Ongoing Games (In-Character)Play-by-post games are going on in this forum as we speak (well, read). All threads on this board are actual games, so please, only post on a thread if you are a player of that game.
The Old Age
The Days of the Mage Lords: A tyrannical period in which the people of the world were ruled by decedent Lords of magic. In the last years their power their arrogance grew exponentially until they began to challenge the Gods and Dragon Lords from which they drew their might. Finally their tyranny was ended by the source: The Gods retreated to their own plains and The Dragon Lords laid waste to the great libraries where man had stored the knowledge the lords had given them, before fleeing to the other Planes, leaving a world with no magic.
-50,000 to -30,000
The Time Without Magic or Gods: The first years after the Schism the Mage Lords still held power but shortly after Warlords and self-proclaimed Kings began claiming and taking what they could, This four to five hundred year time period became known as the Ruin Wars. It was followed by many short lived reins and many rising and falling kingdoms.
-30,000 to -25,000
The Return of the Gods: Pelor was the first of the Gods to return to the world. Then more returned bringing with them a trickle of magic.
-25,000 to -25,500
Return of the Dragon lords: The First of the dragons began to return from their self-induced exile and began to again share their knowledge with man but not nearly so freely.
-20,000ish
The Time of Rebirth: This time is difficult to place as some say it began when Pelor returned other not until the Great City of Reddmyr was restored and the great calendar was started and the Sages proclaimed the start of the New Age. This age was led from Reddmyr which had been made the capital of a new and powerful nation named Lananter.
The New Age
0-6,224: The Years of Conquest: During the beginning of the age Lananter's kings led many wars and campaign into the wild places of the world uniting the warlords under one banner.
6,224-7,695: Lananter begins loosing land to the power as the Eternianna Emperium rises to power.
7,695 to 11,851 The two Great Nations end their war and begin a period of peace.
11,851- A great Lich named Unx who claimed to be a former Mage lord began amassing great power but not waging any wars or taking any hostile action. He claimed to have foreseen a great cataclysm tens of thousands of years ago and took on Lichdom before stowing himself away until he was needed. A great many heroes attempted to end him but he was far too powerful.
13,043- The First outbreak of the Spell Plague was seen in a farming community, call Goldenshire. The world blamed Lich Lord Unx naturally
13,121- The Spell Plague had become wide spread and nearly 20% of the worlds populace had been wiped out only to rise again and spread more death across the land.
The Age of Sorrow
13,134- The City of Reddmyr falls to the plague. The closed gates and large population made this a massacre. Over three million people died in a matter of days. It is estimated that ten thousand or less actually made it out of the city. The fall of the city brought with it the destruction of the Great calendar and the end of an Age. The Brief period of that followed was dubbed the Age of Sorrow.
Year Zero- A legendary group of adventurers known as the Guardians regathered and went on a hunt for the true cause. Among them were Galinta the Devote, Shaka the Wild, Kalacus the Mad, and Mala Ora the Everwise. They were accompanied by Lord Unx, this was of course more than shocking to those who knew of the Quest.
Year of the Exodus- Two years after the Party set out Kalacus returned alone and began gathering those that had survived the Plague and the undead and led them to a great Portal that led to another plane one free of the Plague. During the Caravan a being in a black robe lined in a mystical looking metal, appeared and began throwing a strange sort of magic at the caravan severing the magic links that held them to the path and throwing them into oblivion. Kalacus began battling the man but the crossfire hit a small group, which you all were a part of, it sent you sailing into oblivion.
As you drift in a seemingly infinite slumber a slow warmth permeates your body. Even as you dream you feel the warmth seeping into every pore of your body. It continues to grow and grow until you feel the warmth beginning to become painful. It stings the skin and makes you sweat. You begin to realize how thirsty the heat has made you. But not waters in the dreams will stop this thirst.
You are suddenly awakened by a cruel gust of wind and sand across your face. As you open your eyes the abnormally bright rays of the sun are blinding and painful. You feel as if you had slept for days and your muscles are sore and are suffering from slight atrophy. Before even moving you can tell that you are lying on hot sand, but this makes no sense as the last memory you had was of the great fight on the caravan in the plane between planes, but that seems so long ago now and the current stinging of your skin and brightness of the sun force themselves too the forefront of your mind.
The winds carry sand that cut the face, not deeply enough to draw blood but enough to irritate the sun scorched skin. As your senses begin to adjust you begin to hear the wind it sounds like a whip that never finds it's end to crack. Then as your ears become more adjusted you here the grunts and groans of people near by no doubt just now being rudely awakened in the same manner as you. Even as you try to adjust your eyes you are forced to shield them to open them without some pain. This sun seems alien in its brightness, in fact even on the hottest day in your memory it had never shown so bright.
I wake with the full force of the sun in my face, and I reflexively flinch over onto my front, raising my wings as a makeshift and only marginally effective sunshade. The sand under where I’ve been lying is only warm rather than hot, and I grasp a handful, letting the grains flow through my fingers as I mentally replay what I can remember. I’d been moving up the convoy to see what I could do to aid Kalacus. Robert had stayed behind to organise a triage station for the wounded. Then a blinding flash and here I am. My hand closes around the platinum pendant still reassuringly on its chain around my neck.
Robert!
With a start I push myself shakily to my knees and blink rapidly – attempting to adjust my eyes to the harsh conditions. Wwith a rising sense of panic I realise my husband isn’t amongst those I find myself with. They’re beginning to come round, but I’m not interested in them right now. After a few experimental wing beats, I launch myself vertically up in the air, gaining height so as to scan for any other groups of survivors, never before feeling so lost and confused!
Spoiler
Spot (check out surroundings and look for signs of life): 10
(see OOC thread for roll)
Balthasaar comes awake slowly, the adrenaline rush of the battle departed leaving him worn and ragged.
By the blood of the gods, why is it so hot all the sudden?
With a start, he realizes his surrounding are quite different from those he remembered leaving. Flashes of the battle replay over and over in his head, his last memory of some sort of arcane energy enveloping himself and a group of others, tearing them lose from the demi-plane they had been traveling through.
"Scorching heat, arid wasteland, and this thrice-damned sand working its way under my armor... Is this one of the hells?"
Spoiler
Knowledge: The Planes check to see if we're in hell. (1d20+6)[23]
Gaher comes to a kneel squinting his eyes trying to take in his surroundings. He activates detect evil to ensure that none that he will be forced to travel with will need further watching. Satisfied that none of them are evil.
"The fact that there is a sun deems that we are not in one of the hells. But I do not know where we are. We need to figure out where we are and how to get out of this area."
As you look about you realize that the cosmos are far and beyond unlike any plane you know of as your gaze hits the sky you see a shattered moon to the east and not one but to suns rising from north to south only slightly off from one another. The only way to know there are two is that one is large and red while the other is smaller and bright gold casting an eerie glow as it appears to be bright flower with a golden center and short red petals. The shattered moon is unmoving in the sky. It appears to be poorly chopped in half making one side larger than the other with smaller sized portions floating between the two larger bodies. With the suns up it appears to have a dark orange glow about it.
General Int Check of 10
Spoiler
You though untrained in these fields recognize the strange nature of your environment as unnatural.
DC 5 Knowledge Planes
Spoiler
It is easy for those with any knowledge of the planes to tell this is not any of the known outer planes.
DC 10 Geography/Nature or Bardic 15
Spoiler
To those that study weather and astrology it is recognizable that this cosmic array is seemingly impossible and never before documented to exist.
DC 25 Local or History:
Spoiler
If you succeed this check I will Pm you with some information that you learn.
((Player with multiple knowledge skills may roll once for each DC, Bardic knowledge or Lore ability may be used against any or all DC's but only once each. If you have both the knowledge skill and Bardic knowledge or lore you do not roll twice instead add your int mod to the knowledge check again (effectively Int+int+Ranks+ misc)))
As for just looking around you see sand and heat shimmer caused by the burning sands that surround you. No trees or cities can be seen from where you are.
Spot DC 15
Spoiler
You barely see the dark outline to the south of what you can only guess to be people travelling away from you in a caravan. But it is near impossible to determine whether it is just a trick of the eyes or an actual group of people.
Edit: So I succeed on Planes and Nature/Geography, but not Int or Spot. Do I get anything extra for Nat20 in Planes? Would there be a spot bonus for being high d20(100-150ft)? Only way I can think of that I could turn around that roll.
For Gothic (and anyone else who cares to know OOC what Gothic knows
Spoiler
For the Nat twenty you are 110% sure that this is not an outer plane, inner plane or previously recorded material or demiplane the cosmology is simply to distinct for you to have not read it somewhere as for spot flying 40+ feet in the air will grant a +2 to spot for spots at great distance like this one. It is a scale where you receive better spot but are easier to spot yourself and take a negative to search equal to you spot for distance
Starex Elantra pulls herself onto her feet using her glaive as a crutch. "Well isn't this a charming place. It's like the after-the-end sequel to some apocalyptic angst-saga" She shakes the sand out of her mail and entertainers outfit. "That moon's too close..." she mutters. "Either this place is about to die or something very strange happened here a long time ago"
Spoiler
General INT Check: (1d20+1)[10]
K/The Planes (1d20+3)[20]
No Bardic Knowledge--she's a Knack Bard
She surveyed her companions. The gossamer-winged swordswoman she recognises-- Wait, wasn't she going with a man? I don't see him. She's not going to be happy., the man with the strange eyes and clawed hands gives her an odd feeling of recognition--Something about notebooks, and potato chips--no, no idea. The angry-looking fellow with the bald head she's already noted as somebody she discretely stays away from. She has no idea of the fift member of the group.
She surveys the desolate horizon, shading her eyes with her palm.
Spot:(1d20+3)[8]
"I have a feeling, Ladies and Gentlemen, that Create Water just became a very important orison"
"Creating water will be a very valuable ability in this desolate wasteland. I can provide my own sustenance but I can not have any of you being weakened by not being able to provide for yourselves. Well does anyone know where we are or where we can find some form of civilization?"
Starex holds her left hand up to the wind, trying to discern if the breeze seems cool or warm. "Hot, dry winds will come from the interior. A coastal wind will be cooler. If there's nothing else around that looks promising, we should head toward cool winds and find a coastline. All rivers meet the sea. Eventually."
You raise your hand into the winds. They feels hot and and smell salty. The direction seems to shift often in a pattern with gusts coming from one direction then a short period of no wind followed by a just from another direction. The abnormal pattern of winds could be attributed to the abnormal cosmic array as winds are ruled by the ocean and the ocean is ruled by the moon and sun.
All characters may make a search check
DC 10
Spoiler
As you observe the surroundings you come accross a set of somewhat fresh tracks, perhaps only a few days old, leading away from the sunrise. It is approximately thirty yards from where you woke up, andis somewhat worn down by the winds but the apparant size of the group that left the trail helped keep it from disappearing altogether. You also find another person closer to the trail. He has not yet awoken but does show weak signs of life.
DC 15
Spoiler
You know that the group must have hade between 100 and 200 humaniods and some form of pack animal. Where you found the survivor you also find several skeletons with tattered clothing buried in the sand already picked clean by the wind and sand.
DC 20
Spoiler
You find the tracks to be very abnormal. The surface seems fairly average you also find the sand to be oddly loose far more so than it normally should be after so many people packed it down. You also notice a patteren in the small dunes around the tracks. It is like the ripples of a fish near the surface of a pond, only frozen mid motion the sand appears to have been parted by something from underneath. Or more accurately some things as for your best guess there were about a dozen of them.
Spoiler
If you choose to investigate further taking 5 mins and digging in the sands around you. You also find seven arrows shot into the sand on either side of the trail and several broken arrows in the trail, A roll of roughed up silk-like material (2' by 10') buried under the foot steps of the trail, a small sack of silver coins somewhat different than the ones you know (13 silver pieces). In your search you also find more skeletons of humaniods showing obvious signs of weapon induced trauma. Mostly arrows but also some amputated limbs and a few blunt force trauma deaths. You find around twenty such bodies and a large quadraped skeleton of unknown species buried around and in the trail. They have been picked clean of thier posessions assumedly by whomever attacked them.
The hot suns are beating down upon you. While the unfamiliar brightness is annoying the true problem is the thirst from your dreams has remained. You do not know how long you had been lying in the hot sun before you woke up and your mouth and throat are very dry.
As I cast my gaze around the featureless desert without success, the oddness of the place finally begins to penetrate my notice, replacing my initial panic with an icy chill of fear. With the realisation that we're completely alone on an undiscovered plane I force myself to concede that finding my missing husband has become more of a long-term goal.
I float back to the desert floor and begin to pay more attention to my immediate situation. My mouth is parched, so I take a swig from my waterskin of a couple ounces - careful to swallow all of it in spite of the gritty taste in my mouth; I didn't spot any sources of water, so rationing is going to be essential.
As I reach the ground, I begin to recognise the others, though Starex is the only one I know by name thanks to our shared heritage - I'd been travelling in a different part of the convoy than the others until I moved up during the battle. The fifth person I don't recognise at all, and I realise he's some distance away from the rest of us and right by some fresh tracks!
I can't believe I didn't notice those from the air!
The tracks are interesting, but there are more important things to do first. I nod a greeting to Starex as I run over to the man, and if he's unresponsive I begin checking him over, the way my husband taught me.
For your heal check he doesn't seem to have any visible symptoms other than a severe sunburn and major dehydration. As you search you remove his headgear to find long pitch black hair. He appears to be human but his pale skin and dark feature tells you there is something off about him.
As you do the physical examination you find a hidden pocket in his coat. It seems to have been sewn closed but when you handle the material you can feel the awkward weight. You also come across a fine looking dagger and a small coin back.
The man doesn't seem injured, just sunburnt and dehydrated, so I prop him up and force him to drink about four ounces from my waterskin before putting him in a recovery position. I leave his money bag where it is, but I take the dagger in case he wakes up hostile. I'll return it later if he isn't.
Leaving the man for now, I turn to my new companions. I attempt to rub my brow - usually a comforting gesture - but my skin is raw and my fringe is clinging damply to it as well. In fact my hair is beginning to become annoying in the heat, so I tie it back so that it can't stick to my face.
"He seems ok, except I think he's been here longer than us. I don't know if the water is enough, but I've done all I can for now.
Anyway. Hi! My name's Lilian - Lilian Chase. I think I was travelling in another part of the convoy from you all - I came to try and help against the attack. I was travelling with my husband, Robert..." my hand again flies reflexively to the pendant round my neck "...I think he's still there...
Starex I've met briefly, but I haven't had a chance to meet you two yet." I hold out a hand to shake to each in turn, managing a fix a thin smile over my inner turmoil. "Back in Lananter I was an entrepeneur - you can count on me for just about anything - unfortunately conjuring water out of thin air isn't one of them. If we get desperate I may know a few tricks for finding water in a desert, but I'd suggest we start by investigating those tracks."
Hot and salty, and no clear direction. That's a lot of use. Scowling at herself for her weakness, she swigs a mouthful of water to stop her tongue clinging to the roof of her mouth, and wanders over toward the mysterious tracks, and the slumped figure Lilian is attending to.
"I've a feeling, a sinking sort of feeling, that this fellow is the reason for we being here. Should have stood next to someone else."
"Lilian" She drops her eyes a moment. "I'm very sorry."
A fresh wave of emotion threatens to overwhelm me - worry about the fate of my husband; warmth towards Starex for caring - I CANNOT be thinking about this right now!
With a force of will I bring my concentration back to our current situation. I give Starex a half-smile and a quick hand squeeze to show that I'm OK, though I can't manage a comment.
"Well met, I go by Balthsaar. I've some small skill in divine magic, so I can keep us supplied with fresh water as necessary. For now, I think it best we follow these tracks. They must be leading somewhere, as nothing survives long in the open like this. Let me see if our disabled friend responds to healing magic, otherwise I can carry him."
Balthasaar takes a quick swig of water before kneeling next to the prone figure, muttering a quick word of celestial, and channeling divine energy into the stranger.
Spoiler
spontaeous conversion: turn light into a cure minor wounds and channel 1 point of healing into the unconcious figure
PS: poasting by phone for a bit until my internet is hooked up, belease forgive belated responses.
Gaher reaches into his Travelers cloak grabs his canteen and takes a small drink, returning it to allow it to refill. "I am Gaher." As Balthsaar goes to heal the traveler if I sense the traveler is evil I grab his hand, (1d20+6)[16] If he is not I will simply allow him to be healed. "I am a champion of the people. The light that will never go out."
FOR DETECT EVIL: You see a tinge of aura appear but it is fleeting and seems to disappear into nothingness. It does not seems to reappear.
The healing stablizes him and heals the worst his external burns though he is still unconscious. ((Auto succeed as you can take twenty, if you choose too still grab him))
For most survival checks please follow this unless I ask for a special roll or you request a use of the skill NOS ((Not otherwise specified))
Spoiler
Survival DC Task
10 Get along in the wild. Move up to one-half your overland speed while hunting and foraging (no food or water supplies needed). You can provide food and water for one other person for every 2 points by which your check result exceeds 10.
15 Gain a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saves against severe weather while moving up to one-half your overland speed, or gain a +4 bonus if you remain stationary. You may grant the same bonus to one other character for every 1 point by which your Survival check result exceeds 15.
15 Keep from getting lost or avoid natural hazards, such as quicksand.
15 Predict the weather up to 24 hours in advance. For every 5 points by which your Survival check result exceeds 15, you can predict the weather for one additional day in advance.
Varies Follow tracks (see the Track feat).
40 Get along in the wild while moving at full speed. The character can provide food and water for one other person for every 2 points by which the check result exceeds 40.
60 Automatically succeed on all Fortitude saves against severe weather. The character can extend this benefit to one other character for every 2 points by which the check result exceeds 60.
60 Ignore overland movement penalties of terrain. The character and his or her mount can move at full overland speed regardless of terrain. The character can extend this benefit to one other character for every 5 points by which the check result exceeds 60.
60 Identify race/kind of creature(s)by tracks.1
Requires the Track feat.
Action
Varies. A single Survival check may represent activity over the course of hours or a full day. A Survival check made to find tracks is at least a full-round action, and it may take even longer.
Try Again
Varies. For getting along in the wild or for gaining the Fortitude save bonus noted in the table above, you make a Survival check once every 24 hours. The result of that check applies until the next check is made. To avoid getting lost or avoid natural hazards, you make a Survival check whenever the situation calls for one. Retries to avoid getting lost in a specific situation or to avoid a specific natural hazard are not allowed. For finding tracks, you can retry a failed check after 1 hour (outdoors) or 10 minutes(indoors) of searching.
Restriction
While anyone can use Survival to find tracks (regardless of the DC), or to follow tracks when the DC for the task is 10 or lower, only a ranger (or a character with the Track feat) can use Survival to follow tracks when the task has a higher DC.
Special
If you have 5 or more ranks in Survival, you can automatically determine where true north lies in relation to yourself.
Last edited by Doc_Pippin : 11-15-2012 at 04:56 AM.
With my emotions tightly under control and the introductions seemingly over, I go back to task in hand, hoping to distract myself with work.
"We're definitely not on any known plane. The two suns and broken moon is too distinctive for me not to have heard about this place if it were known to planar scholars in Lananter."
I stoop to study the tracks, and, probing with my foot, quickly turn up several skeletons in tattered clothing. The ground around here has clearly been disturbed, and I turn back to the group.
At least 100 humanoids passed this way recently. And over here, a quadruped. Its prints are quite deep, so possibly a pack animal... The whole area seems to have been quite heavily disturbed, as though the area has been dug up. And here - here it's almost as some things tore themselves out of the ground..."
I give the nearby skeletons a sudden look of deep suspiscion.
"I think perhaps we should dig around a bit, see what we can find..."
Starex hears Lilian's words, sees her look, looks at the skeletons, and nods warily. "Let's do that, but first..." she draws her morningstar. "A little insurance"
She carefully and respectfully smashes every exposed skeles skull.
"I'm sorry. This was not meant for you. It's not you, it's me. Et cetera"
Balthasaar eyes Starex approvingly as she destroys the remains. "Normally I would chastise you to show more respect for the dead, but in this case I think caution trumps decorum."
That said, Balthasaar channels divine magic once more, surrounding himself with armor of pure force as he draws his greatsword. "Now let's make this search fast as possible, I'd like to find shelter before this sand works its way into EVERY sensitive area of my body."
Having said that, Balthsaar stands guard as the others search, keeping an eye out for any incoming threats by land or air.
Spoiler
Cast mage armor on self, use 7 turn attempts for Divine Persistent Spell. Three uses of Turn Undead remain. AC is now 23.
Just to put it here with the other related search for easy
Spoiler
If you choose to investigate further taking 5 mins and digging in the sands around you. You also find seven arrows shot into the sand on either side of the trail and several broken arrows in the trail, A roll of roughed up silk-like material (2' by 10') buried under the foot steps of the trail, a small sack of silver coins somewhat different than the ones you know (13 silver pieces). In your search you also find more skeletons of humanoids showing obvious signs of weapon induced trauma. Mostly arrows but also some amputated limbs and a few blunt force trauma deaths. You find around twenty such bodies and a large quadruped skeleton of unknown species buried around and in the trail. They have been picked clean of their possessions assumingly by whomever attacked them.
As you search the sand and destroy the skeletons you find one fascinating skeleton and one too tragic to bear. The first is different from the others in that the skull is somewhat elongated and the bones are light and hollow yet very sturdy. The second is quite obviously a small child's skeleton still clutching the tattered remains of a cloth toy. They do not stir as you dispose of their bones. But as you go through you begin to have an unnatural feeling that this was a place of great sorrow.
"Cheerful." growls Starex. "My expertise lies more in composition than decomposition, but it occurs to me that these people died a lot longer ago than the tracks were made. The tracks are a few days old at most. The bones have been here for months, at least. You don't get to be a skeleton after a few days dead, nor do you get buried this deep by the same winds that have not yet erased the tracks."
She puts a hand to her head And yet the tracks go right across the massacre scene with a precision that is uncanny. In a blank, open desert with a myriad of routes. What am I missing here?
She stops smashing skulls when she comes to the child skeleton and the oddly light one. There's a point where caution and precaution become paranoia.
"I'm no scholar, but it seems to me that those that made the tracks cannot have killed these people. Am I wrong? If I am, please speak"
Attempt to identify the species of the unusual skeleton:
Knowledge(Local - humanoids): (1d20+3)[15]
Knowledge(Nature - Fey): (1d20+3)[6]
Knowledge(The Planes - Outsiders/Elementals): (1d20+3)[5]
A few moments’ poking turns up the silk cloth, and as I sweep it free of sand I begin to come across other items as well, the useful ones of which I gather up. I’m standing over the unusual skeleton, pondering its possibilities when Starex discovers the body of the child and my heart implodes again. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s the last straw for today.
I barely hear her words. I don’t think – I can’t – I just dump the small pile of items in the middle of the cloth before taking off – flying upwards as fast as I can manage. Straight up into the wide embrace of the heavens until, at about 3000ft and well beyond the notice of my new companions I begin quietly sobbing into my hands.
What happened to Rob? Is he still alive? How will I ever find him again? I have no idea to the answer for any of those burning questions and the torment is too much.
I have no idea how long I spend hanging there, but eventually the rhythmic beating of my wings in the desert air has a calming effect. The air is slightly cooler up here as well, which helps. The shock and adrenaline of my sudden transition and loss begins to wear off, and before too much longer I’m feeling far more like myself. I may not have answers or any idea how to find them, but I have determination and a pressing survival challenge to focus on. As I take out my mirror from my pack and wipe my eyes so as to erase the evidence, I curse myself for my weakness – wasting so much moisture in a desert.
I begin to study the terrain again. Whilst before my scanning of the terrain and horizon had been motivated primarily by blind panic, I now repeat the process with a much more thorough and clinical demeanour. Where do the tracks lead? Are there any prominent features, such as mountains, seas or rivers that I can see from this high up? Any cities? Looking at the angle of the suns, I attempt to deduce the time of day, or even how long the day might be – have they moved at all in the sky?
Spoiler
Take 20 on the spot. My modifier is +7 including the height for 27.
I rolled a nat 1 on survival in OOC, so I'm guessing I don't know what the time of day is...
I'd say the actions in this post probably take between half an hour and an hour for information. Don't mind me, talk amongst yourselves!
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The Unwanted Alpha [IC]
