Descendence (Blog 7)

Ronia had set up a bonfire in the town's square as the gypsies entered Jonas. The troupe set up their stage in the center of the marketplace and begins their performance. With rapt amazement the crowd grows around them, almost the entire town applauded the troupe as they finished. When it is over, the crowd dissipates slowly as if waking. Dex is approached by Eziekiel, the dragon is only told the the town "needs water from the mill" before slipping back into the crowd. Dex informs Ronia and Bron, and after the troupe has left, go below the mill. The vast resivour tanks are all empty, flushed when Descendence first came to Jonas.

They go to the liberary at the keep to research what appears to be a curse the gypsies layed upon the townspeople to draw dark fae daemons. Further research informs them that the halfling preists were purifying water below the mill, the kind which would rid the town of the curse. Taking Karyssa with tham, they return to the mill. Karyssa works a Purification upon the intake pipes to the containers. Unknowingly, the dark fae taints her working causing a sublty different effect. The worked water is given to the Myotis forces first, then the rest of Jonas during morning mass held before true night.

Taul joins them as they search for Darakoth, with the comming night there are still thoughts of him returning. They approach the alcove where his avatar should be, but the alcove is not there. They attempt to break their way through the working with weapons, magic and fae but it is worked by an adept and holds. In the surrounding chamber, small shodow creatures watch the group and their efforts. Bron and Karyssa use their powers in search of Dakaroth, finding him close, and Karyssa is knocked unconcious in retaliation with dark fae.

Ronia and Bron turn a few of the dark creatures into smoke with single hits. Bron's senses locate Dakaroth as the creatures and he wants his avatar. As some of the creatures draw them apart, the majority of them gather below the aclove, then they mass and surge through the Bron-made hole into Dakaroth's Wyrm. Some are destroyed by Bron's Sunstone and Ronia's flaming sword.

FAQ: Divination

I was once asked:

Divination:

Add the DoS of the [applicable sage lore] check to the next check or war made by the caster. This spell requires a physical component (or medium).

I have some questions:

1> Is it possible to "chain" divinations, such that the DoS of a successful divination check is added to a divination check on a subsequent turn, etc., until some great gob of bonus is either expended on some other task, or, more likely, tragically wasted when the diviner rolls the inevitable critical failure (DOOOOHH!!!)?

2> Does divination require the expenditure of at least one mana?

3> The description of divination for Aeromancy omits the requirement for the physical component. Is this an oversight, or do Air Elementalists not require them?

Answers:

1> No and yes. Making a scry check with divination will give you a modifier to the next check or war, so if the next check was another divination you would add the previous modifier (to make a bigger modifier). Multiple divinations from multiple casters are cumulative.

2> Divination is a "use of power", therefore pool must be expended.

3> Correct, Air elementalists do not need a medium, (as they read the air, water elementalists use water).

Hope that helps!

Ricalope, SL.

More (Part One): Things to Know

"The more you know..."

After digging around I noticed there are some things you victims do not have easy access to, such as the scribblings in my book. Giving you gremlins access to these things is part of what the blog is for. So, without further ranting, More Part One: Things to Know.

Knowledges:

Leadership (Chr)
-This knowledge may be used to give orders and effect morale.

Scribe (Man) Sage Lore
-The victim may store a spell in the form of words or runes for an indefinite amount of time. The DoS of the spell is rolled (either a to hit total or check) as well as a scribe check. The created "scroll" may hold an amount of spell DoS equal to the scribe DoS (all excess is lost). The pool is spent at the time of creation and the "scroll" may be used by anyone. [SL's note: Your entries in your equipment for such a scroll would read something like; Scroll: Fireball, DoS 20+5*, Burns.]

Weapon Uses:

Block
-This is the skill of deflecting, absorbing and minimizing damage. Add to all soaking rolls, except MS.

Haste
-The victim's reflexes are honed, allowing them to gain a head start on their opponents. Add the haste modifier to all initiative rolls. In the case of a tie, the victim with the highest Dex wins.

Shield
-The victim can learn to use a shield better for both blocking and parries. When using a shield, add the modifier to soak. A victim receives a free parry (which does not take up an action) with the shield for every five points in this weapon use.

Other Powers:

Baneshield (Undead Dominion or Soulthief)
-Cost: 4
-The victim accumulates a shield from the essence of their fallen foes. This shield is used the same as a regular shield and will take up one hand while being used. The baneshield recieves 1 point of Stm and 5 wounds each time the victim inflicts Final Death. The baneshield also regenerates one wound each hour out of combat.

Enjoy!
Ricalope, SL.

Scene Lord's Advice of the Day: Guerrilla War

Guerrilla War might be a better knowledge than you thought it was. This knowledge is one of those few who can apply to other skills, here is how.

The basics: Guerrilla War is the knowledge of finding battlefield positions that provide better cover and firing positions. It can be used in any type of environment without penalty. During combat, a victim may make two actions per turn (usually one check and one war), often the Guerrilla War check will be the most important.

Using your DoS: The degree of success (DoS) of a Guerrilla War check gives a value for how well the victim uses cover to their advantage. Once a position has been taken up the DoS may be applied to other checks and wars. The DoS may be applied to a single roll, after which it is "used up" and may not be used until after the next Guerrilla War check.

Stealth: The victim may use their position to hide, apply the DoS to their next Stealth check. This would apply to planning a route which provides cover as well as finding sniping positions.

Sniper and Marksmanship: Once a good firing position has been found it can be very difficult to avoid any fire originating from a hidden point. If the victim wishes, they may add the Guerrilla War DoS to their next to hit roll, providing it is at range. Once the first shot has been fired the position has been given away and a new check must be made.

Soaking: A good position can be the best defense against incoming fire. Against the first ranged attack (by a weapon or magic) the victim may add their Guerrilla War DoS to soak the damage.

Sharing Your DoS: Any of the above uses can be applied to multiple victims. This represents the victim sharing their knowledge and leading their group. Simply make a Guerrilla War check, then divide the DoS by how many victims will be benefiting from the skill (round down to a minimum of one). The other victims may use the bonus modifier any legal way they see fit (even if it differs from how the other victims use theirs).

I hope that helps, happy sniping!
Ricalope, SL.

Scene Lord's Advice of the Day: Totals

Hey out there, thought I would like to pass on some modifiers to your next game.

Lets look at something that will help make game go faster and more seamlessly, knowing your victim's totals. What I am talking about are the to hit, dodge and soak totals primarily as they often get altered each turn. Scrap paper! If you write down all your base totals on a spare sheet, and keep track of temporary modifiers there, life might get easier. As a SL, I often do this for the various adversaries I toss at you, this way I can keep track of multiple spells and creatures/people. The various things I find to be important to note during combat are:

Weapons to hit
Weapon damage
Pool to hit
Soak damage
Magical Stamina (MS)

Some victims find that they use knowledges like stealth, guerrilla war and the like, if so add those to this list. I hope that helps out your next round of combat.

Ricalope, SL.

Shirts and Staples

The victim shirts have been realized, and are spreading like a nice mold. They are all black, with the logo in white on the front. 16 t-shirts (with the infamous "victim" on the back), 6 named long-sleeves and my Scene Lord hoodie came in the other day, they are going fast.

I just finished stapling 50 books for the give-away at GottaCon and there are a few more to go.

For either of these wonderful things to become yours, feel free to message me, or drop by at GottaCon.

Ricalope, SL.

Descendence (Blog 6)

Bron had passed out near town square the previous night, after spending time with Tek Phlaeg. He had offered the dwarf a drink while fixing Bron's avatar, then there were songs, more drinks, and finally waking up in a crypt. He was awakened by Nau Fien, who was apparently keeping Bron safe, and asked to take the necromancer to Tal Onas.

The Night's Wrath arrived at Tal Onas while Bron was on his way there with Fien. They all attend Lord Faul's debriefing. Each of the mercenaries' contracts with the Emperor are agreed upon. The proposal to renovate the zeppilin to include an avatar chamber is proposed to Tek Phoeboes, who takes it to Lord Faul. It is agreed upon, but the work to be done will ground the vessel for the duration. Descendence squadron will have to rely only upon the captured cutters for support.

Ronia, Bron and Jauques go into the woods to hunt large game. Upon encountering one of the keepers of the wood, a raccoon, they abandon the hunt by morning.

The next evening Lord Faul orders Descendence squadron to the Glimmerhold, a dwarven forge-city on the other side of Hove. Their mission is to bring the dwarven hold under the trade alliance Myotis offers and punish them if they refuse. Given the lack of zeppelin, it will be a long journey through hostile territory.

Anui Ronia plans a route first to Jonas, the last friendly outpost before crossing the plains of Hove. As they arrive they notice a forest clustered against the wall of the city that had not been there before. It an impossibility since they had been gone from the town for a week. As they approach they change their approach angle, and the forest follows them, staying between them and the town. Descendence simply flies over it.

As they fly towards the keep they notice despoilers and Myotis guards posted as normal, other than the wood, nothing seems wrong. They approach the keep's doors and are denied entrance by the orders of Aniu Gweneth. Karyssa go to speak with Tek Phlaeg, he tells her of the town's Aniu being seduced by a dark fae adept named Darakoth, and the forest is his doing. The dwarf believes that he will use the coming "true night" (when both visible moons are dark) to harvest the inhabitants of the town.

In order to contact anyone with enough rank to over rule Gweneth, the mercenaries breach the topmost tower of the keep while the despoilers seize the scrying stone kept within. They contact Lord Faul who instructs them to destroy Darakoth's "heart", which he keeps protected within the forest. Through the fae, Darakoth Knows their actions and prepares the denizens of the wood. They plan thier assault for noon.

Ronia and Karyssa go to speak with Gweneth's second in command. He agrees to arrest his Aniu and strip her of rank personally, in return he will become the new Aniu. They proceede towards the keep, Karyssa entering through the forge intent on sabotaging the adept's avatar. When she arrives in the barracks, she finds the avatar protected with workings. Knowing that an adept's skills are greater than those she currently posses, she works a Deflection to block the small Unlock working that would be required to release the avatar. Ronia breaks the Closing worked upon the keep's door with her avatar's cursed claymore and proceedes to the audience chamber where Qweneth is waiting in her avatar. Aniu Ronia declares her arrest, leaving her second in cammand to strip her of rank.

As the rest of Descendence squadron proceeds into the wood, a force rips a path past them towards the center. They can feel it's presence, and with no better option, follow it's path cautiously. Before long, the creature reveals itself by eviscerating two despoilers. It stands taller than the avatars, its body a combination of daemonflesh, machine workings and armor plates fused together with the darkness of the wood. It grabs an avatar, throwing it against another despoiler with enough force to break it's cockpit. Bron charges into melee combat while Jauques unloads his four magelocks into the beast. Bron's fists repeadedly scar the daemon's hide as holes appear on its shoulders and neck. The remaining despoilers do what they can against it, adding more wounds. With a laugh like grinding granite, the daemon heals itself with the darkness around it, the avatars retreat above the forest.

Ronia and Karyssa meet them above the trees. Taul, Julian and a dragon named Dex, are sent to find the "heart" while the rest of them assault the creature below. In order to decrease it's power, the forest canopy is to be destroyed to let as much light in as possible. The squadron sets to work, burning and hacking the trees, forcing a clearing where the arcodaemon attacked. As they engage it again, Karyssa sets to the task of finding survivors who can be repaired. The arcodaemon reels as Bron, Ronia and Jauques press thier attack. The squardon survivors continue to hack at the forest, increasing the amount of killing light.

The Aniu carves a massive burning wound into the shoulder of the arcodaemon, Jauques rends it wider with curses of Vet-Aunn. Into the gaping whole, Bron teleports himself and back, leaving a single stone. The stone is made from condensed solar fae, the opposite to dark fae. The arcodaemon becomes a pillar of burning skin and metal for an instant.

Julian uses his divination to find the "heart", a stone mortuary containing four female corpses. The corpses are subsequently destroyed along with the stone structure. Nothing is found below it. Karysa does a knowing upon the fresh ruins and learns some disturbing news. The forest is a ruse put there by Darakoth to give him time to escape if he is found. Destroying the "heart", (the bodies of his previous wives,) will destroy the forest, but he still lives. The forest did provide him with large amounts of power, and they have weakened him.

Returning to the keep, the new Aniu Jabber greets them. Darakoth had left as the assault upon the forest took place, as they had guessed. The mercenary Dex is asked about the powers he used in the wood, Karyssa identifies them as the type they need to activate the avatar chambers. She teaches him about it, enough to activate the one within the keep. As a pracaution, they plan to stay in Jonas until the dawn after true night, just to be sure.

Gottacon 2010

I love conventions! And here comes Gottacon!

I was asked by a friend if the Rabbit Hole could help with a local convention, providing terrain and tournement tables. I gladly agreed! This will be a three day event, with gaming open for all three days (yes, round the clock gaming!) The Rabbit Hole will be represented by the Odin Primary terrain, Craftworld Apsaraph, Sam's Slaanesh army, and the Scream Walkers (for the tournament) and possibly nWo books for grabs. If you are in the area, I highly recommend attending this weekend of dice rolling and mayhem!

During one of the evenings I am thinking of setting up a giant Planetstrike game...any takers?

Cheers,
Ricalope, SL.

Transcendence (Blog 5)

Upon awakening, Celyne seduces Devo again, feeding her lusthunger. Karyn agrees with Valis to lead them to the city of Sylba, which is centred on their target nexus point. Karyn answers their questions the best she can, it seems the Cyionics use a nexus generator to power the better part of the city and have named this point the Sylba Nexus. Karyn knows very little of other dominions, but attempts to give them useful information about the nexus.

Further along the tunnel-road they begin to see more pyramid clusters as they close in on the city. At this point Karyn informs them of two directions they may take. The first will take them along a direct course into the heart of the city. The second will take them past two temples, and is a longer route. They decide on the second route, as the two temples are in their interest, one of knowledge and the other draconic.

The first temple is devoted to a god named Sirus, a god of knowledge. As they enter, they are approached by a priest bearing a symbol of the Order upon one of his rings, who then leads them to a study room to talk. After they each activate their Eyes of Closing, he answers Celyne's questions about the order upon Dahl. Upon this planet the Order works in secret, the priest gives them addresses of arms dealers and safehouses they operate as well as the authorization codes to an aircraft to take them back to Dahl Prime. During their conversation Dyscathi's name is spoken, this has a profound effect upon the priest, who then exits immediately to "prepare". Questioning him as he leaves, the party learns scraps of information; Dyscathi's name in ancient Dahl texts, his connection to the spread of elves across the realms, Mi being the "Father". With some urgency, they leave the temple.

Further on, they approach an ancient temple carved from the rock itself. What they thought at first to be statues, reveal themselves as dragons, as they bar the great entrance way. Celyne and Valis are not permitted entry, but they are curious about Devo's claim that he is a dragon. They question, taunt, and insult the elven-looking sorcerer and eventually allow him access. Inside, Devo proceeds towards the altar dominating the mass hall. Almost immediately he is bombarded by fireballs of pure darkness. The darkness rips at his mind, as something inside of him pushes him forward.

As he crawls to the base of the altar a voice demands of him, "what is your name?" The first two times he answers his name hesitantly, and is told he is wrong and thrown into the stone walls. The third time he does not answer, and is thrown into the wall. The fourth time he stammers something, unintelligible. The draconic entity lifts Devo so he is facing a bowl of water, "look" he demands. Inside the water, Devo's bloodied face looks back at himself, while the ripples show him the face of a dragon. The water becomes darker, flickering between the two faces, blurring them together. The darkness surrounds his vision, and encompasses his utterly.

Devo's unconcious form slides out of the temple, Celyne, checking that he is ok, finds two minds within Devo. He arises, utter confusion in his thoughts. They continue to Sylba, taking refuge in one of the few boarding houses on the edge of town. As they approach, Valis' netscape form is hugged by Craxxx. It seems that his body is in the same stasis chamber as Valis' and that he had to "sneak" into the netscape in order to hide, it seems the Cyonics are not to friendly to pixies. With the party whole again, and Karyn gone, they rest.

Descendence (Blog 5)

Upon the Night's Wrath, Taul and Jauchec are given temporary command of the two captured battle cutters while the squadron prepares for inspection. Once the garrison force is assembled, Descendence drops from the zeppelin. The Rights of Command are transferred from Anui Ronia to Anui Gweneth, Gweneth is also given the sceptre of Jonas by the keep's head servant making her the official ruler of the city.

Anui Ronia declares a tournament, each squadron selects it's champions. Descendence is represented by Lilith, Beretolt, Thorig, Taul and finally Ronia. Descendence wins the aerial competition, due to the tireless efforts of Beretolt, their champion.

During this, Jauchec goes to the Bounty Hunter's guild to collect his bounty (for returning the idol). His paymaster suggests he depart with the Night's Wrath, he agrees.

After the tournament, Ronia goes to the Dragon's Scale to have a couple of free drinks, she encounters both Eziekiel and John Johnson inside. The Anui questions the halfling about his absence from the keep. Eziekiel answers for him, he had signed Ronia's name to authenticate his release, which does not sit well with Ronia. With suspicion in mind, she seeks solace at the chapel in the Night's Wrath, Jauchec joins her.

Karyssa makes one last visit to Jonas' forge before departure, and speaks with Tek Phleag, the dwarven mechanic for the garrison force. They talk of the avatar chamber, Karyssa agreeing to send transcripts of the books she is taking with her. Within this chamber, Phleag presents her with a golden token emblazoned with the Technocracy's seal. He explains to her that once she has acquired three of such tokens she can petition to join the sub-cult at any of the Great Forges. With thanks, she leaves for the zeppelin.

They encounter three Wyrm avatars, which are piloted by the necromancers of Myotis. As they approach, one of them reveals himself as Lord Faul. Ronia gives him a quick appraisal of the attack. Faul is pleased, except for the loss of Nau Fien. Upon his leave, he informs them he will be retuning to Tol Onas in three days.

Along the Night's Wrath's journey they come across a wildfire on the edge of the Living Wood, the avatars deploy to assist. Upon the ground they find the tree-ents attempting to contain the blaze. Koom approaches them, pointing out the Hovian bodies, full of mourning and anger. With the blaze contained, they continue to the fortress of Tol Onas.

Transcendence (Blog 4)

Celyne decided to go down the same hole that swallowed Devo. She connects with him as he is re-aquainting himself with Cypress' bracers by shooting the walls (which have little effect).in the small room he was deposited into. The two of them travel from one chamber to another, until they get to the room Valis should have been in, he is not found. Inside the chamber, the walls are made from some kind of metal, with a bluish luminescence emitting from the ceiling. There are no signs of life, and no signs of habitation.

Valis becomes conscious, the walls, ceiling and floor of the large room he is in seem to be made of solid blue light. He sends a text message to Devo, and sees it race off as a burst of energy through the walls. Having been in a Dreamscape before, he guesses that this is somewhat the same, and is not far off. He exerts his will upon the floor below him, transforming it into a map of the structure. A pyramid shape, made of light, surrounds him. With more concentration he locates Devo and Celyne, but not his own body. A presence comes into the room with him, a synthetic being, who introduces herself as Karyn. She explains little of the nature of Netscape, and that since his friends have no connection to the network (as Valis does), they will need his help. She is confused by him, finding it strange that he is still partly organic,and promises to meet with him later.

Valis' net-presence finds his companions who are making their way to the central chamber. Through a psychic connection, the three of them are able to converse without problems. The rest of the way is easier, with Valis opening the doors with thought, and they encounter no one until they reach the central chamber. Awaiting them are three individuals, two of them (including Karyn) in Netscape. They question them, asking about their reason for being upon this planet. Seemingly, their answers are correct and the they are taken to a meeting chamber.

They are call themselves Cyonics, a race of simulants living below Dahl Prime, with he majority of their population existing within the Netscape. They confiscate the party's IDs, informing them of the recording devices installed in each of them, pledging to return them when they have been made inert. After the IDs have been taken, the Cyonics inform them of the Dahl's history of enslavement. It seems that they use their knowledge of the Nexus Points to contact, invite, then enslave entire populations. The Cyonics learn of the party's mission to test these same Nexus Points and agree to take them to the nearest one. They travel out of the pyramid structure, into the underground caverns of the Cyonics. Since they are on the outskirts of their city, there are large tunnels connecting the outlining structures. Selecting one of the larger tunnels, they journey toward the city with Karyn as their guide.

Along their route they are attacked by entities that exist both in realspace as well as Netscape. These daemonic creatures launch a number of strikes meant to test the prowess of the party, than attack with force. All the tech-daemons die as the party tears into them. Although victorious, they are tired (and still drained from Devo's previous recuperation botch), so they take rest in a shrine to a mechanical god.

Descendence (Blog 4)

Jauchec had gone back to his guild and hired the tracker he knew of and took him to the ruins of House Alaroth. The tracker then lead him into Jonas' underground tunnel networks. During their walk through the tunnels, Ezikiel introduces himself, and releases some of his knowledge of the family they seek. Ezekiel believes that the family hides within the keep. Jauchec continues to cast his stones through out the journey.

The Aniu, both Descendence' as well as the newly arrived garrison despoilers, meet at the North Gate and discuss a time for an inspection. The parade will be set hours before the Night's Wrath departs. Ronia then makes her final preparations for the captive nobility, sanding invites to the officers and Karyssa. During the pre-dinner festivities, a halfling merchant named John Johnson Glimmer identifies two Alaroths at the dinner in exchange for release. Ronia agrees to consider release once she is sure he speaks the truth.

Just before the main course, Jauchec and Ezekiel (smelling like the sewers) join them. During the meal, the two Alaroths are confirmed, they are siblings, the elder brother easily persuaded by gold, but the sister loud and opinionated. John all the while is pushing for his release, or at least into the courtyard, in quite the curious way, until the ceiling begins to cave in.

Two Hovian avatar detatchments force a wedge to the keep, the Lord of Light assaulting the dining hall directly and at speed. Half of the dinner guests are wounded or dead upon the first strike. Jauchec guns an avatar down, providing cover for the others to run, while grabbing the Alaroth girl. Bron shimmers to his avatar as Ronia, the other Alaroth in tow, and Karyssa run to their machines. The Lord of Light becomes engaged with Bron, his rock-drill fists destroying the golden engravings of his armor with every hit.

Ronia is followed by a Hovian to the keeps forge, Ronia manages to activate her machine before it arrives. The enemy machine rakes the forge with cannon fire before launching itself against Ronia. As the two cockpits slam into each other, the Hove pilot pulls a pistol and fires at Ronia, missing. Ronia impales him on her claymore.

In the courtyard, the combined garrison squadron and Descendence surround the Hovians, driving them back. Bron begins gaining an upper hand on the Lord of Light, who begins to pull back. The attackers activate arm-mounted tower shields and begin to form a circular phalanx. Once the sphere of shields is complete, a mass teleportation spell displaces them in a flash of light.

Ronia checks her prisoner, to find him dead, a gunshot wound to the head. The Alaroth girl, Elaine, is unharmed and angry. Although angered by her, they concede to the Emperor Myotis' request, and give her the idol.

Descendence (Blog 3)

As Ronia returns to the keep, she encounters Taul, her second in command. He reports to her of their victory over the Hovian picket, including the capture of two battle cutters. They had not encountered Nau Fein during the expedition. She excuses herself to the chambers she selected for herself, when Karyssa's wraith-squire approaches her with a request for help from its master. With a sigh, she leaves the keep towards the mill.

Jauchec awoke in a back alley not far from the town well to the sound of avatars coming into town. He had a hangover, but could dimly remember the bounty on the idol from the previous night. Consulting his scrying stones, he divined that the largest concentration of water was near the mill, he was aware of the idol's preferance for being near the substance, and headed towards it.

As Ronia was halfway across theupper gantry, below the mill, she heard the sounds of heavy armour flying towards her from behind. Turning she saw that it was Jauchec, she dived into what cover she had and attempted to quiet him. As quietly as they could they approached the end of the gantry, all the while watching the movement of the halflings below. The two of them meet with Karyssa and Bron, and while talking, a halfling spots the mechanic. As their discussion finishes, they notice the halflings have vacated the floor below them. They investigate below, finding the doors blocked with water barriers, and the rows of water silos empty.

Ronia is sends her squire for some army support and is the first to attempt to walk through the water and fails, Bron makes the attempt and succeedes, Karyssa steps through as well. Ronia and Jauchec, neither of whom can pass, attempt to curse the water with combined prayers. The water explodes tpwards them, knocking Ronia unconcious. While she is out, visions of an elven woman speaks to her of taking a gift away for turning from her light. The others try to help however they can, but Ronia's pulse slowly comes to a stop. She rises by the will of Annubus, without breath or pulse.

Beyond the water barrier there lie three double doors made of silver and gold, they are adroned with the ankh, or symbol of life. They choose the centre (with the aid of Karyssa's Worked stone) and begin to push upon them. Their combined strength breaks the silver holding bars allowing them access. Within the chamber is a collection of gold items, mostly rods and bars, illuminated by a gem, mounted upon the ceiling, that glows like daylight. The idol they seek is amid the horde, Jauchec takes the idol from the pile.

As they leave karyssa takes some of the gold, while Bron stays behind. "I will meet you topside," he says as he takes his shirt off to carry gold. Using a teleportation device (a shimmer) he manages to get two loads of gold to his avatar and the sunstone, by the time the rest of them get outside the mill. From there, they go to the keep. Ronia escorts Jauchec to the Night's Wrath, leaving the idol aboard for safe keeping. Moored to the zeppelin are the two captured battle cutters.

As the garrison forces arrive, they begin to look for the House Alaroth.

Transcendence (Blog 3)

Valis was awakened by the smell of Dyscathi's tea brewing on a small fire. Dyscathi leads the techpriest out of the temple, and to a laboratory. Already present are Dj Tech and Alias, who are already on the task of invention. They have been requested to modify Dahl technology to make devices to block scrying abilities, and they succeed by the next day. One is given to Valis for himself, and three are given to him to give to his companions. His transport, upon first look, appears to be a dragonfly, but upon closer inspection is a type of helicopter. Sitting in the pilot seat is the outcast pixie, Craxxx. Craxxx, in his fashion, then proceeds to collect scrapes and dents on their way out of the city.

Above the jungle, Cyline and Devo fly towards a mountain range followed from the shadows by a dragon. A storm builds ahead of them, so they adjust altitude to stay above it. The view treats them to a dangerous display of plasma fire dancing below them. The two of them spot the flyer ahead of them, Cyline attempting to contact the pilot with her mind. Craxxx promptly dives into the storm.

Upon the ground, they speak of the mission Dyscathi has given them which is to compare the Terran keystone with what might be the corresponding stone on Dahl. Valis gives each of them an "eye of closing", which he had worked upon in the city. They depart, and not long after Craxxx mangles the helicopter. Luckily, the machine could only hold a single pilot, and no one was hurt (bad).

Tiring of flight, they walk through the jungle, stopping fist due to a herd of insectiod beasts as tall as a man. The thousand of them shake the ground as they run from the predators who soon come into sight. They are called 'grinders' by those who know of them, and run in large packs. Each grinder has one set of legs, a set of clawed arms, and between them appendages which vent bioplasma in tight bursts. The party hides waiting until the herd and its antagonists pass by, but one grinder spots Valis. It begins to attack, digging and blasting armor, which they return in kind. By the time the herd had passed, the grinder lay dead.

Their armor had taken a beating, so they stopped for repairs using the carapace of the vanquished. The techpriest identified several metallic compounds in the creature's shell alone. They decide to rest the night, before which Devo attempts a healing spell to increase the benefits of sleep. Upon awakening mid-day, they realise they have no divine or mystical power, due to Devo's miscast. They travel for four hours, then rest again, travelling for another four hours until they begin looking for another place to rest. They come upon a square clearing in the jungle and make camp. Cyline, low on vitality, seduces Devo (quite easily) to sleep with her. After her first feeding he falls asleep, then in annoyance, does the same.

Awake, Valis spots a watcher across the clearing. Pointing it out, the others don't seem to mind, as long as he does nothing, so Craxxx makes breakfast. They eat their bacon as he drinks from his steaming mug. Cyline makes the attempt to contact him with telepathy, gift is his only reply, and he is gone. She then brings the "gift" to the camp with her telekinesis, Devo grabs them from the air. Cyline sees that they are Cypress' bracers which had been on his corpse. As she approaches, a trap door opens below Devo. Far below the party a great machine begins to cycle up.

Valis communes with the machine, asking it to open the door, but the machine spirit with becomes curious of him and he falls unconscious. Cyline blasts the trap door open, letting Devo out. They look to Valis' body to notice he too has fallen into a trap door. Cyline immediately blasts that door too.

Some Background on Descendence (Blog 0, Part One)

Thought I might give you all a brief description of these individuals I write about who fight in giant magical robots (called avatars). The avatars make up the elite of Myotis' army and are transported in massive zeppilins assisted with nodestones. The zeppilin which transports the unit known as Descendence is named the Night's Wrath.
Here are some of the avatars:

This is a "Succubus", a feminine avatar of elven design, which Karyssa pilots. Hers has been adapted to her role of mechanic (not shown) with a set of mechandrites and a stealth suit. She is also equipped with an avatar sized murgosh (dwarven weapon-tool).
Shown here is the dwarven "Anvil" avatar (with shield). The newcomer, Bron, pilots one that has been equipped with rock drills (as fists) and flight jets.
This is the Derekesti (dark elven) avatar that the despoilers are based on. (I just haven't drawn them yet...will try to work on that;)

And, The Cast:
*Those who are "victims"*

Karyssa Zalyth -> Waylander - Earth Fae - Forge Lord - Iron Mage
A Derekesti female who was orphaned at a very young age. Taken in by a dwarven smith named Phoebos Grudgebearer, Karyssa was raised as a dwarven child. She learned the ways of the anvil quickly, growing fond of the machinations her father made. When the call to arms was raised she became stationed on the Night's Wrath as the avatar mechanik.

Ronia, Aniu -> Duelist - Fire - Anubis - Iron Mage
Ronia was raised in the town of Jonas, until it was sacked by a raiding band from Hove. It was told that there was an "unholy taint" upon the town which needed to be cleansed. During her adolescence Ronia was subjected to the unkind questioning of the church. She sought refuge with the army of Myotis, climbing the ranks to avatar pilot, and recently the rank of Aniu (commander) of Descendence.

Bron Willis -> Duelist - *unsourced* - The Art - Iron Mage
Very little is known of Bron's past, other than he is from Murkgladden on the western end of Runes Island. He has no record with the Bounty Hunter's Guild, and his clan is common in his homeland. At times, he seems more than just a Dwarf, with glowing eyes and radiating aura. Through his deeds at Jonas, Bron may be under the employ of Myotis.

Until Part Two,
Ricalope, SL.

Descendence (Blog 2)

In Jonas, the occupation holds firm through the day, and at night the work begins. Patrols are checked by the Aniu while the mechanic attaches flight thrusters to Bron's avatar. A disturbence in the market draws the attention of most of the town. It seems that twelve civilians are being executed by small dark-robed entities, the same entities that had brought Nau Fein's broken avatar to the forge. The creatures bring an elemental being of necrotic flame onto the stage, which proceeds to immolate each of the prisoners. The elemental is then returned to the cart it came from which begins to travel to the keep. Fein staggers out of the cart, demanding company in the highest room of the keep, where a scrying stone had been found. Nau Fein brings Karyssa, Ronia, Bron and two bounty huntersinto an audience with Emperor Myotis. The Emperor commands them to find an idol and bring it to the family Alarath, exept Nau Fein who is sent to find the garrison army.
Ronia was offered a noble's gold to destroy the House of Alarath, the house itself was leveled in the invasion, anyone who is left is leaving in two days. As the night progresses, Bron and Karyssa reach a hidden complex below the mill in search of the idol. The complex seems to be operated by halflings, the idol being an effigy of a crocodile-headed would have been drawn by the massive vats of water here.
In the keep Ronia has begin setting the keep in motion. the staff (or what is left) is back to work, making a feast for the officers. The Aniu visits the nobles that are incarcerated and invites any of them to the feast, as long as they give the Empire what it desires.

Some (Kinda) New Stuff

Here is some new stuff I dug up...

Subrace:
Fate-Touched
There are some who wander the dominions incomplete. A fate-touched' soul is split in two, and they usually live out their lives separately. Although, when one corpus dies, the fate-touched is awakened to the missing element of the other. Most of the time, the fate-touched has no clear idea of the reason for the path they take to the joining. When the two essences meet, they join to become whole once more.
Base Race: Any.
Bonuses: The joining; when the two victims meet they will spend one hour per CL joining into a single form. Add all like stats together and divide by two, add like pools and knowledges together, and combine all abilities, gear and penalties (including xp penalties and CL adjustments). The victim's new base race becomes the base race of the victim with highest CL, the subrace becomes the other victim's. The joining is a combining of the two victims, in all ways, and will be combined on a single victim sheet. The two minds share the knowledge and memory of the other in a completely natural way.
Restrictions: The victim must begin as a fate-touched, and only if the player has a recently dead victim. The fate-touched must have the same sources and disposition as the diseased victim. The victim must be CL12 to attempt the joining.

SL's Note: This is the compromise for killing off a beloved victim. With this subrace a player has the possibility of getting their murdered victim back, but changed. This is written so the SL has the opportunity to devise a test (or quest) to see if the diseased is worthy to reincarnate.

Parries:
-In order to attempt a parry, the victim must have one action (war) remaining in their turn, such as a saved attack. Or a victim can use a "free" parry given by the dueling weapon use.
-Declare what attack roll the victim attempts to parry.
-Roll as if the victim was attacking with the parrying weapon.
-If the attacker wins, they hit, roll to wound as normal.
-If the parry is higher the attack was stopped, roll a weapon vs weapon roll (both weapons add their unsoakable to the die roll, the DoS equals wounds dealt to the weapon).

Transcendence (Blog 2)

Celyne and Devo awaken alone under the temple with Mi. The undying child leads them up to the main concourse, during which he informs them that one of the guests who came to Dahl is Paw Gour and to be aware. The two of them search the temple for their patron deities, which leads them to tunnels enveloped in impenetrable shadow. Once through, they find themselves in a dense jungle. Their information scrolls (Dahl technology) informs them that they have "traveled" one third of the way around the planet. Attempts to contact the ambassadors only results with strange conversations with different aliens. Eventually they make their way to a town, continuously followed by draconic beings, and rented faulty transport. The transport dies as they make contact with one of the dragons, who informs them of its intent to follow them. They rest before continuing to the next town.

Descendence (Blog 1)

On Runes Island, in the town of Jonas, in the kingdom of Hove, the war has started. A Myotis Zeppelin, the largest airship in the Nightlands, deposits it's cargo from a mountainous height. The cargo is a group of avatars, giant magically powered machines of war, of the Myotis despoiler variety. Despoilers, piloted by some of the battle-hungry soldiers of their empire, resemble the races who made them; tall elven forms. The descend upon the town at the command of Aniu-Ronia who's companions are Karyssa (an elven follower of the forge god and their Field mechanic) and a pixie named Nny. They attack the barracks first, disabling all opposing avatars in their path. With strength of numbers, they engage Jonas' defenses and take the keep. Nau Fein, the necromancer-emissary of the Emperor Myotis, honoured his duel with the Lord of Light, a champion of Hove. An ally is met in the courtyard, a dwarven fellow from the western end of the island named Bron Willis. The dwarf has an avatar of his own, and being a lover of battles, joins the assault. In the main keep the despoilers engage the Speaker (head councilman of Hovian government), who is suited in his avatar as well. The Speaker uses his Fire mastery to unleash an inferno upon the battle party, Bron pounds the Speaker to death with his rock drills. The Lord of Light defeats Nau Fein and collectcs the Hovian avatars, he and his knights lose contact with the telepathic signal of the Speaker and retreat from the city. For now, Jonas is in Myotis' hands.

Transcendence (Blog 1)

On the Dahl homeworld, the party spent their first day consuming what their ambassadors call "gasteral excitement", they got pretty drunk. They were brought to the Great Temple complex built simular to the temple of Ankor-Wat, but on a massive scale. They were lead to the Scribe of Ages, who extracted their experiences (harmlessly and with little effort). Almost immediately afterwards the likes of Craxx (the cyborg-pixie driver) as well as the ambassadors were unfound. After hours of searching, and winding deeper, they began to get close to the centre of the complex. Below the mountanous central pyramid they fall into a web of confusion cast by one of the Angels of Confusion. Not until they devised a plan to escape, something logical and straightforward, did they find the daemon. Celine, Valis and Devo eventually banished it from Dahl and now rest in the chamber, still lost.