draken, seeking to scrye the Draornbre Forest & Pasadena
Island in his Crystal of VIsion, saw a tornado but no PI, and
became worried. Thor then sent all the Lians back to PI on Lia
(By-Tor, Shady & Amblinon could have been sent to the Federation,
but opted to "pop" home shortly first.) "The
Tellarite officer" (Sak Tunder?) went home to the UFP.
The
Lians found their world to be chaotic. The Braish Empire was
divided into small kingdoms at war with giants, orc/hobgoblin
armies & dragons. Volcanoes had sprung up in the northern
region of Bankor, where the new Fuhren was warring on New Antoros
in the south. Elves had sealed the High Elven forests once again.
Llofal was divided & warring internally & with the dragons.
The south had not been heard from much, but the word was that
"evil grows once more" there. The RoachKings only
then realized that they could have asked Galactus to restore
all the effects caused by the chaos, but they had chosen selfish
power instead.
Technology
above the level of a crossbow would not function; the mechs
were fused. By-Tor asked Kendril to enchant a mace with density
alteration (making it weigh a ton) & Ozone put a rune on
it.
Pasadena
Island had been moved to the mountains near Kar Tola. Quandrony's
family had cut off communications "because of security
concerns."
With
Castle Kendril once again claimed by a dragon, the RoachKings
headed there to take it back, again. At first, they found it
to be a golden palace, ruled by a gold dragon. This turned out
to be the illusion of a black dragon, which the RKs killed,
but not before it called 2 others to its aid. In the course
of the battle, DZ, Ozone & Draken fought the 2 black dragons
while Kendril (in the form of a gold dragon) & By-Tor took
on a troop of hobgoblins approaching from the south. The RKs
finally reclaimed the castle when DZ turned a large black dragon
into a giant tomato.
[07/30/89-09/24/89-09/30/89-10/29/89]
While at PI near Kel Ket, By-Tor heard that his father, Red
Beard the Pirate, was up north, near Newport (nay, "Scrape!")
He also heard that there were fire giants on red dragons in
the area and they didn't attack Scrape. Shady, Kendril, By-Tor,
Ozone, DZ & Draken all shadow-walked to Scrape and investigated.
They dealt with some of the local humans who were in cahoots
with some of Krad's ilk. They also destroyed a temple to Tiamat
and took over the town, flying the RK flag over Yorin's palace.
When they went after the red dragon Vessicant in its cavern
below the temple, they encountered some gnolls. By-Tor's head
was severed in the ensuing battle, but Ozone fused it back on
quickly afterward. Later, By-Tor & Draken made the killing
blow on the red dragon together. The RKs then drank of its blood
before Kendril skinned it with his runeblade Varinor. The RKs
then spent a year & a half training in & around Scrape
(By-Tor gained rank 9 Navigator with Red Beard.)
[11/19/89]
From Scrape, the RoachKings joined Red Beard and sailed north
through the Great Icy Ocean to the permanent ices, where they
investigated a huge metallic object jutting out from the ice.
The RKs encountered a tentacled sea monster, which some of them
believed was just another big monster. However, By-Tor's star
readings lead him to believe they had stopped an alien invasion.
The
RKs then decided to sail for the Celestian Temple in the Twilite
Zone. They sailed for 2 weeks to reach By-Tor's old home port
of Palatin.
[12/03/89]
When the RKs set sail from Palatin, Kendril, By-Tor & Draken
(with Blitz) encountered Lord Swinwar Slitherwind & some
of his people (merfolk) & had some dealings with them before
sailing on to Safeport, then into the Twilite Zone to Trile
& the Temple of Celestian. The Priests asked the RoachKings
to become a team of interstellar troubleshooters, but the RKs
declined. Kendril traded 20 Arrows of Banishment & 3 collected
magic rings for a rune amulet of Plane Shift & a rune staff
of Death's Door & Cure Crit. Draken trained with unarmed
combat. Shady & By-Tor starbridged back to Delta Vega to
complete their Starfleet service.
22-23
En Mön 11363 - (After returning from Ragnarok & Roll
and before returning to the Federation to complete his Starfleet
duty,) Amblinon flew on dragons with Rorq to Ker Thom (the "Roots
of Thaumaturgy") & released Tahi in her own abode.
spring
11364 - the RoachKings celebrated
their 25th year as an adventuring fellowship [nearly 7 years
as players.]
May
11365 - While on leave between
his Cadet Cruise & his first assignment, Shady joined Ozone
& Raal (with some Valkyries along as cheerleaders) and used
the Magic Bus to travel back to the first level of the 9 Hells
to free Galactus. The battle was wild, with Tiamat firing several
breath weapons every few seconds, Raal making huge, sweeping
flying kicks on Tiamat's red dragon head, Shady firing an RK313
machine gun into the entourage of 5 chromatic dragons, and Ozone
sneaking up to plant a teleport runestick next to Galactus,
allowing him to escape his cage. Galactus then helped the RKs
kill Tiamat & the rest of her 5-dragon entourage.
[01/21/90]
Sometime after the release of Galactus (11365,) Draken prbability-travelled
(?) to the astral plane, sensed the agony of several nearby
astral bodies and, following them, found Galactus. He told Galactus
that he wanted to be a herald. Galactus said that Draken, as
an elf, should serve for 25 years & Draken agreed. Galactus
said, "You've obviously given this much thought. Your thoughts
are you..." and he touched his head. "Behold, the
'Golden Rider.'" Having just fed, Galactus told the Golden
Rider that he would call on him when the pangs of hunger began.
Draken returned to the Draornbre & telepathcally contacted
Kendril, teleported him there & told him of his deal. Soon,
Draken would leave Lia again for many years to search his galaxy
for suitable planets for Galactus to consume.
For
the remainder of
their Starfleet Cadet Cruise, Shady & By-Tor served on the
USS Niwen, along with Amblinon. During this time, the
Lians were involved in the investigation of a secret Romulan
base that had been abandoned. By-Tor & Amblinon were then
promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and all 3 were assigned
to serve aboard the USS LaFayette under Cpt. Sak Tunder
for the remainder of their Starfleet service.
Amblinon
resigned his Starfleet commission & returned to Lia in the
fall of 2281 (11366 Lia date,)
By-Tor in June of 2282 (May 11367.)
Shady remained in Starfleet one year longer than By-Tor or Amblinon
and he resigned as a full Lieutenant, while the 2 humans had
attained the rank of Lt., Junior Grade, at the time of their
departure. By-Tor returned for Shady in the Magic Bus in June
of 2283 (May 11368.) They used
the bus to search the Astral Plane & find the Earth of an
alternate universe that Thor had told them about - home to many
superhuman heroes [Marvel Universe.] Here, they sought out ways
to irradiate By-Tor with gamma radiation. (This would have caused
By-Tor's hair to turn green?)
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The
Point of No Return [1999-2002]
On
Lia, as any seafarer worth his salt could tell you, there was
a solid fogbank boundary thousands of miles out to sea that
had always prevented anyone from sailing any further.
For this reason, no one had ever sailed all the way around the
world, and there were still people who believed that the world
was not a globe at all. This fog barrier had come to be
known as the "Point of No Return" by those hearty
few crews of sailors who had gone that far out. Many of their
brethren had entered the fog, never to be seen again.
When
By-Tor & Shady returned to Lia from the Federation, they
spent many months training & catching up on business. Having
traveled to other planets, other galaxies, and even to other
dimensions, the RoachKings found themselves all together at
home on Lia for the first time in many years and there was cause
to celebrate . . .
[May
1, 1999] In the spring of 11369,
the RoachKings threw a massive week-long party & festival
on Pasadena Island to celebrate their 30th year as an adventuring
fellowship [16 years as players.]
They played an all-day "concert on the green" on the
festival grounds of the island
as it hovered among the clouds above the Bromar Sea (west of
the city-state of Bromalas.)
This celebration was open to anyone who could get there and
the illusionist Salád DaJaro (a long-time associate of
Lord Amblinon Von Küpál) was among those who came
to PI for the festivities. He wanted to experience one of those
infamous RoachKing parties he had heard so much about over the
years.
It was during this gathering that the RKs decided to undertake
an adventure to the Point of No Return. The
impetus for this decision came from By-Tor & Shady, both
of whom had experienced some unusual star readings of late. By-Tor
was convinced that, in reference to the Point of No Return,
"It's not the point of not returning; the point is the
return of knowing." Then, By-Tor received a letter from
his father, Redbeard the Pirate, telling him of the "Red
Skimmers" - the strange, yet advanced ships of a new variety
of über-pirates who had been seen only in the very farthest
reaches of the oceans. Salád
decided to join the RKs on this voyage, although he was amused
& somewhat perplexed by the non-chalant way in which they
seemed to make such a momentus decision.
When
the festival was over and the RoachKings had recuperated from
a week of hard partying, they boarded Ozone's airship and set
sail into the rising sun [which, on Lia, means into the west]
from Pasadena Island. As the years past, many began to believe
that the RoachKings, like so many others before them, would
never be seen again after sailing past the Point of No Return.
Nearly 5 years passed with no word from the RoachKings . . .
The
story continues on Page
2: Beyond the Point of Know Return > >
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