The Final Session: In Which We Decide Future Events

[POST IN PROGRESS. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT WITH EXTRA INFO/CORRECTIONS]

So, as everyone knows by now, this campaign is hereby ended, due to lack of time and DM burnout. However, we did continue the storyline in our last session (7/30) and came up with a projected future series of events. Herein lie the accounts of the various invasions of the new Hora Quan Empire.

Also, guys, as I plan to write up Janan's crazy crossdressing lesbian romance at some point, I'd really appreciate it if y'all could forward me any extra campaign/world info you have. Metagaming for the win!

What Was Happening Behind the Secretive, Secretive Scenes:

The Diamond Throne was approaching Freja, offering to set her up as Empress of the Hora Quan in return for her basically being their puppet.
Anika was off being Robin Hood? or is this a future event?
Janan was actually a girl!
Blank was planning a possible coup, if necessary. (Read: if Leif takes over.)
Sigrid was getting really sick of all this political bullshit and she and Ganan were thinking of just leaving for another plane.
Leif was conniving with Kheriim and by extension Kaperi.
Halden was actually a drunken idiot!
Er...Ghalib still didn't care about anything but the library and his family.
Cho Dan (?sp) made overtures towards Leif, who was considering forming an alliance with them.
The Harrid are thinking of invading Xanadu. More magic to eat!
Stavros is ready to be allies with anyone who will help against the Harrid. Various people try to take advantage of this.


What Would Have Happened:

Sigrid and Ganan leave. (Yes, I know she was planning on sinking the island, but let's just forget about that for the sake of the plot, alright?)
The Giants invade! with Freya as a sock-puppet sort of ruler.
Leif ousts the Giants with the aid of Cho Dan.
The Harrid invade EVERYWHERE.
(cue battle with clockwork army!)
Anika forments a rebellion in Diamond throne territory.
Blank is the mastermind behind the rebellion in Xanadu, supposedly led by Halden.
Mihal catches up with Janan. They help with the rebellions, traveling around and having their EPIC CRAZY ROMANCE. (ahem.)
Eventually, the forces of Good (or at least the protagonists) prevail! Halden and Anika jointly rule over the Diamond Throne & Xanadu. [PLOT HOLE OF GINORMOUS PROPORTIONS BEING THE HEART OF THE SEA GODDAMN IT I NEED MORE INFO FROM ODDYSEY GRAR] Blank is Commandant! And not only owns the whole ocean, but EVERYTHING.
It works out well for everyone who doesn't die a terrible awful death at some point.


RL Quotage from Friday, July 30th:

"Giant squid are well known for their arrogance." - Oddysey

"Sean Connery is pretty delicious." - Qwerty

"You hate the Grand Canyon? What did the geographical feature do to arouse your ire?" - Oddysey, to Artemis

"At least I win a moral victory." *pause* "By which I mean an imaginary one." - Oddysey

Session 7: In Which Halden Spends Quality Time With His Grandfather, And We Learn Our Lesson About Dark Magic Tunnels of Doom

7/17
Recap:

• We sleep on the beach (with watches! to keep away dark forces of deathly doom!) to regain spells, etc.
• Third Watch: Aed & Janan hear a bizarre shriek. Aed wakes Stavros and Janan sneaks off to investigate.
• We hear the shriek again. (ohnoes!)
• Janan approaches the ocean and finally recognizes the sound, remembering that it is mating season for the eels of Gorzam.
• The following morning, Aed teleports us back to Xanadu.
• While arguing what to do about ded!Halden, we are noticed by guards, who, naturally, notify Sigrid of the crazy people carrying the prince's corpse!
• She is Not Pleased.
• Soern cannot revive Halden until the following day, for unspecified spell slot related reasons.
• Halden LIVVEEESS! But is not stumbling around in search of brains, only in search of beer.
• We then go to Gorzam in search of Blank (teleportation instead of tunnels being seen as the better part of magical travel).
• Uncle Grisby's Tavern!
• Uncle Grisby has no knowledge of Blank's current whereabouts.
• We know that Blank and Sebastian set out for Gorzam at the same time but on different ships. Blank & co. never arrived, but Sebastian did.
• We find this suspicious, and go talk to Sebastian.
• Apparently, according to Sebastian, Blank got distracted by something and said that he needed to go do something else.
• After some somewhat confusing discussion, we go off to the Pirate's Cove (with passwords provided by Sebastian) to rescue Antonio, one of Blank's Admirals and Sebastian's younger brother, from the bad!pirates (i.e., the probable rum smugglers who are not honest enough dishonest men to put their dishonest drinks on the honest black market! ...um...)
• Janan, forgetting about the passwords, attempts to charm his way in.
• This fails.
• In a way that should classify it as a total!fail (TM).
• Kheriim attacks one of the two guards, then Stavros attacks the other one, engaging us all in battle. One guard manages to call for assistance, so then we had to fight those too.
• We defeat them: yay us!, and decide to let them live if they promise to become honest fishmongers. (Why yes, Kheriim was the one to check their motives. However did you guess?)
• We then go to get Antonio from his cell with their admittedly coerced assistance.
• After locating Antonio, we also locate R(?what's his name?) the leader of these dread rum smugglers. Kheriim sends an elemental into his room to wake him up (really, with the way she summons these fire elemenatals, you'd think she and Janan would be better friends...) and after he is chased out of his bedroom by fire! we interrogate him.
• While talking, R says it doesn't matter if we kill him because "Don Maurice" will resurrect him.
• He refuses to answer any further questions so we decide to forcibly take him back to Xanadu.

Notes:
Most Skaraavan women are actually "men," where "man" means someone who has been horribly subjugated for at least a year and then escaped on his own and killed at least three dread magic-eating birds with his bare hands.

Quotage:
"There is sprite at the end of the tunnel!"-Foole, to Artemis re: her thirst on the way to D&D

"THOSE are the shrieking toads. They always croak louder when they're about to feed..."-qwerty, re: cryptic comments between maggie and oddysey regarding what turns out to be the shrieking eels of gorzam

"You can't argue statistics with an angry mother."-foole & qwerty to oddysey re: her rational arguments against Sigrid's rage at Leif and everyone else

"I can be a pirate!" -Artemis, Kheriim
"...technically."-qwerty

"You know, bondage is a good look on you."-me, Janan, to a shackled Antonio

"Oh!I know that game!"-Artemis, Kheriim, re: mind stab
"That's not a game."-foole, Aed
"It's an excellent game! Verrik children play it all the time!"-Artemis, Kheriim
"..This explains so much."-me, Janan

Session 6: That's Animist, That Is! Rocks Are People Too!

7/10
Recap:

• Session starts with us outside the temple of Doom.
• Aed teleports us to Xanadu's docks. (Huzzah, we don't die of teleport failure!)
• Janan and Kheriim argue about stones' sentience.
• Elsewhere in the temple district, a Clockwork Bearverine gets loose and causes mayhem. Soern claims no knowledge of said beast.
• We find Sigrid fighting and destroying the clockwork bearverine.
• Sigrid is debriefed on the cup-getting venture.
• Sigrid holds a conference with Soern, Ghalib, Aed, and Stavros about the cup. Janan and Halden hit the bars. Leif and Kheriim do their things. (?)
  The cup is only mentioned one other time in Ghalib's studies, and that in conjunction with the stone tablet we'd already found.
  The tablet had been a gift to the empire. Pre-Harrid but still subjugated Skaraavan wanted a place to hide it and keep it safe.
• Soern fills the cup with gold, as referenced in one of the scraps of info Ghalib previously found, and asks its powers, limitations, and capabilities.
  
• The cryptic answer: "Life. Death. Prophecy."
• There is then an argument over who should bleed in the cup, to test that aspect. Ghalib is irritated by powerful adults acting sillier than his youngest daughters, and cuts his hand to provide the blood. Sigrid slices her arm open to see if drinking the silvery elixir will cure her. (It does.) Sigrid then bleeds a pint of blood into the cup, and uses the elixir to heal Gannen of a terrible magical injury (previously unknown of to most present). Gannen is all better! And the Heart of the Sea is no longer acting weird. Oddly, Gannen and Sigrid disappear for the next couple of hours.
• The next part of the session was spent arguing about what quest the 11th levels would take up next. Possible choices included searching for Blank (lost somewhere in Gorzam), searching for possible Harrid scouts in Xanadu, going to deal with the Harrid problem in Skaraavan, returning to explore more of the tomb of Ozymandias, researching the shadowy bird who talked to Leif, ...
• Aed, Kheriim, and Leif talk to Soern about the magical shadowy bird. From what Soern says about the power involved, etc., we are Holy Hells! Monala must be behind this! And promptly freak out.
• We then decide to search for Blank in Gorzam, but by way of the tomb of Ozymandias ( a sort of compromise).
• Going through the tunnels, we make it to the ice cave without problems, only some strange noises off in the distance.
• Then we are attacked! And we do furious battle with shadowy crystaline porqupine-like humanoids.
• Leif nearly dies. A LOT.
• Leif ends up hitting Janan and Aed with a buffed up explosive crossbow bolt and nearly kills them both. Janan and Aed are Not Happy.
• HALDEN GETS KILLED OH NOES!!! D:
• We are finally victorious, but Halden is DED. So we decide to go back to Xanadu quick as can be to get him resurrected.
  

Notes:
Alession: God of Clockwork Beasts
Eliran: God of Sudden Death
Alanis: God of Not Actual Irony

Firing a ranged weapon through an ally's square is akin to attacking said ally. BAD LEIF.

We must now lobby for a cliched anime featuring time katanas. Because Time Katanas are More Awesome than you.

Quotage:
"ADVENTURER'S GUIDE FOR THE DUNGEON GUY!" -foole, re: craft (interior design)

"Katanas can freeze time!"-me
"No, no, they cut THROUGH time!"-foole
(re: discussion of why katanas are not as useful as western longswords and why anime style cleavage does not actually occur)

...distracted by time katanas. time passed. whoops.

"You appear on the docks. People give you some strange looks, but not too many, because people popping out of thin air is not the strangest thing to happen in Xanadu on a regular basis."-oddysey

"This is more of that verrik elitism, isn't it!"-me, Janan, re: kherriim's lack of respect for stones and/or earth elementals

"One of Soern's creatures got loose! Half moose, half platypus-"-Oddysey
"all deadly!"-me
(re: a clockwork bearverine getting loose in the temple district. Soern claims to have nothing to do with it.)

"Gannen! I have silvery elixir of awesome for you! Yes, it used to be my blood, but it's fine now!"-Artemis, Sigrid

Session 5: In Which Noone Remembers to Take Notes

6/26
Recap:

• The party sets off on their two month trip to Khorl, the closest port to the Deathwastes, in which there is apparently a temple containing the magic cup we're looking for(according to the stone tablet & Stavros).
• While en route, Halden has his eighteenth birthday, and there is much rum rejoicing rum and rejoicing.
• Janan convinces Halden to join him belowdecks. After they...entertained themselves and were on their way back up top, Janan notices the door to their room is magicked in some fashion. Halden does not care and goes on through. (sandwiches!) Nothing appears to happen to either Halden or Janan, so they decide to forget about it.
• Once they arrive in Khorl, Janan decides to go visit her mam's old brothel. The magic-users decline to come, instead hanging out with Aed in some tavern/inn as he studies the distant mountain in preparation for teleportation.
• The party landed in what turns out to be Zaz territory. Janan is noticed by a group of Zaz youngsters who attack as soon as they realize a Yarlz lad is in their midst. Stavros and Halden step in to help, and the battle ends with several dead thirteen-year-olds. (It's alright; they had it coming. They attacked us.)
• The non-magic-users make their way to the brothel. Janan visits with old friends and ends up mysteriously disappearing for a while. Stavros is intrigued by the brothel and Halden disappears (most un-mysteriously) for a while.
• Stavros and Halden meet back up with the magic-users, but there is still no Janan. Cue argument about looking for him, waiting for him, ditching him, etc.
• Janan shows up all "Ready to go?" and many people want to slap him.
• Aed teleports the group. We do not die! Or get split into many pieces across the lands! Huzzah!
• We arrive at the Rakshasa citadel, AKA the Temple of Elemental Evil (consencrated to Fire, Death, and EVIL)
• It appears most evil. We explore, but nothing exciting happens until we find an altar. Stavros' approach somehow triggers the opening of a secret door. Clearly, this means we must rush ahead into the dank dark tunnel of DOOM with nary a care.
• We come into a great big chamber with a ginormous chasm and a stone bridge connecting our side to the other side with an altar and the Magic Cup of Quest-Fullfillment.
• The magic-users are pragmatic and cautious, staying on the one side and making great plans. The non-magic-users are unsure what the words pragmatic and cautious mean, and blithely make their way across.
• Halden decides in his infinite wisdom that as this is a temple of fire, blood, and evil, that it would totally be the best plan to bleed into the magical cup.  Luckily, this appears to do nothing besides create a silvery sort of substance.
• Aed decides in his infinite wisdom to use magic! to lift the cup up and transport it to the other side.
• We are then attacked by shadowy skeletons.  Many of them. Clearly the timing of this was completely coincidental.
• Victory is ours, but we all suffer injury, particularly Stavros who finds himself rather near death.  However, when he touches the cup, it heals him.
• We then chill outside the temple waiting for Aed to prep his teleport spell.

Notes:
This party is rather polarized, but at least the two sides are even in number, even if the non-magic-users have to make do with an awesome npc rather than a third pc.

Quotage:
"It's like hobbits and birthdays, only with Russians and drinking!"-Qwerty, re: Halden's bday celebration



[re: discussion about Halden & his swift strike not being usable in sexual relations]
"It requires a weapon focus"-Artemis
"Yes..."-oddysey
"It has one. Longsword."-Artemis
"..."-Oddysey
"Not like that!" -Artemis

"But why is she cockblocking me?" -Boytoy, Halden, re: Kheriim's possessiveness

"The thing about humans you have to understand is that they do everything different.  The one thing that is the same is that they do everything different." -Qwerty, Stavros

"I'm drunk. I'm Italian.  It happens." -foole, re: suddenly emerging accent

"See, this is how you do this!   You warn them, they go ahead and do it, and then later you go, ha ha! See!  I told you so!" -Qwerty, Stavros, to Kheriim

"I do not see why I would not go with them.  Khorl seems to be nice place?"-Qwerty, Stavros

"He was lost but now is found! Is like blind and wrenches."-Qwerty, Stavros, re: reappearance of missing Janan

Kheriim's Notes 2

Travel from Xanadu was on a boat. Likes Fire knows a lot about whales. He says they are magical. Skepticism will be maintained for the meantime. Time at sea was otherwise boring. Ao-Manasa has a lot of people in it. One is Finder of Things. Finder of Things knows nothing about the cup which we seek. Finder of Things knows of a staff that controls bees.

There are also bars in Ao-Manasa. Likes Fire and Trouble Boy wanted to go. Prince came too. Alcohol is bad, but drinks were had anyway. Trouble Boy tried to fight the bar. Then there was fire. It was time to go. Priest and Likes Fire argued. It was still time to go. Why won't they go? All problems can be solved with magic. They finally go.

Time to leave Ao-Manasa. Some want to find an island full of bees. Seems difficult. Some want to go to some tomb. Seems easier. To the tomb is the direction of travel. Also, human sexuality and relationships seem complicated. Likes Fire said something about Glowy Lady and sexual behavior and then Prince got upset and tried to attack him. Time to hide in the air.

When the tomb was in sight, something happened. White puddings attacked! It was bad and painful. Then there was magic and they died.

Session 4: In Which Our Intrepid Adventurers Find Themselves Inexplicably in Gorzam

6/20
Recap:
Following the fight with the ice golem, we return to the boat for sleep, setting watches.
Last watch (Leif and Kheriim) was the only eventful watch, with some shadowy thing approaching Leif and offering to teach him how to control the Heart of the Sea in return for powerful artifacts.
Leif had not intended to tell the rest of the party, but the innocent insistence of Kheriim combined with a terrible bluff check means we are all now aware.
We return to the ice caves!
Past where the ice golem had stood guard, we discover much awesome treasure and a bizarre stone tablet. Stavros recognizes the script, but cannot translate. Ancient form of Skaravanian?
-SIX HOURS LATER-
We spy an exit of some sort.
We exit!
Lo and behold, it is a cold frozen northland!
"This must be Gorzam," we say.
Ax confirms.
Blank calls Ax and is surprised to learn that we are in Gorzam.
Ax returns to the ship through the magical caves, dragging Halden with him, with the intent to sail to Gorzam and reunite with the party there.
We make our way into the city of Gorzam without! being attacked by wild yeti.
We go into the first bar Janan spots: The Yeti's Breath.
They have no rum.
This being Gorzam, they have no other alcohol either, just empty tankards and sighs and wails bemoaning the times when a fellow can't even get a flask of rum.
Kheriim 'makes friends' with a crazy guy who is apparently part of a PETA like movement and calls himself both a priest and a follower of the Great Icy JellyFish. (Guy has two eyepatches and wears a dead jellyfish for a hat.)
Stavros and Kheriim end up arguing about Verrik metaphysics.
Janan and Aed still want drinks, as does Stavros, so upon hearing a rumor of rum, we approach another bar: The Iceberg Lounge.
It's fancy.
And it has bouncers.
The bouncers do not like us.
We do not get any rum.
Luckily, we also do not get dead, despite Leif's almost starting a fight.
We then retire to yet another bar, one mentioned to Janan by Captain Blank: Uncle Grisby's Tavern.
We play cards and try not to kill eachother.
Captain Blank arrives in Gorzam!
Janan complains about Gorzam's brothels and their quality of service.
Blank refuses to let Janan sail his ship. Ever. End of story.
They finally decide to return to Xanadu with the information and treasure they've gathered, Blank communicating with Ax so that Ax will return Halden to Xanadu.
Our mission? To get the stone tablet translated!

Notes:

• Pio- God of Not Listening to the Verrik
• Nysa- Goddess of Starting Random Fights

Quotage:

"You're like typewriter barbie!" -me to qwerty, re: his typing skillz

"Halden, you are siblings with Leif, no?" -Qwerty, Stavros
"No." -Oddysey, Halden

"There are nicer ways to send a message than by ominous shadow!" -Artemis, Kheriim
"But not cooler." -Oddysey, Halden

"-and then it was nice and jungle and everything was nice, but then the harrid come and they eat all the magic and it is becoming a desert." -Qwerty, Stavros, re: skaravaan history of being subjugated

"It's weirdly cold."-Oddysey, Admiral Ax
"Weirdly cold in the tomb of ozymandias?"-Qwerty, Captain Blank
"Weirdly cold in Gorzam. ...Actually, it's not weird that it's cold in Gorzam, but it is weird that we are cold in Gorzam."-Oddysey, Admiral Ax
"How did you get to Gorzam?"-Qwerty, Captain Blank
"We walked."-saganatsu, Leif
"...Damn magic."-Qwerty, Captain Blank

"All pirates are Italian!" -oddysey

"Crazy guy, can I wear your hat?" -Artemis, Kheriim
"No! You may not wear my hat; it is mine!" -oddysey, crazy priest who reveres icy jellyfish
and other natural fauna

"You could just eat the citrus fruits without rum, couldn't you?" -Artemis, Kheriim, re: scurvy in Gorzam
"You're just chock full o' blasphemy!" -oddysey, crazy guy

"When was the last time a god directly affected your life?" -Artemis, Kheriim
"The other day I prayed to the god of seasickness and then I felt better!" -Foole, Aed
"Personally, I've always found the gods rather useful. See, when people go to the temple, they tend to leave their bags unattended, and I've always found that to be helpful, especially when the bar's price for ale goes up." -me, Janan

"I could go for alcoholic beverage." -Qwerty, Stavros

"Gorzam is the town where people care if you murder the bouncers!" -oddysey

"Halden's talents are in hitting things and then moping about it! He gets it from his parents." -oddysey

"I would like to remind the party once again that my gender is male till specified otherwise." -me, out of character

"I have only the greatest admiration for the jaw strength of faen!" -me, Janan, re: argument about using the term 'biter' to refer to faen

Session 3: Constant Vigilance! Velociraptors are sneaky creatures, don't you know?

Recap:
We go into the tomb of Ozymandias.
Kheriim finds a secret tunnel.
This tunnel is cold, dark, and leading downwards.
It gets both colder and darker.
Suddenly, we are attacked! by a Grave Wolf.
This happens at approximately the same time we come upon an open chamber, size unknown but large enough that a globe light (radii of 20 feet) does not illuminate the sides.
Apparently, where there is one Grave Wolf, there are two more you missed on the spot check.
We do brave battle! And eventually prevail!
Although not without complications:
Leif hits Halden with an attack spell (as well as a wolf). Bad Leif!
Moving on, we come upon an ice golem guarding a giant door.
Janan attempts to be diplomatic.
This does not work.
We start fighting with it.
This does not work either.
Luckily, we all survive and manage to take the golem down, mostly due to Admiral Ax's higher level and Leif's early-spent rune attack.

Notes:
Leif is a terrible brother. D:
Grave Wolves come from up north, where they are said to haunt the houses of the dead. When Grave Wolves die, they dissipate into a cold mist.
Arguing with a construct such as a golem is akin to arguing with a calculator, and as futile.
Janan crit fails way too often.
Halden & Leif are likely to kill each other in future sessions if there is not an intervention of some kind.

Quotage:
"That is vague enough for me to approve!" -Qwerty, Commandant Blank, re: Sigrid's definition of tariff

"He says he'll totally tone down the border actions if you tone down the piracy." -oddysey, re: npc Giant ambassador from the Diamond Throne

"If it makes you and your brother feel better, I totally have a lock of each of your hair, so I can always bring you back" -Artemis, Sigrid
"...thanks, mom."-Oddysey, Halden

"I will give monkey comrade little push up!" -Qwerty, Stavros, re: lifting Ax for gliding purposes

"Was that in my fake Australian accent? NO. Therefore, out of character"-me

"I'll take rear guard. Velociraptors come from the outside."-PitrsApprentice, Admiral Ax

"I do not understand the ways of northerners yet, but in my homeland, we would not call this very cohesive group."-Qwerty, Stavros

"What are you talking about? The jungle is full of dungeons!"-oddysey, re: some player comment
"Haven't you played Diablo II?"-qwerty

"You don't cast magic missile at the darkness!"-qwerty re: Leif's protestations of total innocence though he totally almost killed his brother

"Don't do that! Velociraptors attack from the outside! have you never heard of a ranged weapon?"-PitrsApprentice, Admiral Ax
"I've *heard* of them, but they're for posers."-Oddysey, Halden

"The more you are speaking the less I am being inclined to believe you"--Qwerty, Stavros, re: Janan's "explainations"

"I'm going to give Halden CPR." - maggienotmegan, Janan
"He doesn't need CPR!" - Artemis
"But he does need restraining." - Pitrsaprentice, Admiral Ax
"I can do that!" - maggienotmegan, Janan

"What I'm wondering is how I survived gang life in Khorl..."-maggienotmegan, re: Janan's fail!stats
"Apparently they're not very badass in Khorl."-Artemis

Session 2: In Which Janan Explains Things

6/4
Recap:
Leif researches in Xanadu Library with little luck
We sail for Ao-Manasa
Halden convinces Kheriim that Leif is a terrible person.
Janan convinces Halden that Janan is awesome.
Janan also convinces Kheriim of many spur-of-the-moment tall tales.
We arrive at Ao-Manasa

[unsure of order of events, but decided this made most logical sense, even if it might not be how it happened]

We talk to Taevin whats-his-name, who gives us more info about a different artifact, a staff. It has the power to control bees. (and does other stuff, but really, BEES. obviously more important. and awesome.)

Janan convinces Kheriim to go to a bar with the rest of them. (Leif is there to stop bad stuff from happening?)
Halden tries to start a fight with the whole bar.
Janan tries to seduce Halden while fighting him.
Halden passes out, really really drunk.
Janan and Aed start fighting about...something...semantics, mainly, on the return to the boat.
Kheriim ends up casting a spell, as does Leif, in order to convince them to return faster.
(Also at some point Janan inadverdantly implies that Sigrid sleeps around and Leif attacks him to defend his mother's honor. Janan is very confused by having somehow given insult and is Not Pleased with being attacked--ends up with a knife to Leif's throat and Aed's magical intervention.)
First plan is to find an island full of bees. Second, more logical plan is to make sail for the tomb of Ozymandius.
On the way, we are attacked by a White Pudding. (much more vicious than it sounds) We eventually prevail, but not without Janan ending up hanging upside down from the crow's nest and Kheriim sulking a hundred feet up. Good times. :D

Notes:
Ridalou-god of finding island full of bees (spelling?)

scrap of paper found by Leif in Wines of the South:

…(torn)…simply destroyed the Staff, and indeed, it has not been seen in a long …(smudged)…doubt that an item of such power could be destroyed by such a man, at least without any fanfare or record. This is particularly so when considering the nature of the Staff’s reputed powers…(smudged)…on several occasions that the object would bring doom upon any would-be destroyer. In any event, it is also known that the priest, Tai Lakquar, disappeared unexpectedly during the early…(smudged)…that he was a victim of Meren’s political ambitions, close as he had been to the new emperor’s father, but perhaps…(torn)…

info on scrap of paper as determined by Aed with object loresight:

• 2000 years old
• Last touched by: Leif
• Race of last to touch: human
• Creator: Tai Qualir
• Race of creator: human
• Purpose: to preserve knowledge
• Made of: paper/ink
• Location: Xanadu Library

info from Taevin about staff:

• forged for the first emperor of the hora quan
• Before the Aur Xica, son of first emperor created that
• Had a number of powers: storm controlling, attuned to positive energy, controlled bees
• Everyone assumes son had staff destroyed or hidden, because son went bad

Quotage:
"...Pantsless engineering?" -Oddysey, re: some note in her dm prep [context? what context?]

"...I think we're going to consume alcohol." -Artemis, Kheriim
"Sweet."-Oddysey, Halden

"What is this...watch?" -Artemis, Kherriim
"Watch! It's totally awesome. You see the person on watch gets to go up in the crow's next--the round thingamajig up there--and watches." -maggienotmegan, Janan
"For what?"-Artemis, Kherriim
"Whales."-maggienotmegan, Janan
"...big fish?"-Artemis, Kherriim
"Yeah! Sort of."-maggienotmegan, Janan
"Why?"-Artemis, Kherriim
"Because whales are magical. You have to watch real close, and don't blink, and if you see one, you yell out the magic phrase and they'll grant you a wish!" -maggienotmegan, Janan
"...what's the magic phrase?" -Artemis, Kherriim
(whispers)"Supercalifragiliousexpialidocious" -maggienotmegan, Janan
"Watch sounds like fun."-Artemis, Kherriim
"Well, tell you what, seeing as you've never done this before, I've got first watch, but I'll let you take it instead."-maggienotmegan, Janan

"The more the merrier! Well, really that's for orgies, but never mind that!"-maggienotmegan, Janan

Halden! am I right or am I right?"-maggienotmegan, Janan
"You're completely right! Getting drunk is exactly like reading!"-Oddysey, Halden

"You want to fight? Alright then! What're the stakes? Tell you what, I win, you have to kiss me, I lose, I have to kiss you."-maggienotmegan, Janan, to Halden re: his drunk fighting challenge

"Why is he running around screaming?"-Artemis, Kherriim
"Don't worry about it. Longstanding tradition of bartenders."-maggienotmegan, Janan
"He looks angry. And he's yelling at you."-Artemis, Kherriim
"Naw, don't worry about it! He's just expressing his appreciation of our complete enjoiment of the bar."-maggienotmegan, Janan
"And he's mouthing I'm going to kill you."-Artemis, Kherriim
"Sign of affection."-maggienotmegan, Janan


"Look, you break it, you buy it, right? So when you break something, it's like you bought it! so it's like you're giving them gold--except that you arent and it's broken, but not the point. Breaking things is perfectly fine." -maggienotmegan, Janan, to Kherriim, re: burning the bar down

"He started the undead thing."-Oddysey, Taevin
"Did he start democracy too? Because I heard democracy and undead, you know, are like that."-maggienotmegan, Janan
"...Democracy is not something I associate with the undead."-Oddysey, Taevin
"One corpse, one vote!"-Foole, Aed

"I'm very, very offended! I'm hurt!-maggienotmegan, Janan
"No,no! I'm going to kill you!"-Artemis, Kherriim
"...that's the sweetest thing anyone ever told me!"-maggienotmegan, Janan

"That. is a. bee sound. I know a bee sound when I hear one. I know a bee from a bonnet, a hawk from a handsaw, and the wind doesn't have to be north-north-west either"-maggienotmegan, Janan, to Halden, under the influence of ale & a ghostly sound spell

"whales whales whales whales that's not a whale whales whales whales"--Artemis, Kherriim, sung while watching for whales

"Do whales make thumps and slithery sounds?"-Artemis, Kherriim

"Way to sink the ship!"-maggienotmegan, Janan, re: magic water attack
"It's water. Water doesn't sink ships." -saganatsu, Leif
"Yes, it does! Water sinks ships all the time!"-maggienotmegan, Janan

Diplomatic Log 1

Mission remains questionable. Soon after having arrived in Xanadu opportunities presented themselves. Upon arrival to the summit, we were greeted by the Lady of the New Hora Quan Empire. Once preliminary talks ended, she stormed off to put an end to another gathering that apparently was called by Commandant Blank and/or the younger prince. A mere two decades in, and already the empire seems to be suffering power struggles. 

After the Lady and Commandant returned, Kheriim was sent along with the presumed heir on his trip to calm the empire's Commandant, presumably with alcohol. The reliance of such a highly placed officer on this substance may prove to be an opportunity to be exploited later if necessary.

Lord Gannen was suspiciously absent for the entire greeting ceremony. He did appear for the dinner but barely spoke or moved. He did not seem well, and preliminary observation suggests that he may not last long. Dinner was interrupted by the sudden entrance of a man claiming to represent the rebels of Skaraven. Lady Sigrid avoided making any promises but seemed sympathetic to their plight.

That evening the Lady created a group to hunt down a relic related to the Heart of the Sea. This group consists of both princes, along with the Skaraven representative and the magister's apprentice. Kheriim was also sent with them, she seemed reluctant but it will allow her to develop a closeness to the heir. The Commandant's child was also sent along in order to keep the princess distant. Hopefully the child will not be a negative influence on Kheriim, though she will likely be smart enough to keep her distance.

Sigrid's Journal 1: Another Dollar

Sixthmonth 1

Why do I bother spending weeks making elaborate plans? It's all for naught. Someone will always ruin everything anyway. And by "someone" I mean Commandant Blank. He knew I was having a peace summit and just couldn't leave well enough alone. He decided it would be an excellent time to throw a crazy party. I may have let it slide and written it off as another of his acts of idiocy, but he had to involve my son and create a nuisance in my city.

So, I left my summit and shut down the party. It had to be done. I dragged Blank to the summit, seeing as he was *supposed* to be there in the first place, but quickly sent him away with Leif and the human ward of the Verrik representative. Leif will never understand why Gannen and I tolerate Blank in our Empire. Leif wasn't around 22 years ago, and I doubt I'll ever be able to fully explain to him the kinship of adventuring. Blank was essential in bringing back the Hora Quan Empire. Without him, none of this would have happened. Without him, I wouldn't have Gannen.

So, anyway, after I sent Blank away, I left to double-check on dinner and get Gannen. He had to make an appearance at dinner. It would look bad if the delegates who came to the summit never saw him, after all. Gannen seemed less than thrilled to see me. I know he doesn't like these dinners, especially now. We argued a little about why I'd had to have this summit anyway and why he had to go to this dinner. Unfortunately, we both knew he had to go.

I wish I could say that dinner went off without a hitch, but of course it didn't. Blank and Soern had to go launching themselves out the window. I could have probably laughed that off and been fine, but then some guy burst into the banquet hall and started ranting about harrid. After some confusion, I figured out that his name was Stavros. He lives in Skaraven, where they've apparently been having a lot of problems with the harrid lately. I told him we could discuss the matter further after dinner, and order once again reigned supreme.

Soern returned, followed shortly by Blank, Anika, and a teenage boy. Soern and Blank then decided it would be a good idea to start loudly telling a story about Anika and the boy (Janan, apparently Blank's son) "hooking up" on his boat and somehow lighting it on fire. Yes, they decided to interrupt my dinner and bother my guests with this. If they're mad at my daughter for something, they could have come to me in private. I felt myself growing increasingly angry at Blank. Why does he insist on making my life even more complicated than it already is? I was about to explode. I was shaking with anger, about to just let Blank have it. Gannen must have sensed this and reached over and held my hand. It was a comforting act, and it was a restraining act. I looked over at Gannen and he slightly nodded, letting me know everything was fine. I calmed down. I invited Blank and Soern to take their seats again, effectively putting the subject to rest for the time being.

At the end of the evening, Gannen and I talked to Soern, who has been trying to arrange a meeting for awhile. Apparently there's something not-quite-right with the Heart of the Sea (though he doesn't quite know what). Whether this is related to the giant incursion last year remains to be seen. Soern thought we should try to find another artifact tied to the Heart (like the Aur Xica).

Consulting Ghalib, we discovered that there are at least four, though the only specific one he knows about is a magical cup. It's a relic of power and can heal, kill, and answer questions. (Note to self: Healing ability could be useful) Unfortunately, he doesn't know where the cup is.

I'd love to go myself, unfortunately, that's out of the question at the moment. Instead I formed a task force. Leif and Halden are going. They have got to work through their problems with each other. And even if they don't, if they're away at sea, at least I won't have to deal with the problems between them for a time. Besides, adventuring together might bring them closer. I've also sent Janan. I don't want him near Anika. Sending him away on a boat accomplishes that. I'm also sending Aed for some additional magical talent. I'm sending Stavros to give him a chance to prove his loyalty. I will be more than happy to assist him with his problems once he helps us with this. I've also sent Kheriim, the human ward of the Verrik, to give them a chance to prove their honest intentions. They'll be going with Ax.

I've given them the only leads we have. I suggested they talk to Taevin Brightfind. He's good at finding things. I also told Halden he could talk to Halas as an absolute last resort. Hopefully these kids are as talented as I think, otherwise, we'll be needing a lot of pearls.

Kheriim's Notes 1

1 of 6month

Teleporting tickles. This was discovered today while travelling with Kaperi to Xanadu. Magical sensitivity could explain the tickling. Xanadu is large, magical, and made of floating rocks. Magical sensitivity in Xanadu induces headaches. The people of Xanadu eat fish. Fish tastes like death.

There are many human-types here of many sizes. The small ones are Faen. The large one is a giant. There are also lizard people, cat people, monkey people and many other not-people type people like in the books at home. There are many people with many titles. What purpose do these titles hold?

Glowy Lady came with a man. She called him Damn Pirate. He was sent away with Prince. Then there was a boat with Prince and Damn Pirate. Damn Pirate imbibed much alcohol. Alcohol is bad. Prince encouraged him. Prince is bad? Prince must be treated nice, even if Prince is bad.

There was a dinner. There was more fish. There were other dead animals too. Damn Pirate and Scary Mage left through the window. They are very unorthodox. There was a man who came in who talked about Harrid. They eat people just like these people eat animals. The man was Strange. Strange also ate dead animals. Damn Pirate and Scary Mage came back with Trouble and Likes Fire. There was much yelling.

Later, Glowy Lady formed a group with Trouble, Likes Fire, Priest, Strange, and Prince. Kaperi says to go. A magic cup must be found.

Kaperi says to go. To go with these people is scary.

Session 1: In Which Sigrid Holds a Summit, Captain Blank's Ship Catches Fire, and a Quest is Begun

5/29
Recap:
Sigrid's summit begins.
Much boring small talk.
Sigrid meets Verrik representative Kaperi and Kaperi's human companion, Khariim.
Soern is late, but arrives. Aed is off doing apprentice-like stuff. Ghalib was invited as a Litorian representative, and, lacking anything better to do, is preventing the drowning of small children. ("Where are your fathers and why are they not watching you?")
Younger twins (Anika and Halden), Captain Blank, and misc. npcs are surprisingly not around.
This turns out to be because Captain Blank is holding his own party in Xanadu's Pleasure Dome. Sigrid is Not Amused. Particularly when it becomes a public nuisance. She yells at both Captain Blank and Halden, who was apparently "supervising". Halden gets sent to bed without supper, poor kid. Janan tries to introduce himself to Captain Blank, but his claim of kinship is not nearly as interesting as rum.
The official dinner of the summit is interrupted first by Captain Blank's ship being caught on fire, and second by the loud entrance of Stavros Xanthis, representative of the human resistance to Harrids on Skaraven.
Blank and Soern discover that Blank's ship was set on fire by Anika and a young man named Janan. After disturbing Janan and Anika's makeout session, Blank finally finds out that Janan wanted his attention because his dead mother claimed Blank was his father. Blank is Not Amused by Janan's choice of methedology.
Soern tattles on Anika to Sigrid, with much added embellishments--"Completely naked. With explosions." etc.
Sigrid is Not Amused, but plans to deal with this later.
Soern tells Gannen & Sigrid that "something" is wrong with the Heart of Sea, wondered if there were other artifacts like the evil sword that might help.
Sigrid decides to ask the closest scholar of Xanadu library (Ghalib! You're knowledgeable! C'mere!) if he has read anything about similar artifacts.
Ghalib is confused by the question, and by the Emperor & Empress talking to him, but answers to the best of his ability.
From what he's read, there are at least three other artifacts of similar origin, one a cup with powers of healing, killing, and prophecy. (lots of power for one cup) They may also be evil.
Sigrid creates a task force to go forth and investigate the matter.
Blank is sent due to his dubious contacts, Leif to make sure the task force actually investigates, Halden to get him out of trouble (and to make he & Leif get along), Stavros to prove Skaraven's intentions, Kheriim to prove Verrik intentions, Aed to provide magical assistance, and Janan, mainly to get him out of her city and away from her daughter.


Quotage:
"It's like Texas. If Texas were a jungle." -Oddysey, re: Verrik lands

"Do you know how hard it is to ride a horse in a dense jungle?" -Artemis, Kheriim
"Do you know how hard it is to save a horse and ride a cowboy?" -Qwerty, Captain Blank
"...You're not allowed to talk anymore." -Artemis

"I don't know where you've been, but mafia bosses are totally good people." -Qwerty, Captain Blank

"Does she understand the younger kids?"-Maggienotmegan, re: Sigrid not understanding her weird older kids
"Yeah, totally. She used to be a terrorist." -Artemis

"The Verrik are all New Yorkers." -Oddysey
"From Texas?" -Qwerty
"Yes...Wait, I can't condone that." -Oddysey

"Okay, Mister Pirate, what is the greatest danger at sea?" -Artemis, Sigrid
"Kraken." -Qwerty, Captain Blank
"Fire!" -Artemis, Sigrid, re: fire safety

"Is there a problem here?" -Rae, Sigrid
"No, no problem. Just that he's never going to catch himself a velociraptor." -Qwerty, Admiral Axe
"But they have caught velociraptors." -Artemis, Sigrid
"Have they? Or are the velociraptors luring them into a false sense of security?" -Qwerty, Admiral Axe
"Well, I don't know about that. I have seen them riding velociraptors." -Artemis, Sigrid
"And I've seen them being eaten by velociraptors." -Qwerty, Admiral Axe

"Ah, he'd float. He's a witch!" -Foole, re: throwing Captain Blank into the ocean

"You're human. You can eat fish if you like." -Foole, Kaperi
"It tastes funny. Like death." -Artemis, Kheriim

"You're the one who set my boat on fire!" -Qwerty, Captain Blank
"And you're the one who let your boat be set on fire!" -Maggienotmegan, Janan

"We were totally just necking, mom; it's okay." -Oddysey, Anika, re: Soern's assertion that Annika and Janan had been sexing it up on a burning boat

"I scratch your back, you scratch mine, except with no actual scratching of backs, instead we do favors." -Qwerty, Stavros

"Stavros is available for all backscratching that is not actual backscratching. All metaphorical backscratching." -Qwerty, Stavros

"I don't get it." -Saganatsu, Soern
"It's nothing. They're pirates." -Artemis, Sigrid
"It's called innuendo. It's when a remark, seemingly innocent on the surface, is actually a reference of a sexual nature. Or about drugs, or death, other adult topics, but usually sex." -Maggienotmegan, Janan
"...Yeah, that flew right over my head." -Saganatsu, Soern
"Well, you are a biter, aren't you?" -Maggienotmegan, Janan

"Well, hello again." -Maggienotmegan, Janan, looking Halden up and down
"...Janan, meet my son, Halden." -Artemis, Sigrid
"Son? Good to meet you. Like the name. Anyone ever tell you you look very like your sister?"-Maggienotmegan, Janan
"No, really?" -Qwerty, Captain Blank, re: twelfth night twin syndrome

Session 0.0 & 0.5

5/16/09
Session 0.0: Character Creation
Recap:
Five hours of character creation, and none of us were done. Epic! level is Epic!, but the maths involved is daunting. We did all get our character concepts pretty well hammered out, and finished things up during the following week, with detail work left for the next session.

5/23/09
Session 0.5: Exposition & World Building
Recap:
The first hour or so was spent tweaking our characters, with equipment, magical items, spells, etc. Important in some respects, but mostly fussy details.
After we decreed our characters ready to play, Oddysey had us participate in some joint world building. She passed out some maps she'd made, which were sketchy but got the point across, and then had us add details to each city / island round-robin style, by passing the sheets around. Some of what we came up with was rather silly (for example, someone invented fire toads, and then that island was lost to fire toad jokes. And velociraptors.) but others were quite interesting: we have one island ruled by the undead (a democracy of the undead) and have many rumors of potential odd goings-on. Also we decided that Captain Blank's hometown of Ghorzam is known for both its fine dining (rats are apparently a delicacy) and their ice skating tournament. This being a pirate town, the favorite event is of course drunk skating.
We also hashed out a fairly general timeline for the Hora Quoran empire following the events of the previous campaign. Our campaign starts in the year 22 after the rise of Xanadu.

Notes:
apparent theme of the campaign: Drugs & Fire Toads

Quotes:
"I am morally opposed to the dead having the vote." -Karl
"Really it'd only have an effect on voter turnout." -Qwerty
"...It's called voter fraud, [Qwerty]." - Artemis

"She's evil. It doesn't matter!" -maggienotmegan, regarding previous campaign's villain's (Monala's) age