- As the group made their way northward toward the glacier that filled the pass between the two mountain ranges, they came upon a group of pixies curious as to the reason for their presence, and a frozen skeleton that "awoke" and demanded "where is it?".  They attempted to fight off the skeleton, but whatever force was animating it seemed to depart before it could be defeated.  Kugrash decided to smash the remains of the skeleton, just to be sure.  The pixies told them that the fae queen had said they were not allowed to be there, but they seemed hopeful that the "children" might end the "curse".

- The group finally located the ruin of the next tower - finding it was little more than a ring of foundation stones filled with bone.  In the center of it however, was a stone table on which were a number of scrolls and parchments, some large natural crystals, and a shrine to a goddess of magic or fate.  As they investigated, a ghost appeared near the table, seemingly in the midst of some prayer or ritual.  Jaydah attempted communication with him in the ancient langage she'd been studying, but this proved difficult.  She was able to discern that he was looking for some kind of "gift", and there was some urgency to the errand.

- As they were talking, the bones began to stir, and out of them rose a skeletal serpentine form.  It chided the ghost before turning to Jaydah and the others, telling them that they were meddling in affairs that were beyond them...

- The following day each of them spent some time in down doing different things.  Around noon, they all happened to be on the very crowded street in front of the Palace Saloon.  A drunk from inside stumbled into Montana and immediately started a fist fight, which quickly spread through the crowd.  As it unfolded, it becamse apparrent to the PCs that something was "wrong" with the people involved - and some of the bystanders.  The fight continued until Kevin and the town marshal showed up with a pump wagon and started dousing the participants - at which point the marshal declared that Montana was under arrest for the murder of the Grayfalls marshal three years earlier.

- There was a brief standoff after which Montana agreed to go relatively quietly.  The others attempted to find a way to help, but eventually ended up back at the Palace.  As Percy had something to drink and proceeded to have a run of bad luck at cards, Lily returned to talk...

- The creature - a manticore - had come to ambush them with a trio of Kenku assassins.  The fighting was fierce, but in the end there were no fatalities.  The group managed to drive the monster away, the kenku retreated, an though Mido and Anders had sustained some serious wounds, Carmella was able to bring them back from the brink.

- The following day their companions continued their survey of the ruin site, but the group spent most of their energy debating what to do next.  Should they return to Ereland with Fyndwhyr to get paid and evaluate the next move, or should they continue north to the glacier to see what they could learn now, since they were so close.  They ultimately decided on the latter, trusting Stahzer and the dwarf Millek to get the others back to the city safely.

- As they left the ruin site the following morning heading northward, they were met by a pair of fox-like fae creatures.  They were warned that the forest queen of the fae held the humanoids of the plains in contempt for wrongs of the past - and that the "curse" the land was rooted in the judgement a "vile goddess".  If they were to continue on their path, they must face that past, or be forever lost...

- Kevin awoke the others and they made their way downstairs.  Sister Bower's voice beckoned him to come speak with her, but the shadows and smoke surrounding her were becoming malevolently alive.  Skeletal figures emerged from the thickening shadow and began attempting to drag her deeper into the void, while others lashed out at the investigators. 

- Kevin invoked his holy powers to try to keep the demons at bay long enough to ascertain the nature of the situation, but Percy, feeling she was the heart of the "problem", turned his gun on Sister Bowers' form, which burst into cold ash as the shadows evaporated.  The shrieking sound the reverberated throughout Flagstaff in the following stillness chilled all who heard it to the bone...

- The group spent some time discussing their next move.  Fyndwhyr and his group were planning to head back after the following day's observations in order to reassess and decide how to act on this new information about the lost city's location being covered by an enormous glacier.  Some of them, however, believed it might be better to continue on from their current location to see what they could see, rather than going all the way back to Erelan - not to mention the urgency expressed by some mysterious parties, and some concerns as to whether the paranoid Lord Velior would allow Fyndwhyr further leave and resources given the recent issues with gnolls, kobolds, and the dragon.

- The group spent the rest of the afternoon making a cursory examination of the ruins, finding only one other building that was much more than foundation stones.  It seemed to be some sort of hall or temple, and contained in its primary chamber a toppled statue.

- As the day waned, the group traveled a little way away from the ruin to make camp.  During Carmella's watch, a shadow crept silently into camp - a monstrous winged cat with a grotesque humanoid face...

- Lily almost immediately rounded on Percy, blaming him for her circumstances and punching him squarely in the face.  Turning to Kevin, she demanded to know why a man of the cloth would be associating with...   ...him.  It was at this point that Milton began to crack, convinced that Lily was possessed.  He drew his gun and shot, but the bullet ricochet and grazed George instead.  Kevin managed to knock the gun away and Milton fell back.  Though tension between the group remained, they slowly returned to their resting places as the wilderness quieted around them.

- The group continued on their way to Flagstaff, making the best time they could.  Unable to reach the town by nightfall, they were forced again to camp in the wilderness.  The night was interrupted only by loud thunderclaps directly overhead - but no rain fell.

- They made it to town by late morning the following day, and were confronted near the edge of town by a pair of men asking questions.  There had apparently been a number of disappearances of late, and they'd been hired by one bereaved family to investigate.

- The group spent some time looking around the town before taking accommodations at the Goldenfields Hotel - which seemed to be the most comfortable place available.  They were enjoying their first rest indoors in several days when Kevin was awakened by a knock and voice outside his door.  A voice he recognized as the nun who'd saved his life outside of Grayfalls.  Out in the hall, the voice seemed to be coming from downstairs - and was accompanied by the smell of smoke...

- The group spoke briefly with the strange old woman - whom Carmella suspected as a fae hag - but though she offered to reward or assist them in their exploration, her manner didn't inspire trust and she departed when they seemed disinclined to bargain.

- Within the ruin itself, the group found mostly foundational stones and overgrown cobbled streets.  The two largest structures that were more intact were a large hall or temple-like building, and the lower floors of a small watchtower positioned near a ravine containing what looked like supports for a bridge or pier.

- As they neared the watchtower, they were attacked by a floating creature with 4 tentacle-like eyestalks.  After brief engagement, they managed to subdue the creature and trap it within a web spell.

- Inside the tower, they found a great number of bones in piles and a large metal chest.  The chest was locked and trapped, but Jaydah was able to get it open, finding a sizeable treasure of coins and items inside.

- The real discovery however, was what they found upstairs: a wall-mounted etched metal map showing the entire region as it apparently was in a prior age: the entire Plain was apparently and inland sea, and a large waterway flowed through what was now the dark forest they were exploring.  More notably, the map showed a large star along the coast to the north - at a place now covered by a massive glacier...

- Following Mido's cries, they found him tangled in the vines of yet another blight, and being dragged toward the ruin of a stone tower.  They fought off the remaining plant creatures and decided to investigate the tower, which they believed to be the ruin they had been searching for.

- Only the first 15 feet or so of this tower remained, and it was almost entirely occupied by a large, twisted tree.  As they approached, the tree animated and began lashing out at them with snake-like roots and branches.  They engaged the creature long enough to decide they didn't have the resouces to destroy it - but not before Jaydah caught sight of a grotesque statue of a woman tangled in the tree's roots.

- Continuing much further west, they at last arrived at their original destination: the ruin of some sort of settlement.  As they approached, they were met by an old woman with a bag full of bones.  She told them there would be no treasure to be found in this place - only a mad demon and piles of bones...

- The group continue northward toward a tower mark they'd seen on maps of the region.  They avoided an area containing a giggling presense that unsettled them.  Upon arriving at the region, they found the discrepancies between the map versions they had were causing problems.  They discussed the direction they should take as Carmella turned herself into a squirrel to climb a tree and try to get a better look from above the forest canopy.

- The group decided to continue eastward toward their ultimate goal.  As they passed through an area of thick undergrowth, they found themselves attacked by animate vines and twigs.  The resulting skirmish separated the group somewhat, and as the last of the plant creatures fell or fled, they heard a call from Mido who was being dragged away...

- The howling wind and the gathering of ghostly entities around the base of the tower - pounding on the tower's ghostly door - caused Eughenn and some of the others to hesitate, but Kugrash, Mido, and Jaydah pushed their way through the ephemeral forms and into the tower.  Inside they found the ghostly forms of soldiers attempting to barricade the doors against those outside.

- While they watched what was unfolding, their presense seemed to disturb something else present in the tower.  They heard a growling voice from above, and the rattle of bones as a number of humanoid skeletons in the room pulled themselves up and began assaulting them.  Outside, the ghostly humanoids pounding on the door began shuddering and transforming into ghostly, wolf-like creatures, which then began attacking.

- There were a number of ensuing skirmishes with ghostly and skeletal attackers.  On the upper floor, the group again was confronted by the ghost of a commander-like figure, and again they attempted to engage in conversation that, at times, appeared close to violence.  This was avoided successfully again, however - and subsequently, the ghostly forms disappated and the skeletal figures collapsed.

- The group spent some time searching the tower for preserved or magical items that may be of use to them, finding a few.  After a brief conversation about the best way to proceed, they began heading north toward their primary objective - only to be met almost immediately by the ghostly form of the wraith they had seen on the river (or one nearly identical to it).

- The wraith once again began questioning them in its harsh voice with words they could not understand.  The howling wind resumed, and snow and ice began building up and threatening to cover them as Jaydah did her best to understand any of its words.  As its pitch increased, she began hearing other voices - voices asking them why they had come into the cursed lands and if their intention was to defy the will of "the goddess".  Jaydah defiantly told it that they did, in fact, and the wraith vanished - along with the snow an ice.

- After a brief exchange, the ghost disappated and the group approached the ruined tower.  The inside was unnaturally cold, and they found the skeletal remnants of a number of humanoids.  As the investigated, they found themselves attacked by the ghostly forms of soldiers.

- On the upper floor of the tower, they found a table with an old map.  There was an imposing skeleton in rusted heavy armor in large chair at the far end of the table, and from it manifested a ghostly figure that attempted to communicate with them.  While they were unable to understand much of what was said, the "conversation" did not escalate to combat.

- The group compared notes w/ the map and discovered some discrepancies between it and the one they had.  They made a sketch and some notes before leaving.

- After a brief conversation, the group decided to make their way to the East tower before continuing north to their primary target.  They made camp about half-way, and approach the tower the following morning.  As they did so, they came upon a chaotic, ghostly scene...

- The group kept watch through the remainder of the night and, the following morning, discussed what to do.  Having no horses, their only option seemed to be walking to Flagstaff.  The took their belongings off the stage and secured them as much as possible in the lodge.  By just before midday, they had decided what to take with them and set off down the Highland Trail.

- They made good time heading out onto the plateau, covering almost half of the 30-mile distance to Flagstaff by nightfall.  Montana found them a decent place to camp, but all had the feeling it wasn't far enough away from the lodge and whatever is haunting the mountains.

- After dark, Percy went for a walk under the stars - partly to clear his head, and partly to have a "talk" with his "benefactor" - whether or not he could be heard.  He was still away from camp durning the first watch when Montana heard someone approaching the camp.  At first he thought was Percy coming back, but as the voice and footstep approached and he could make out more words, he recognized Jesse's voice.

- A darkness descended upon the camp as Jesse emerged into the firelight, putting a hand on George's shoulder and asking if he was "ready".  He eyes and the inside of his mouth were black as pitch.  A few words were exchanged, but "negotiations" were interrupted by the shadow inside Jesse's form lashing out at Montana and Kevin, and a dozen or so shadow "things" like they had seen at the lodge descended upon them.

- The insuing firefight started as Percy was making his way back to camp.  Montana's superior aim neutralized the "creature" in Jesse's likeness almost immediately, but the fight with the other shadow-things was far from over and all of them quickly found themselves set upon by two or more.  Percy thrust one into the fire - this seemed to hurt it initially, but as it was consumed the flames began giving it strength as it tried to pull him into the fire with it.  Montana began taking shots at the things on him as well as those harassing George and Milton.  Kevin had invoked his blessing which kept the group much safer than they would have otherwise been, and he began trying to destroy the others.

- As the tide began to turn in the group's favor, Lily was grabbed by three of the creatures.  She was being dragged up the side of a boulder and into the darkness when red flickering lightening began lashing out at everything around her.  She began screaming "no" and something about "not doing this again".  Even after the creatures fled, Lily contined pacing at the edge of the camp, red flickers surrounding her, as she mumbled angrily to herself - or to someone else...

- The group met up with a man called Lethan Stahzer - someone Kugrash recognized from a posted one of his drinking buddies hand shown him.  He'd been told the man was not to be trusted, and his friends told him they'd give him 500 gold if Stahzer never returned to the city of Erelan - no questions asked.

- Lethan gave them some about what was happening in the forest.  He'd seen kobold patrols and found a sizable encampment.  Usually this tribe keeps to the Kanath Mountains to the west, but something was emboldening them or bringing them down into the forest.  He'd also seen recent gnoll tracks and had a run-in with a nasty giant boar.  Worse, ettercaps and spiders have been moving down from the north.  The territory was known to him, but they seem to be spreading south, which means the expedition may be moving through more of their territory than previously assumed.

- The group made some discussion of what to do, ultimately deciding to head toward the West Gatekeeper tower both to check it out and to avoid the kobold encampment.  As they traveled deeper into the forest, Carmella had the increasing sensation that the forest was full of hatred - hatred for humans specifically.

- As they continued, they began encountering mats of webbing, and some dead things: giant spiders, ettercaps, and a winter wolf.  As they neared, they found themselves attacked by ettercaps and giant spiders, which they successfully fought off after a brief skirmish.

- Making it to the ruin of the tower, they were confronted by the ghost of a soldier speaking an unknown language...

- As they made their way into the northern highland pine forests, the stage was stopped a small band of apache indians.  Their leader attempted to convince or threaten Jesse to turn the stage and head back down to the plains.  He told them the "manitou" (demons) were restless in the region, and the white men only add to the unbalace.  As the gathering storm began pouring down on them and they withdrew and the stage continued on.

- After some discussion, the group decided they would stop at a hunting lodge called Howe's Camp about halfway to Flagstaff rather than risking getting caught after dark in the wilderness.  There were two men at the lodge, and they welcomed the travelers to stay for the evening.

- After settling in for the evening, however, they found the lodge beset by dark, shadowy creatures.  The resultant firefight eventually destroyed or drove off their attackers, but not before Jesse was engulfed by the shadows and vanished.  Venturing outside, they heard no sounds from the stable where their horses were sheltered, and the strong smell of fresh blood was inescapable...

- Percy sat down for an ... interesting ... conversation with the Man in the Pinstripe Suit.  He prodded the Man about his involvement with the "possessed" young girl.  The Man denied having done  anything "to" her - or even that he had any control over her ... "condition".  He did suggest to a similarity between the girl and Percy's "situation", and seemed to think it odd that Percy would want the girl to be "cured" as though something was "wrong" with her.  He did seem confident that the young girl would recover from her wounds, and alluded to her having been greivously injured before.

- The next day the three had a brief conversation with Jesse and George about the coming storm and whether they should wait for the repairs to be finished (which would take another day) or whether they should get the stage now, rig the best job they could, and continue before they were trapped on this side of the river.  The group decided they would leave the following morning.

- The three spent this day hiking back out to the Wollart Claim to check on Lisa and Una - and to see if they could find any trace of Mack.  Stopping by the cave, they found most of the dead animals hanging from the tree were gone - though the ropers were still present.  The only ones remaining seem to have been recently hung.  They also noticed that they could not feel the "presence" inside the cave.  They found a pack and some firearms, but no sign of Mack.  Inside the cave, they found piles of animal bones - and a few human ones.

- Continuing to the claim, they found Una inside the one-room cabin still in bed and breathing lightly but steadily.  Kevin offered what blessings and purifications he could, but admitted that the remaining healing would be up to the passage of time.  Montana had stepped outside when Lisa came walking around the side of the house.  She was startled to see them, but they managed to calm her down and talk a bit.  They inadvertently brought up some past traumatic memories about the girl and the family and Lisa eventually began to break down.  When they left, she was curled up in the bed, crying next to her sleeping daughter.

- As they left, Montana mentioned that he'd noticed blood on Lisa's apron.  Walking around the house where she'd come from, Percy found a dead fox with a length of rope tied around its neck, and several more lengths of rope nearby.  Following a path to the top of the hill, he found a small cemetery of sorts with two gravestones - one for Lisa's husband Alexandre, and one for their 12-year-old son John.

- The group returned to town and made ready to leave, making it across the rising ford as the rain began and continuing north toward Howe's Camp and Flagstaff...

- As the group made their way north toward the Matheye Forest, they became aware of a pack of norther jackals gaining size and approaching them from the west.  In order to avoid them, the group deviated from their route more and more to the east.  As they got closer, some of the company thought they saw at least one humanoid among the jackals.

- The course change, unfortunately, led them into an ankheg hive.  Due to Carmella's Pass Without Trace spell, however, the ankhegs were just as surprised as they were when a few fell through the mounds of loose earth and into their tunnels.

- The resulting skirmish was chaotic and unorganized, but those who had remained above finally managed to pull the others up and out of the holes and evacuate the area before they were completely overrun.  Before emerging, Kugrash noticed the ruins of masonry and possible carvings among the monstrous insects hive complex.

- Arriving at the edge of the forest by early evening, the group was introduced to the eighth and final member of their company: Lethan Stahzer.  Kugrash recognized the name and the likeness as someone his friend Joccan had warned him about back in Erelan...

- The group made ready for trouble and, one by one, made their way outside.  There, they found the town under attack by kobolds while something roared and screeched overhead.

- After finishing off a group of kobolds that had crawled up to their area through the storm drains in order to start fires further into the city, they were met by a detachment of soldiers who urged them on to the gate where the bulk of the fighting was taking place.

- Down near the gate, in the thick of the fighting, something large suddenly fell from the sky, completely obliterating some nearby buildings.  Emerging from the rubble was an enormous white dragon and a giant, eagle-like bird - both injured and fighting one another.  While the group took a couple of pot-shots at the dragon, few of the soldiers had the nerve to approach, and all of the kobolds had fled.  It was only moments before the dragon grabbed the great bird by the neck, and slammed it into the ground.

- The wyrm declared its victory before letting loose and icy blast that froze several streets and leaping into the sky.

- The town spent the next couple of days trying to re-secure the gate (which had been burned through), restore the destroyed and frozen areas of town, and tend to the wounded.

- Fyndwhyr came to visit them a couple of days later, asking if they were still committed to his expedition.  They told him they were, and that they had received information from a mysterious figure that if the expedition was to be a success, time was of the essence.  The party set out the following morning, making their way north...

- After further discussion with the stage operators, the group vote overall was to go ahead and let the local wainwright repair the stage properly, even if it cost more and set them back several days.  Jesse, the man technically "in charge" was the only dissenting voice, but was hesitant to go against everyone else on the journey (including 4 paying customers) and so he ultimately relented and made the necessary preparations.

- In the meantime, Kevin, Percy, and Montana joined with three townsfolk to find the bear that came through and killed a couple of men two days previous.  They tracked the enormous creature northeast across the river and up into the hills north of town, eventually coming to a cave opening, outside of which was a tree from which hung a couple dozen dead animals.  As they contimplated whether to go in or dynamite the entrance, they caught sight of a young girl who told them they should leave - becoming increasingly hysterical, talking about her "daddy".  Somehow, Montana recognized the girl as the daughter of a man he had saved from a burning building in Grayfalls three years earlier.  It was then that thick black smoke began pouring out of the cave.

- The group pulled back from the cave entrance.  Snarls, growls, and moving shadows began to issue from the cloud of smoke, and the townsfolk began shooting at it, but when this had no effect, quickly ran.  A woman - presumably the girl's mother - then arrived, looking for her daughter, Una.  As she began dragging the hysterical girl away from the smoking cave and the strange men, Percy pursued them - only to see a bright flash of light as the woman collapsed unconscious and Una began to float up off the ground, staring at him through yellow eyes and telling him threateningly that he "should have listened".

- Believing the girl to be possessed, Percy and Montana immediately attacked - Percy's 'bolt' spell nearly killing her.  As the woman regained consciousness, Kevin was over the girl, using his divine blessing to save her life - though she was still greivously injured.  They carried her back to her house, and advised the woman, Lisa, as to her care and need to see a doctor.

- The three returned to Clark's Ford where they had a brief conversation with one of the men who'd accompanied them - he hadn't seen the other two, nor did he have any interest in pursuing the matter futher.  After Montana and Kevin retired for the night, Percy was having a drink at the Sagebrush saloon when he saw a familiar man in a pinstriped suit.  The man smiled, and walked over to his table asking "So, what do you think of miss Una...?"

- As the rest of the group began fighting the jackal in the street, Mido ran up and into the inn.  Inside, he found more jackals and the tavern area a complete wreck.  The  jackal there suddenly transformed into a monstrous humanoid-jackal.  I tried to grab Mido with its claws, but he slipped out of its reach.  Unfortunately, when he met it eyes he passed out and collapsed.  Waking in a dark chamber later, he found himself being addressed by someone else.  This person told him that they must abandon their expedition or they would all die.  There was a flash of light and Mido passed out again - but just before he did, he caught sight of the speaker: a creature with man's torso but the lower body of a great lion.

- Meanwhile, the others entered the inn and killed or drove off the remaining jackals.  They found the entire establishment wrecked, and the ominous words "we are watching you" gouged into the floors of their rooms.  They searched the inn and the surrounding area, but found no trace of their friend.  They helped the innkeeper clean up the place and stayed the night there.  Mido turned up around 4am, having awakened in the tunnel between the Hillside district and the Undercroft.  He woke them up and relayed what he had "learned".

- In the following days, they sent word to Fyndwhyr at the keep about this new possible threat to the expedition, ultimately deciding they would proceed but warily.  Mido, Jaydah, and Carmella all received thier 50% payment advance to prepare for the expedition, and the group decided they would pool and divide the 300gp 4 ways, so as not to leave Kugrash out.

- Kugrash met up with his friend Joccan a couple of times - once to "celebrate" their armwrestling match, and once more.... unplanned.  Kugrash questioned Joccan about the jackal creatures, and the man seemed to know something about them - suggesting they were part of a dangerous organization, and that Kugrash would be better off leaving town.  The second time they met, Joccan had actually come to find him.  The man was wearing a hooded cloak and acting wary.  He showed Kugrash a wanted poster of a man called Lethan Stahzer.  Joccan told him he believed this man was involved with the expedition or with Fyndwhyr, and was not to be trusted.  He offered Kugrash 500gp if he could get Stahzer arrested - or even if he could just "prevent" him from returning to the Plain.  No questions asked.

- It was a couple of nights later when the group was awakened n the middle of the night by the keep's alarm bell.  Looking outside, they could see a couple of flickering fires further down the hillside, as well as movement in the streets.  As well, they could hear the distant din of shouts and commotion - and a tremendous roar from overhead...

- The following day, the group spent some time cleaning up and getting ready for the banquet at the lord's manor that night - where they were to get some details about the expedition they'd been hired for.  Kugrash meanwhile, went looking for an instrument-maker who could "fix up" his axe-flute and ended up in an arm-wrestling contest with a man called Joccan in the Avenue Tavern.  He lost the contest, but barely - and his opponent's reaction to the victory seemed a little overly-humble for his demeanor.

- At the banquet - after a "fine" meal and more casual conversation with those present - their host, the archivist Eughenn Fyndwhyr, explained their objective.  He had found some old maps which contained some markings of unknown structures deep in the northern wilderness.  Their intention was to travel to these locations and investigate.  His hope seemed to be that one may be the remains of an ancient and unknown city.  They were to depart in a week's time.

- Returning from the banquet later that evening, they found the lights in the street near their inn mysteriously extinquished, casting the street into darkness.  Remembering their encounter from the previous evening, they approached cautiously.  As they did so, they could hear occasional shouts, crashes, and breaking glass coming from the inn - and they saw a  wolf-like creature emerge from the shadows coming toward them - baring its fangs and growling...

- As the shootout began, Jesse and George managed to press the stage foward while Percy, Kevin, and Montana exchanged a few bullets with the bandits.  There were relatively few casualties on either side by the time of their escape.  George was the only one who'd taken a particularly hard hit, and Kevin was able to call upon his Higher Authority to heal it before anyone really knew what had happened.

- The group proceded on to Gainer, where they spent a somewhat uneventful evening at the run-down hotel along the Highland Trail.  The following day they discovered the right rear wheel of the stage had developed some issues.  A few spokes were fractured and it was flexing worryingly.  This slowed their progress somewhat.  During one of their stops, they were meet by a traveling preacher who warned them about a beast that had recently come through Clark's Ford and killed a couple of men.

- Upon arriving in Clark's Ford, Jesse went to find a wainwright to repair the stage's wheel while the others headed to the Sagebrush saloon.  There they met a few men organizing a hunting party to go after the bear that had killed their friends...

- The group left Sims' Camp the following morning and sailed the remainder of the way to Erelan. On arrival, the captain Satwi had the Jovossa pulled out of the water for inspection and found that it had sustained damage she was unsure how to fix.  She and Hemmet would be in town for a few days at least - and were a little hesitant to make the return journey on their own.

- They made their way to the top of Erelan's bluff to the Lord's Keep where they spoke with Regulus Brandt, the keep's quartermaster.  They were given letters of invitation to a banquet to be held soon, and notes for accommodation at a local inn called the Cardinal Arms.

- The group spend a few days in town, exploring the place and looking for such things as smiths, shops, libraries, and so on.  One evening as they were on their way to the inn from the Red Elk Tavern, they came upon a stretch of road darkened by covered lamps.  Here they were attacked by a pair of grey oozes that had come up from the storm drains.  They saw the movement of some small humanoids - possibly children - in a nearby alley, but were unable to get a closer look before they'd disappeared into the maze of side streets.

- The group finalized plans to take Carlson's stage coach north to Flagstaff the following week, making preparations as were necessary.  Both Percy and Kevin sought out Ms Mason at different times and for different reasons, but Father Delworth eventually succeeded in getting her to (grudgingly) agree to join them, convincing her that she was involved with what was unfolding.  Meanwhile, Percy passed the time at the card tables, and Montana spent some time getting to know the Armstrong miners at the Dollar Saloon.

- The night before their departure, Kevin was awakened by Father Silas Butler, the older priest who had been something of a mentor to him for the past few years. In his failing health he had been known to have episodes of delirium - and this seemed to be one.  Father Butler was pounding on Kevin's door in a panic, asking where he was going and rambling about "falling into darkness".  Kevin did his best to calm the man, who eventually collapsed onto the floor.  Before he lost consciousness, his voice darkened and he whispered a final question to Kevin: "Are you coming to see us? It has been so long..."

- The following morning at sunrise, the stage headed north.  Jesse Carlson had spoken with marshall Haney about the threat of indians, and while the marshall said they'd noted increased movements/activity, he didn't think a trip north was necessesarily "unwise", but to be cautious.  As their journey progressed late into the afternoon, the stage slowly came to a stop and the group could hear shouting from outside.  Stepping out, Kevin noted the presense of a young apache indian in the road demanding payment for use of the road (for the "spirits"), but that the native's companions on the hillside and behind bushes and rocks nearby where, in fact, white men attempting to disguise themselves as indians.  As the tense "negotiation" began to fall apart, one of the men on the hills stood up and yelled "Dammit, just shoot 'em, boys!"...

- The group fought off the kobold attackers while Satwi and Hemmet attempted to navigate the boat through the shallows to the right of the stone outcropping protruding from the center of the river.  The effort required dumping some cargo and quickly emptying some ballast tanks but still resulted in a couple of hard hits on the bottom, resulting in some moderate damage to the underside of the vessel.  The fight against the kobolds and a couple of worgs was tough, but they ultimately fended enough of them off that the rest declined to pursue them further.

- Some time later, as they made their way further up the river, they were suddenly hit by a strong, cold wind from the west, and witnessed the river ahead of them freezing over, they attempted to turn the boat around to escape, but found themselves froze in the river before they could.  Across the ice, they were approached by a ghostly horse and rider, which Jaydah believed to be a wraith of some kind.  It seemed in command of the howling wind and the intense cold, but rather than attacking aggressively, only approached, talking to them in some unknown language.  Jaydah thought it sounded something like an antiquated common dialect, but was only able to pick out a few probable words.  When they were unable to respond to the creature, it disappated and vanished - and the frigid wind subsided.

- The group was delayed significantly by having to cut themselves out of the ice, and Satwi told them they wouldn't quite make it to the capitol that day - instead, suggesting they make for the edge of the forest and a small hunting and logging camp that sat by the river there.  They reached the camp just after sundown, and spent the evening talking with the locals about the gnolls, the frost wraith, and other local events - before heading out again the following morning.

- The three enjoyed something of a reunion at a casual card game with Miss Lily Mason and a couple of other saloon patrons until the others had left - at which point, father Delworth produced the flyer he'd found about a "revival" in Flagstaff - a revival that claimed Father Mandrake (whom he believed dead) and the ominous words "LEST YE BURN" at the bottom.  He'd been in conversation with a local stage operator by the name of Jesse Carlson who was making preparations to head north in a few days.  Believing Lily Mason was somehow also connected with these events - after all, she had been in Grayfalls three years earlier - Father Delworth attempted to pressure her into joining them.

- In the midst of their conversation, escalating tensions between a couple groups of miners present errupted into a brawl.  Some punches were thrown and some attempted to talk the belligerents down - ultimately succeeding.

- The following day, Montana made his way to the address he was paid to deliver the envelope to.  The man at the address, a Li Jun Zhoa, did not seem at all happy to see him.  He gave Montana the promised payment, and requested that he wait until evening for further conversation.  When Montana indicated he was just paid to deliver the message and didn't know anything else, Zhao's mood seemed to improve - he told Montana not to worry about returning, and bid him good day.

- The two engaged the Harpies with spells and clubs, killing one just before their pet ankheg arrived.  They immediately focused on the large monster and managed to take it out in only a couple of rounds.  The last harpy was beat down considerably and decided to flee. 

- Ithaca had realized that they had no real way of knowing how many harpies might remain to come after Mulner's cattle, and they needed to track them down to where they came from.  She hit the fleeing harpy with a Faerie Fire spell and the two tracked it through the night...

- The two pursued the harpy through the night, into the southeastern badlands area.  They could still hear the creature screeching in teh canyons when the made camp in a shallow cave for the night.

- The following morning, they unexpectedly encountered a pair of armed skeletons patrolling the canyons, and managed to destroy the undead without too much diffiuculty.  From there, they moved further into the canyons until they came to a large, pillar-like structure with holes throughout near where they thought the harpy had gone.  The lowest holes were about 20 feet up, and the two climbed up the rock and into them.  The small cavern they found themselves in had a number of tunnels, all of them with varying amounts of webbing inside.

- The two crawled into one of the lower tunnels and eventually fell into a larger cavern, which was home to a monstrous spider and numerous smaller ones.  After killing the biggest spider and a few of the smaller ones, the others retreated and the two found some discarded treasures among the bones in the webs below.

- The group spent the rest of the afternoon around town until the log-roll contest that evening, when they headed to the docks along with most of the rest of the town.  Carmela joined a local fisherwoman called Satwi in challenging captain Walthon for possession of the coveted river ship.  Dockmaster Holluk explained the rules: there was a very large, round log suspended and floating between two of the docks.  All three contestants would step onto it, and the last one to fall would be declared winner.

- The contest began.  While captain Walthon was doing quite well at the start and Satwi almost immediately faltered, the tables soon turned as the challenger recovered.  The crowd gathered around the docks cheered and called throughout the competition.  All three did very well overall, and captain Walthon was the first to fall, followed almost immediately by Carmela, leaving Satwi the victor.  The crowd cheered and then headed to Gallen's pub for their "reward" - drinks bought by the losers.

- While the PC's representative wasn't able to win the contest, they hadn't given up on using the river ship to sail north to Erelan rather than walking through the potentially-dangerous Nembrill Wood.  Mido and Jaydah both spoke with Satwi about making the trip and letting them buy their way along, and she eventually decided it was a reasonable idea.

- The group set sail a couple days later up-river.  They hadn't made it an hour north of Onara when they began seeing disturbances along the far shore, eventually catching sight of a kobold astride a worg.  Shortly after the river entered the forest, it began to narrow and ahead they could see a large rock protruding from the center of the channel, and rough water on either side - indicating shallows.  It was at this point that arrows began flying at them from the kobolds along the shore...

GM's note: The 'log roll' and possession of the ship was meant to be an interesting bit of setting detail for the tiny Onara riverside village - an event that they could maybe watch and talk to the locals about and would give some life and color to the place.  I had in no way intended or expected them to try to join the contest.  Because of this, I was just going to narrate the outcome with whatever seemed most interesting at the time.  Once they said they wanted to be part of it however, I knew I'd have to make up some rules mechanics to make it fair - and I wanted it to be more than just a single roll-off, because they all seemed excited about this.  I came up with a set of rules that broke the contest into combat-like rounds where the primary actions related to maintaining their own stability or trying to weaken others'.  I think it worked well, and it was quite the nail-biting competition.  They came close but didn't end up winning - though through some other rp and actions, still managed to get themselves on the ship sailing north.

- While Kevin and Montana struggled to assist the town with the growing inferno, Percy found himself among the hail of now bullets frozen in time and making a deal with a man he suspected of being "the devil".  Luck was seemingly on his side, and his two-pair beat his opponent's pair of 7s.  The man made good on his promise to get Percy "out of this little scrap", and he found the bullets that had been streaking toward him deflecting with bright flashes of light - much to the horror of his assailants, who soon fled.

- Montana saw a final figure walk out of the smoke of the saloon.  The man's clothing and even some of his skin was clearly burning, but he didn't seem bothered by it. "Oh, children." Montana heard him say "the time has come at last..."  Mandrake's bellowing voice could now be heard above the howling wind as well, pronouncing condemnation on the doomed town.  More buildings caught fire, and those that had been burning began to collapsed.  Humanoid figures, covered in flames and with gaping mouths, began slowly walking out of the blazing structures - extending burning arms toward any who wandered too close.

- By this time, the streets were crowded with people fleeing the burning town.  The three did their best to help townsfolk escape to a nearby hillside where survivors were gathering.  They all knew it was too late for Grayfalls, however - fear was saturating the landscape and the town would never recover.

- Three years later, these three would happen to meet each other again in a saloon in Phoenix - along with a Miss Lily Mason, an acquaintance of Percy's from Grayfalls and whom he thought he'd seen fleeing the town the night of the fire...

- The twins continued their fight against the giant constrictor snake and trying to keep Bellin out of harms way.  Just as they killed the monstrocity, the goblins that had given chase arrived and began their attack.

- As they fought off the goblins, they heard Averen - Bellin's brother - call out from somewhere above "Bellin! Grab the rope!".

- Once the goblin threat had been addressed, the group exited the cave and returned to the farm.  Rik Mulner was glad his boy was ok and offered the two the 50gp promised for solving the harpy problem as thanks for rescuing Bellin.  He told them that he'd still pay out another 50gp if they could eliminate the harpies as well.

- The two spent another couple of nights in the rancher's fields, patrolling for signs of the harpies.  On the third night, they heard the haunting singing again and found the flying devils had returned...

- The group headed toward the river village of Onara along the road now muddy with water from melted snow.  As they made their way into a flooded lowland marsh, they could hear some commotion some distance ahead.  As they approached, they found themselves attacked by a swarm of stirges.

- The group fought off the flying pests as best they could, becoming aware of a small group of kenku fighting them as well.  When the last of the stirges were killed, they spoke with the kenku, who invited them back to their camp.

- The group spent the rest of the evening with at the camp, talking to some of the kenku about their nomadic tribe and the party's plans to go to Onara and then north to Erelan.  The kenku cautioned them on some dangers of travelling through the Nembrill wood.

- The next day, the group finished their journey into Onara.  The small village sat on the edge of a bay-like protrusion of the Dobec river along a slow-moving section.  They made arrangements for accomodation at the simply-named Riverrest Inn, and proceeded to the one tavern in the tiny village for an afternoon meal - which they found to be so crowded as to be overflowing with locals.

- The group caught word of a "log roll" contest of sorts to be held that night at the docks and went to inquire further.  Speaking to the dockmaster, they learned that this was a something of a local ritual that would determine the captain of "The Jovossa" - a large fishing boat owned by the town and that most regarded as something special.  Noting the comment that it was the only vessel in town capable of making reasonable headway up-river to Erelan, the group asked if they might participate in the contest - and if they won, could they use it for a trip up-river.  The dockmaster, who seemed to regard the whole thing as tiresome, was amused by this plan and told them that that seemed reasonable - but cautioned them that a losing challenger had to buy a round at the pub for every fisherman in town...

- The two tell the goblin chief they came for the boy - threatening to continue fighting the goblins if they didn't release him.  They managed to intimidate the chief who gave the order to release the boy.

- One of the chief's guards, however, apparently didn't approve of the decision, and challenged her authority.  This resulted in a fight between the two, during which time Ithica and Varant managed to sneak over and release Bellin.

- The duel between the goblin leaders was still going on as they made their way out of the cavern, but they were spotted by some of the spectators and pursued. 

- Running back up the tunnels into the cavern, they were confronted by the giant snake whose skin they'd seen eariler.  They began battle with the snake while they could still hear the goblins approaching from behind - and the snake wrapped itself around Varant...

- The group met up at the Cup & Hearth in the village of Bhurk and enjoyed a bit of a reunion over a meal.  As they discussed their common purpose, Mido informed his friends that there was an issue with the way north toward their destination of Erelan: namely, that the gnoll tribes had become particularly aggressive and were explicitly watching the roadways for targets to waylay.

- Due to the situation, no other traffic was heading north, and while the local Borderguard had sent word for support to address the situation, it was likely a couple of weeks from resolution.  As they wished to reach their destination as soon as possible, they decided to take another's advice to head west to the river village of Onara, and then follow the river north through the Nembrill Wood toward the regional capital of Erelan.

I've been wanting to run Deadlands for a long time, so when Tim made an offhand comment about wanting play, we decided to put a game together.

Characters:

- Percy Walker [Tim] :: huckster

- Kevin Delworth [Patrick] :: priest

- Montana Grim [Stephen] :: gunslinger

Highlights:

- We started the campaign with a flashback to the events of 3 years ago - before Percy made his "deal" and Kevin's "conversion".  It was one particular night in the tiny town of Grayfalls in Arizona Territory they were awakened in the night by the town burning down.

- Each of them attempted to help however they could.  Stephen ran into a burning building to rescue a distraught woman's husband, Patrick ran to the small catholic church to rescue Sister Blowers (the nun who'd recently saved his life), and Percy escaped his burning hotel room, stopped a fight between folks arguing over which building the water pump should be used on and pulled a clerk away from some outlaws taking the opporunity to rob the assay office.

- As events unfolded, a number of the townsfolk began displaying signs of insanity and/or fanaticism - they began interfering with efforts to fight or contain the fires, shouting proclamations of divine fury being levied against the town - and that to prevent the burning would be going against "the almighty".  Back at the church, Kevin could hear the bellowing voice of Father Mandrake above the howling wind and roaring fire - claiming gods judgement had justly come upon the town.

- Percy was making his way back up the street when he was suddenly ambushed by a group of men.  As they all fired their guns at him. time seemed to slow to a stop and he was confronted by a dark man in a suit, standing next to a card table and offering a "deal"...

Since our Cyrran Reaches game is having some difficulty meeting these days, we decided to start a new 5e game with a slightly different player group that might be easier to keep going at the moment.  We met for a session 0 some weeks ago.

Characters:

- Jaydah Orez [Sheri] :: human rogue

- Carmela Nailo [Edie] :: elven druid

- Mido Bagu [Tony] :: human wizard

- Kugrash Damaris [Tim] :: half-orc fighter

Highlights:

- The characters had been childhood friends, but had gone their separate ways and hadn't seen each other in many years.  Each had seen an adventurous job posting and decided to check it out,  This took them to the Salthon Plain, a northern region of their kingdom of Aanashalor known for its harsh climate. 

- As they made their way independently to the village of Bhurk, an early-spring blizzard descended suddenly on the region.  Kugrash and Carmela were caught in the storm along with a wagon crew Kugrash had been accompanying.  Just outside the gates of Bhurk, the group was attacked by snow-white wolves - including one enormous specimen.  Soldiers from the settlement came to help them, along with Jaydah and Mido. 

- The ensuing fight was rough, but the group survived and made their way into the village...

- The two briefly considered whether to follow the fleeing harpy or go look for the missing kid, and decided on the latter.

- Averin, the older brother, said Bellin liked to play in the woods at the eastern edge of the farm.  He suggested they start from the south end, as he and their father were looking in the north.  They would meet in the middle and hopefully find Bellin.

- After wandering the woods for a while, they found a small cave that looked like someone had spent some time around.  Inside they found a wooden sword and some copper coins next to a dragon statue, and a collpased tunnel leading further down.

- They both ended up falling down the rocky descent into a small cavern with a massive snakeskin.  Continuing on into the tunnels, they eventually found their way into a goblin warren.  In a large chamber, they saw Bellin in a metal cage next to a boiling cookpot.

- They considered how to approach the situation for a while, until one of the goblins began making its way up to their position.  At that point, the fighting began.

- The two fought off several goblins, but were getting worn down when the chieftess of the tribe stopped the combat and demanded to know who they were and why they were invading...

- The two returned on their guild HQ in Granton where they gave their report about the mystery location and contributed their appropriate loot percentage.  The next day they went out to Rik Mulner's farm to investigate his disappearing cattle problem.

- Apparently something has been eating the cows - something with wings that made a strange, singing sound.  Mulner told them they always came at night and that their best bet on catching them was to camp out in the cow pasture.

- They spent the rest of the day setting up camp in some bushes at the top of a rise and talking about their plan of counter-attack.  A kid named Bellin came out to see what they were like, since he wants to be an "adventurer" too.

- Late in the night, the two began to hear a haunting song calling in the distance - and a little while after, heard the frantic mooing screech of a cow.

- As they ran down to where the sounds had come from, they were called to by someone from the farm - just as they began to be attacked by harpies.

- The two were able to drive off the harpies, after which point they met up with Bellin's older brother - apparently the kid is missing...

- A couple weeks after their trial adventure to Etlon's Tower, Matheus brought them a couple of new opportunities.  The first was a farmer complaining that "devils" were attacking his cattle - dragging them off and eating them.  The second was reports from a plains hunter saying he found an odd entrance to an underground complex on a hilltop in the foothills to the northeast.  The debated for some time before deciding on the latter.

- The directions the hunter provided were not especially clear, and they wandered for some time before they were able to find the hilltop in question.  During this wandering, they ran afoul of a monstrous toad that did its best to eat them.

- When the finally reached the entrance, they found it to be a spiral, stone stairway leading into a set of chambers with skeletal motifs - and something like a crypt.  While they investigated, they were attacked by skeletal warriors.  After fighting them off, they found a smashed chest with a number of coins (which they collected). 

- Down in the lowest level, they found the tomb of some kind of wizard character - holding a wand and wearing rings.  It was there that they were attacked by a more powerful skeletal warrior who almost got the better of them.  After destroying it, they decided to try to take the wand and rings the dead wizard was holding.  As they removed one of the rings, the skeleton became animated and began howling.  The two took their spoils and ran - making it out of the tomb just before the entrance collapsed.

- Ithica and Varant approached the ruined tower and found themselves attacked by giant centipedes.  With the wolf's help, they were just barely able to fight them off.

- After a short rest, they entered the table.  Inside, they found the remains of the stone statue of a human warrior, and also some strange stone stone centipedes on the stairway.  Following the stone stairway up, they found a room full of wooden debris where they encountered a cockatrice. 

- During that battle, Ithica became petrified, and did not revert even after they'd killed it.  Varant then went back to Granton for assistance. He promised the priests of the Sunfire Temple a favor in exchange for an ointment that could return petrified creatures to normal.

- Meanwhile, after about 24 hours, Ithica returned to her normal state to find her wolf had killed a couple more centipedes.  Exploring the rest of the tower, she found the chest that was supposed to contain the green gem, but just found a parchment that read "Matheus is a liar."

- Ithica met up with Varant about half way back to Granton.  The two returned to the guild and reported what Ithica had found.  Matheus told them congratulations - they'd completed the trial successfully.

- After chasing off the bandits, the twins continued on their journey eventually reaching the city of Granton.  As they made their way to the watch HQ - a place called 'the Spearhall', they found themselves on the street where monstrous tentacles were reaching up from sewer grates and attempting to grab people and pull them down.  They assisted an guardsman in fighting off the tentacles before continuing on.

- At the Spearhall they informed Captain Pommel of the kobold situation in the forest near Nettlewood, but he seemed unconcerned with problems outside the city.

- Having performed the task they were assigned, they two decided to seek out the Adventurer's Guild Tenlo had told them about.  They eventually found it - a small place on a backstreet on the south side of town.

- The two paid Varant's fee and spoke with a man called Matheus who seemed to be the guild leader.  He cautioned them that they would face real dangers if they chose to join.  When they said they were ready, he gave Varant an initial "assignment" and suggested he speak with one of the other guild members who may be able to teach him the magic he wanted to learn.

- For a couple of weeks, Varant studied with a wizard called Tyra - also a member of the guild.  In that time, she managed to teach him a few cantrips, noting that he possessed "the gift", at which point the two decided it was time to pursue the initial "mission": to an abandoned watchtower on an old road 4 days north through the forest to recover a gem.

- As they approached the overgrown towner deep in the forest, they heard insectoid chittering sounds...

- The following day, Tenlo's parents asked him to go and see Mr. Applewood, the local healer/apothecary to make sure his wound would heal properly.  Knowing Ithicca was something of an apprentice to Mr. Applewood, he came to ask her to show him the way to Applewood's cottage in the woods - and Varant decided to come along.

- Ithicca took him along the path to the recluse's house, where they found him in the back garden apparently frustrated with the state of some of his plants.  He took the three of them inside and treated Tenlo's wound and then asked them if they would accompany him further into the forest to speak with someone called Selena.  Tenlo decided he'd better return home, but Ithicca and Varant said they would go.

- When the three of them reached a remote hilltop deep in the woods, they found a small band of kobolds holding a dryad hostage.  After fighting them off and freeing the forest guardian, Mr. Applewood introduced them to Selena.  He told her that he had been wanting Ithicca to meet her for some time, as the girl showed "great promise".  Selena embraced Ithicca and bestowed a small measure of power upon her.

- When the three of them returned to town, the told more people about the kobold threat.  Most of the villagers seemed to think the encounters had happened too far away to be of any concerned, but agreed that someone could go alert the watch in the nearby city of Granton to see if they might send a military hunting party to deal with the problem.  The twins agreed to go.

- As Ithicca and Varant were preparing to set off early the next morning, their aunt gave them a satchel with some potions and special food in it, and their friend Tenlo arrived to give them their portion of the coins they'd found in the ruin.  He also told Varant that he should join the adventurer's guild in Granton.

- Along the road to Granton, they were accosted by a starving wolf.  They briefly traded blows with it before Ithicca offered it some dried meat they'd brought along with them, which it took and then ran of into the woods.

- A short time later, they were met by a pair of bandits trying to get them to pay a "toll" for the road.  The encounter turned violent, and the twins found themselves fighting some older, tougher opponents.  With some fortune they'd managed to incapacitate one, but they were extremely worn down and still facing the other when the wolf they'd met earlier leapt from the forest onto their assailant...

- The group continued to make their way down toward the bronze door.  A few hours into the trek, their elven scouts alerted them to something going on ahead.  They were met by a middle-aged woman running desperately through the corridors, followed by a young man who seemed very dazed.  Once their demonic pursuers had been defeated, the group began speaking to the fugitives.  After a few minutes, Lily recognized the woman as her father's sister - one that had been captured by slavers more than a decade ago.  She remembered very little, but seemed to vaguely recognize Lily and remembered her brother's name.  The young man was much less responsive, and Taryn and Ravina came to the conclusion he had been contaminated by the Gray Wasting - a disease or curse originating from the plane of Hades, where the Night Hags dwell.

- They decided to find an out-of-the-way place for the fugitives to wait while they continued downward.  As they were having this conversation, Kael suddenly appeared among them.  After some questioning to determine whether he was really Kael, they asked him what happened.  He said he remembered being attacked by the demon and flung into the abyss, but he wasn't sure what happened next.  He had awakened in a kind of prison cell where someone claiming to be his father had helped him escape - but was too weak to accompany him.  He had also seen a demon his father called "Syn-Vaask", and the two of them seemed to be having a...disagreement...about what his father should be doing.

- Now reunited with his companions - even though somewhat weakened - Kael was ready to go rescue his father.  As they descended the way Kael had come (using his ethereal armor ability), they noted a large number of demons gathering around them, but giving them a wide berth as they approached the building that contained the prison.

- Once inside, Kael approached his father's cell, where he could just make out a dark humanoid shape inside.  He father asked why he came back - and that 'he' had been waiting for him.  At that moment another voice spoke from the darkness saying "Of course I have..."

The kids have been wanting to play D&D again, and it was suggested that I start a game for the two of them that didn't require Sheri to be present.  I made them some classless characters that have mostly-average stats and no real skills or abilities.  They're teenagers only recently of-age, and the idea is that they will find NPCs to teach them the skills of the class abilities they want.

Characters:

- Ithicca [Hannah] :: Human (prospective druid)

- Varant [Micah] :: Human (prospective wizard)

Highlights:

- As the twins were finishing some work in the Nettlewood orchard one summer evening, Varant's friend Tenlo came to him, exitedly reporting that he'd manage to break into an old, sealed "mine" and found it wasn't a mine.  He convinced Varant to come with him to explore it, and Ithicca went along.

- At the site, they encountered an illusion of a giant figure bellowing at them and some giant rats.  They also found a hidden room that contained some old, rusty weapons and a chest filled with coins that had been hidden in some rubble.  It was then that they were attacked by kobolds and their friend Tenlo was injured.

- They returned to the village and told Tenlo's parents about the kobolds.

- The group retreated from the opening onto the broken bridge in an effort to avoid the notice of whatever was lurking outside.  Quietly, they investigated the stairway up and found that it dead-ended in a room with some sort of rift or portal into some abyssal plane.  They also found two adjoining rooms - one which contained a few dretches devouring some rotting flesh, and another that was little more than a hole through the complex into lower levels.

- As they were doing so, they heard the sounds of other demons approaching from the corridor through which they'd come.  The portal/rift vomitted a number of dretches down the stairs just as a group of babau rushed into the room.  The PCs ducked into the nearby rooms as the bebelith outside entered from the bridge doorway and began attacking the other demons, chasing them down the corridor.

- The PCs emerged when all ways quiet and devised a plan for crossing the chasm where the bridge was broken.  Lily summoned a celestial hippogriff which began flying the PCs across the gap.  Unfortunately, it also attracted the attention of a pair of vrocks which were flying through the currents outside.  The PCs fought off the vrocks as best they could, but the already-injured Kael was KO'd by one of the vrocks who then hurled him out and into the void.

- The other PCs fled into the structure on the other side, and began making their way along the path down into the wall-city area of the ruin - unsure of what they could possibly do to save Kael or recover his body.

- They eventually found a place far enough from the main thoroughfares in the wall-city to rest.  Afterward, they made their down the road-like corridors toward the mines below where the door was supposed to be.

- Several hours later, they finally saw it: a massive bronze door set into the deep rock.  It sat on a ledge above a deep gash of a mine descending into the darkness below.  On the ledge were a number of shadowy figures, some seeming to be arranged in a circle around glowing or burning sigils in on the ground.  Others of which seemed obviously demonic.  Floating before the door was a pulsing, purplish glyph and a whisp of blackness it seemed to be pulling through the metal door.  As the glyph shimmered, tremors rippled through the stone of the city...

- After regrouping, the party made their way through the collapsed gate into a system of partially-naturaly, partially-hewn tunnels leading into the dwarven city.  They hadn't even reached the city proper before their first demonic ambush - and they fought off several more as they made their way into the ruins.

- After clearing the first few chambers, they party had a brief discussion with the elves that had accompanied them about which way to decend.  The options were to go through the heart of the city, taking the mechanical lifts which *might* still be functional from when they'd repaired them years earlier, or to head around the outskirts to the far cavern wall and descend through that area of the city.  The former would likely encounter heavier resistance, but the latter would take several times as long.  Ultimately, the group decided on caution over speed, and made their way to the far end.

- As they made their way, they found their progress halted by a bridge with a 20' gap just outside a large chamber with a crumbling stair from the top of which came a bright orange glow and a discernable heat.  From outside, they could hear a scraping sound approaching...

- Kael returned to the rest of the group to report what he'd seen at the end of the mountain road.  As the group approached, they were halted by the three old women who frantically warned them to leave before attacking them with teeth and magic.

- The group engaged the hags, but soon discovered something odd about them: they didn't seem to be "living" exactly, but nor were they undead - more like constructs of some kind.  When killed, they tended to fall into pieces.

- When the hags were incapacitated, the group looked around - quickly finding the crevice that would allow them entrance into the mountain had been obstructed with small rocks.  As they began clearing it, a magical darkness suddenly descended on the mountainside and voices began speaking.

- The group now found themselves isolated in the darkness and engaging a coven of night hags.  Lily and Taryn were ferociously assaulted by one whose head and hands were covered in fire.  Kael and the elves found their way to the fat one who was distressed at the distruction of her "dolls" and was trying to mend them.  Tyrrox and Ravina found themselves attacked by shadowy creatures in the dark.

- When Kael killed the fat hag, the encounter took a turn.  The haze in the darkness clearned, and they could all clearly see the tall, thin hag who'd been keeping to the edges of the fray.  Enraged, she began to disappate - bestowing a dying curse upon the group for the death of her sister...

- As the group began to speak with the elves that had approach their table, they found themselves suddenly assaulted by several other bar patrons.  As Kael and Tyrrox held them off with varying levels of force, Lily identified the cause of the attack as being magical compulsion and was able to employ her music to counter the effect.

- Realizing they needed somewhere more private, the elves led them to a place called the Garden of Telanthius - the magical willow-like trees of which provided shelter and soundproofing.  There, they told the group their story.  They had been friends of Kael's father, and the group of them had disturbed something in an old dwarven ruin up in the mountains - a massive bronze door that had been sealed, but that seal is now breaking.  They had assumed Kael's father had gone home, but when the PCs arrived looking for him, they feared he instead went back to the ruin, which they now believe to be crawling with demons.

- The group decided to go with the elves to the dwarven ruin.  After a couple of days travel through the wood (where they noticed signs of disease and corruption), they found themselves outside the mostly-collapsed entrance to the ruin where three grotesque old women huddled near a large cauldron dangling over a campfire...

- The group was hailed by an elven hunter called Rey Piestrann who seemed to be concerned about their presence "this deep" in the wood - telling them they were at least 4 days travel from the nearest edge of the forest.  Piestrann didn't seem to know anything about the city they were searching for, nor the "path" they were currently on, but she didn't make any move to impede their progress. After a brief conversation, they parted ways.

- As the group continued deeper into the forest, they noticed the trees getting larger but also the undergrowth becoming significantly more dense.  They continued to follow the lightes through the darkness before they finally stopped at a vine-like archway just before dawn.  As they approached, the ghostly forms of elven warriors began to appear around the path and a voice spoke to them - asking who they were and why they had come.  Lily answered for her companions and was instructed to proceed to a pool called Sum'mshar.

- Once through the archway, the group was finally able to see the city of Osada Reil, which resided in a deep canyon that plunged into the forest floor.  The tops of stone spires and great trees could be seen within it - and a few truly massive trees reached from the canyon floor far below them into the canopy over their heads.  A narrow pathway led down the ledges into the canyon.

- The group was met by a number of suspicious elves but also a few friendly faces as they made their way through the city.  Once at the pool at the far end of the city, they spoke with an elder called Kessanna Ben'Faedrus.  The elder welcomed them conditionally, and listened to their concerns about the mythical tree called Ola Tannanum as well as their search for Kael's father.  While she did not remember Kael's father specifically, she did recall hearing the stories about how Baness Cer'd'nye and he were said to have seen it - and seemed more open than most to the possibility that the tale was true.  She also told them that, while she could not verify the tree's reality, she had sensed an unusual sort of corruption or decay even within their city that was greatly concerning to her should it worsen.

- Making their way to a human-run inn that was somewhat more friendly to travelers, the group discussed what to do next. While they were there, a pair of elves - one of which Kael recognized as someone they met on their way into the canyon - approached them saying "We need to talk..."

- As the ogres moved forward to smash the three adventurers, Rocky moved up to stab one of them with his swords while Ari and Hope engaged it with damaging cantrip spells.  One of the ogres reacted to the party's use of magic by pulling a wand from its bag and attempting to use it on them, with no success.  The other two ogres took turns clubbing Rocky, eventually knocking him unconscious, but not before taking significant injury themselves.  When one of the ogres collapsed, the other two decided to run away.

- After a short rest and recovery, the group decided they would make their way to the graveyard site Sevren had told them about.  Heading northwest through the forest as evening settled in, they happened to come upon a logging camp near the edge of the Harkenwood.  They enjoyed some stew and conversation before resting for the night.

- The next morning, they were approached by the foreman of the logging operation.  She told them that one of the woodcutters had gone missing last night and hadn't returned, and while she believed he was probably just passed out under a tree somewhere, she asked if they might look into it.

- Rocky tracked signs of passage north from where he was last seen, eventually discovering a man's boot that had some blood on it, and a large hunting knife with a green, sap-like substance on the blade.  He told the others that there were Blights around, and that he suspected they must have abducted the missing woodcutter.

- The group followed the trail deep into a dark ravine where they found a man wrapped in vines and calling for help - and a number of vine covered creatures emerging from the wood around them...

- Before Lily and Ravina could attempt to withdraw, they found themselves under attack by a monstrous crab creature.  Their struggle with it apparently alerted local sentries which soon descended upon them.  They nearly managed to escape through the use of invisiblity magic, but weren't able to get quite far enough away before it wore off.  Lily spoke with the merfolk captain and an elven "ambassador", eventually agreeing to accompany them to the merfolk city and speak with the priestess there regarding their presense and intentions.  Fortunately, the priestess did not seem to be overly suspicious of them.  The two spent some time speaking with the elven ambassador about ways of reaching Osada Reil before returning to the surface.

- While Taryn, Tyrrox, and Kael awaited their companions return, they witnessed and impossibly huge bear emerge from the forest some distance away from them, surrounded by dozens of agitated specimens of a more normal size - a few of which attacked them on their way to join the massive creature.

- When Lily and Ravina returned, the group decided to follow the "Moonlit Path" that Lily and Kael were able to see.  After travelling along it for some time, Kael spotted a large green dragon prowling the area ahead of them, eventually settling directly on the path.  They tried to distract it, but it didn't seem to notice them.  As they approached, the dragon became obviously aggressive - setting fire to the forest around them - but did not speak.  Lily suspected that the dragon might actually be an illusion, and decided to approach it directly.  The dragon image immediately attacked Lily - but since it was, in fact, illusory, nothing actually happened.  Tyrrox and Kael, however, not yet able to see through the illusion, saw Lily horribly mangled and began attacking the figment.  As the battle unfolded, all eventually became aware of the dragon's artificial nature, and continued down the path.

- A while later, they came upon a section of the path that had been obstructed with magically animated vines.  Ravina cast a spell to break the enchantment on the vines, but a number of lumbering earthen creatures emerged from the ground around them.  As some of them hacked their way through the now-inanimate mines, others fought off the shambling mounds lashing them with vine-like tendrils. 

- When the last was destroyed and crumbled into earth and rock, the group continued onward...

- Realizing that the woman who was the werewolf may be unaware of her actions, Rocky decided to attempt to subdue the beast instead of killing it.  The resulting struggle alerted the innkeeper, who eventually helped Rock tie up the creature.  The innkeeper was quite distressed to hear that one of his staff was a monster and decided to go fetch one of the priests.  Returning a short time later, the group of them discussed what should be done until daylight came and the poor woman reverted to her normal form. Rocky returned to Midrus' library and told the others about what happened.

- The group then took the pin the hag had given them - which they had determined was a "hag eye" - to the minister.  They cautioned him that it was given to them by a green hag who may be able to see and possibly hear through the gem.  They suggested he not put it where it might give away something important and perhaps they should surrender it to the dragon when it returns.  The minister seemed somewhat hesitant to take the item until he saw it, at which point Hope noticed a covetous glint in his eye - along with a subtle sparkle that might have been a magical effect.  When the group tried to warn a clerk about the minister's apparent "attachment", the clerk stormed into the office, loudly claiming bewitchment on the part of the party - particularly Hope, the tiefling.

- The party took their leave, deciding to return to the Smiling Griffin to speak again with Sevren.  They had to wait around for him well into the evening, durning which time they were approached by an intoxicated quarry worker who told them he heard a howling sound coming from inside the caves.  When Sevren did arrive, he was concerned about Rocky's report of a werewolf and went to speak with the Innkeeper.  On the way, the party got directions from him to the overgrown graveyard he'd mentioned - believing the site might be related to one of the temples.

- The next day, the party decided to return to the 'grand avenue' ruin and speak with the hag again.  The creature did answer some of their questions, telling them among other things that the last queen, Marcella, had intentionally destroyed Altea's Scepter and had her priests seal the pieces away. 

- They were trying to get more information out of her when Ari mentioned Vuldas' name, whereupon the hag became agitated and paranoid.  She turned on Hope, accusing her of seeking Vuldas out, and ranting that she would not be replaced.  It was then that the hag commanded her ogres to attack...

- The source of the cackling began engaging them in conversation, asking them questions about who they were and why they were there - and continue prodding them until they gave her a clue as to what they wanted.  As they conversed a trio of ogres casually approached the site.  It wasn't until Hope mentioned Altea and the scepter - asking if the voice knew why it had broken upon the queen's death - that the speaker appeared, revealing herself to be a hideous green hag. 

- She appeared delighted and promised them answers to their questions if they would do something for her: she wanted them to take a silver pin containing a big blue gem to Minister Gillyn, the leader of the town of Braydon Point.  The hesitantly agreed and left the site without scuffling with her or the ogres.

- Before returning to Braydon Point, the group decided to make a detour to another ruin they'd heard about: a large stone manor that was said to be mostly intact in another part of the forest.  There they found evidence of habitation, which Rocky seemed certain was a giant.

- The group investigated the inside of the stone manorhouse, finding the giant's "nest" in the entry hall, a rotten tapestry on the wall from which they could just make out a stylized rendering of an ancient, white-stone city, a locked metal door in a tower, and a few books with still-discernable passages.

- Whilte they searched, however, they heard the clattering sounds of something returning to the manor.  Hearing the commotion, Hope moved out to investigate while trying to stay hidden.  She spied a large hill giant bringing in its latest kill - a large dear - and generally rummaging around the entrance hall.  Seeing a possible means of escape through a rotten doorway at the other end of the hall, Hope inadvertently caused it to collapse, alterting the giant to their presence.  By scattering in different directions and employing some diversionary magic, the group managed to get away with a few damaged books - but without thoroughly exploring the site.

- Back at Braydon Point, the group met back up with Midrus who told them he'd found a tiny scrap of info on the entity "Vuldas" they'd mentioned to him before - apparently it was the name of a priest of Wee Jas in the service of Marcella, the last queen of Del'Celestine.  Ari then presented the books she'd found at the manor, and the group of them spent the night looking through them for discernable texts that might be of use.  The most pertinent details seemed to be passages related to the "three great temples" - one to the West, one to the East, and one to the North - each with their own role.

- Meanwhile, however, Rocky returned to the Angel's Ox Inn to get some rest.  There, he chatted with Vedsa, one of the inn staff, as the last of the evening patrons departed for the evening.  During their conversation, however, Vedsa seemed to become physically uncomfortable.  She eventually excused herself but, on the way to the kitchen door began to convulse.  When Rock got up to help her, he found himself face to face with a werewolf...

- The group ran outside and made their way toward the center of town, where the most commotion was coming from.  They didn't intend to engage the dragon, but did want to see more specifically what was going on.

- In the center of town, the massive dragon paced back and forth within the town square, bellowing threats and burning the surrounding buildings with her firey breath.  She was demanding the people bring her their treasure - and was apparently dissatisfied with what they produced.  Ari was able to hear some of her draconic mutterings and discovered that she seemed to be debating whether to destroy the town or let it prosper so that she could plunder any wealth it gained.  She also seemed to be concerned that it might somehow ally with someone or something she named as "Vuldas".  Ultimately, the dragon took what was offerend and departed - warning that the town had better muster a more satisfactory tribute the next time she returns.

- The following morning, the three were "asked" to accompany a pair of guards to the slightly-singed town hall to speak with some of the lords gathered there.  An abrasive middle-aged woman present was ranting about how the militia should be called upon to fight the dragon and even accused the party of leading it to the town.  Minister Gillyn asked them for more details on their initial sighting of the dragon and whether they knew anything else about it, but they could offer little.

- From there, they made their way to the Smiling Griffin tavern to try to find a huntsman called Sevren.  They had to wait around a while, but he eventually did arrive.  He was able to tell them of several ruin sites in the area - including the vault-like "Stonehall" in the mountains, and an overgrown stone courtyard he called the "Grand Avenue".  The latter caught their attention particularly due to his mentioning of a tiefling-like statue it its center.

- After acquiring specific directions, the party set out for the Grand Avenue ruin to investigate.  As they neared the site, they were attacked by a trio of gricks, which they fought off without much trouble.  At the site of the ruin, they found the an over grown street and surrounding columns made of the familiar white stone, but noticed that the tiefling statue was not composed of the same material.  An inscription at the statue's base read "Our Indominable Lady, Queen Marcella"...

- The group returned to the main level of the temple ruin and ascended the stairs up to the lofted priests quarters.  Their search didn't turn up much and was interrupted by some of the smaller spiders from outside coming to investigate, but they did manage to find a rusted key ring containing a key that opened the crypt below.  Rocky had climbed a ladder up to something like an old bell tower from which he saw the form of an enormous red dragon perched on the cliffs some miles to the west.

- In the crypt below they found rows of shelves with skeletons laid out upon them.  At the far end however, they found an odd tiefling-like statue holding a metal chest with the inscription in infernal reading "None shall weild this foresaken power".

- Upon prying the chest free, a number of the skeletons got up and began attacking them.  While Ari and Rocky fought them off, Hope found the key to the chest on the keyring and  opened it.  Inside she found a 6" long rod that looked to be broken off of something.  It seemed to be made of gold and a silvery metal and decorated with diamonds and glowing yellow gems.

- The group fought their way out of the crypt and left the temple ruin, continuing on toward the town of Braydon Point.  They spoke with the priests at the temple of Pelor, asking questions about the ruin they'd found.  They also mentioned the dragon and discovered that the town knew of it.  The dragon was called Keldrexa, and she had apparently plagued the town for some generations but had been absent for long enough that the locals were hoping she was gone for good.

- After alerting the authorities to the dragon's return, the group proceeded to the home of an elf called Midrus who owned something of a library.  There they were able to discover a bit more about the lost city of Del'Celestine, the angelic queen Altea the Graceful, her daughter Marcella, the fall of the city in a great war, and a little more about the legend of Altea's Scepter: specifically that it was made of gold, platinum, diamonds, and glowing yellow sapphires - and that upon Altea's death, it broke into pieces that were then given to the high priests of the three great temples.

- As they studied late into the night, they were disturbed by sounds of commotion outside - and the distant roar of a dragon...

- The three fought off the giant spider and its webs, eventually overwhelming it with Ari's holy light.  Investigation of the altar room suggested that the temple had perhaps been repurposed during its history, as it bore some obscured markings of Pelor, but more recent symbols and references to a darker entity with the title Lady of Death.

- The door at the far end led them to the temple basement where they were attacked by a small horde of giant rats.  They found a small tunnel behind a collapsed wall large enough for the rats, but too small for any of them.  They also found the remains of a bunk room, a storeroom with more cast-off pelor emblems, and the locked entrance to a crypt...

The kids asked it we could start a new D&D game - so, of course, we obliged.  Since it's a bit simpler overall and I'd not run it before, we decided we'd do a 5e game this time.

We finished making characters this afternoon, and got rolling with the game.

Characters:

- Hope [Hannah] :: Tiefling Sorceror

- Rocky [Micah] :: Wood Elf Ranger

- Ari [Sheri] :: Half-Elf Cleric

Highlights:

- The party made their way toward an area called Simon's Vale, and the far northeaster Braydon Point, pursuing the partial legend of a marvelous artifact called Altea's Scepter.  It was apparently owned by a power queen or sun priest and was said to reside in a temple treasury.

- On a tip from some locals in the last village they stopped in, they decided to investigate a hilltop ruin a few miles off the road, said to have been the remains of an ancient temple.

- They found the hilltop covered in webbing, and had to watch their step around some dog-sized spiders.  It wasn't until they got inside the ruin that they found the largest spider - a massive, 12' beast in the webs of the main altar room...

- Norm and Kenta ran as fast as they could for the shelter of the canopy, but even the few minutes they were exposed was enough to give them significant sunburn.  After a brief rest, they decided to try to make it all the way back to the linking point that day.  As they neared their destination well after sunset, they found themselves tailed by a large creature.  They only got the most fleeting glance at the beast's teeth and face as it barreled into them, nearly sending them tumbling off the catwalk.  Kenta lashed out at it with his machete and believed he managed to give it a cut, but something that hit  returned the favor, giving him a nasty - and unusually clean - slice to his face and neck.

- When they finally made it back to the original linking point and rejoined Kat and Reis, they compared notes about the book exchange and the undersea research facility and made plans as to their next steps.  They believe they need to return soon, but Norm has decided they should make their own linking book back to Er'cana before they leave - and they're all a little curious about the area east of the linking point...

- Lily engaged her cousin Ansley in conversation, but the girl quickly became distraught, screaming or mumbling nonsense, and eventually collapsing.

- After helping Ansley back into the house, the group spoke with Elder Dynn for some time.  She seemed friendly enough, but insisted she really couldn't help them in their quest to find and reach the elven settlement of Osada Reil.  Sensing she was keeping something relevant from them, they eventually badgered her into agreeing to speaking with "someone else" who might be able to help them.

- Later, Kael sought out Elder Selka, whom he found to be quite different form her sister.  Like her sister, however, she insisted she didn't know anything about the elven settlement and couldn't help them reach it.  She also insisted there was nothing weird about the lake and certainly nothing dangerous at the bottom of it.

- Ravina decided to user her Find the Path spell to determine the location of Osada Reil, and then use Wind Walk to fly out that way for a while to see what she could find.  What she found was that Find the Path led her out over the massive lake, and then pointed straight down toward the bottom - toward a point that must be thousands of feet submerged.  The sun was setting as she was starting to turn back to return to Tonler and she suddenly noticed Find the Path change its indication - this time, to a point between two large, rough-hewn stone obelisks on the far shore of the lake.

- The next day, the group decided they would fly across the lake an examine the forest a bit more thoroughly.  The elven woodsman Lertas had warned them that, if they entered the wood, they would become lost almost immediately.  It took them some time to find the obelisks, but eventually they did.  They didn't find any magic on the obelisks themselves, but there was a pervasive background illusion aura seemingly on the entire forest.

- Believing the obelisks might be some sort of portal to Osada Reil, Kael, Tyrrox, and Taryn decided to walk through them into the woods, and despite an initial "good feeling" about the direction, they quickly became disoriented and lost, just as Lertas had told them they would.

- The three wandered the woods for some time, seeking to find their way back to shore - a location they believed couldn't possibly be more than a hundred or so yards away.  They eventually found themselves in an overgrown ruin of strange white towers that had long-since collapsed.  Among the remains, they ran afoul of a spirit naga intent on devouring them.  After fighting off the creature, they made their way back into the woods, still seeking the lake shore, which they eventually found.

- Meanwhile, Ravina and Lily decided that they shouldn't venture into the forest and get lost also.  Tired of waiting for the others to find their way back, Ravina suggested they investigate the lake bottom using her Water Breathing spell.  The two left a note for the others, along with the packs, and ventured out into the lake.  After hours of descending into the blackness, they noticed a pale blue glow coming from far to the northeast - and a significant distance below them.  Following the lake bed as best they could, they slowly approached it - eventually catching a distant site of a spire-filled chasm in a glowing bubble, populated by a large number of merfolk.

- When Kael, Taryn, and Tyrrox eventually found their way back later that night, they found Lily's note and Kael found that he could see faintly glowing lights between the obelisks, leading deeper into the forest...

--

GM's Note: It has been nearly 20 months since we've played this game.  This game started back in 2013 and we've put it on haitus before, but always intentionally - always to play other games.  This time, it was out of caution regarding the pandemic we've been dealing with.  Having finally decided it would be ok to get together occassionally, we decided to start it up again.  We led off with an hour or so of discussion about what had been going on when we left off, but that was fun and necessary.  After that, they actually did quite a bit.  It was a great session.

Looking at the header for the *previous* session, I really feel like that was either prophetic of premature - THIS session really should be called "It's Different Now".  Other things have changed since we put the campaign on pause, and our current "plan" now is to play once a month on a saturday instead of every week on a weeknight.  Honestly though, we might get to play for the almost same length of time, since this game got a solid 4+ hours, and we'd previously been doing 1.5-2 hour games 3 times a month or so.  And I actually prefer the saturday schedule.

Anyway, here's hoping this works well.  Next game is slated for early december.  It's great to be back.

- As the hum and vibration in the heart of the undersea complex increased to a near violent pitch, Norm noticed the row of routing switches that had all been deactivated.  In a split-second decision, he threw the switches up and the station's power output stabilized - unfortunately not before an electrical discharge ruptured some sort of gas conduit, pumping a noxious yellowish smoke into the control room.  Norm and Kenta hurried out, closing the bulkhead-like door behind them.

- Meanwhile, back at the linking point, Kathleen and Reis compiled some details on their new "friends" before returning to their research efforts.  Reis spent the day continuing her experiements on the large trees and their fruit (a specimen of which she was able to obtain with Kathleen's help), and Kat decided to delve into the text of the Er'cana descriptive book they'd traded the Malves book for.

- Power restored, Norm and Kenta two proceeded back to the "airlock", which they found to be apparently functional.  They discovered its actual purpose was as a pressurization chamber as the room on the other side contained a diving hatch for access to the ocean floor.

- After decompression, they emerged from the pressurization chamber to find the lights in the facility were now blinking red and water was trickling in from somewhere and running down the steps they were going up.  Norm returned to the control room, holding his breath against the smoke, and "undid" his previous actions, but only managed to kill the lights.  The background hum of the station had ceased, and the facility now seemed to be almost completely without power.  The door out to the ladder still operated, and opening caused a few inches of water that had gathered in the tube to flood in.  Concerned that the station may be lost, the took some time to gather some of the books and research materials from the study area before climbing back to the surface.

- Still staring at the eel-like shark, Kenta felt a slight sense of virtigo as he maintained eye contact.  A sense of calm curiosity settled on him and he took a half step toward the chamber's glass wall, but knew he wouldn't be able to get much closer to the creature.  Norman noticed his friend's unnerving stare and called to him to snap out of it, at which point the monstrous creature swam away - quickly disappearing into the dark water.

- Kathleen and Reis regarded the appoaching pair somewhat suspiciously but answered their greeting and with as much neutrality as possible.  The man took the large book from his companion and presented it to them.  The book turned out to be the descriptive book for the Age of Er'cana - the age they were currently standing in.  They said they'd be willing to trade it for the Malves age which Kenta had stolen from them a few days earlier.  After some discussion, they decided to take the offer and made the trade - not least because Kat realized that, with the descriptive book here, all incoming links were disabled, and that, if these other people controlled the descriptive book, they could cut the guilds and themselves off from access to the age - or worse, they could damage or destroy the book, rendering it inaccessible permanently.  While the other age was also of interest, they'd been sent to study *this* one, and so it seemed the higher priority.

- Meanwhile, Kenta and Norman continued to explore the undersea facility, finding a kind of "control room" and some sort of laboratory(?) down a long, tunneled stairway.  The other stair led them to a sealed bulkhead and airlock with some buttons that didn't seem to be operating correctly.  After some evaluation, they decided that maybe the airlock was having some sort of power issue - they had noted in the control room that the gauges they guessed to be related to power supply read only 5-10%.  They decided to return to the control room and experiment with the panel to try to increase power to the station.  As Norman slowly pushed a large lever upward, the hum and vibration that had been present in the facility intensified...

- The others having not returned, Kathleen and Reis decided to stay the night in the bunk room in the fortified "bunker" structure below the canopy huts.  Meanwhile, Kenta and Norman retreated back up the catwalk into the jungle some distance - feeling a bit safer beneath the canopy than out under the open sky.

- The following morning, Norman and Kenta returned to the dock and made their way down the ladder into the copper and glass tube descending deep into the waters at the end of the pier.  At the bottom, they discovered a panel full of switches that seemed to control the sealed doorway that led into some sort of structure.

- Upon awakening, Kat and Reis decided to go back down to the puzzle-locked office they'd previously found - Kat had been looking for clues and working on a few possible solutions.  With some minor input from Reis, she was able to identify the last symbol on the dials and, after a couple more attempts, managed to get it to open.  Inside they found some detailed journals on the facility's pellet production process as well as a linking book to the Ashem'en District in the Cavern, and a strange television-like device that seemed to be viewing a far-away place.  The image showed a large chamber, a massive statue, daylight, and vines growing along the stone walls.

- After some discussion and examination of the switch panel, Norman decided that the panel indicated some kind of conversion from the D'ni distance/depth measurements he'd noted etched into the tube as they had descended.  While unsure what his math was converting the distance units to, he was able to complete the conversion and enter the solution using the numbered switches.  The door clicked and slid open, exposing some rather stale air inside.

- The undersea complex was composed of circular copper and glass rooms that overlooked the ocean around them - water that was getting a bit more illuminated as the day progressed, even at this significant depth.  They found some D'ni furniture and even clothing remarkably well preserved, as well as a common area that seemed to be something of a study room, containing padded chairs, desks, and numerous journals.  Kenta's attention, however, was captured by the flashing purple eyes of an enormous eel-like shark just outside the glass bubble.

- Having discovered all they could in the bunker, Kat and Reis emerged, discussing plans for the day.  It wasn't until the man spoke that they became aware of his approach.  Approaching form the catwalk to the east of their position were a man and a woman, neither of whom were immediately recognizable, but Kat was pretty sure she knew who they were.  The man was saying he had a "proposition" for them, and the woman was carrying a large, hard-bound book under her left arm...

- Norman managed to talk the fleeing woman down enough that some of the adrenaline of the situation began to wear off.  Unfortunately, in the process, her attitude shifted from one of fear to something more like anger.  She accused Norman and Kenta of stealing a book from her and her companions and told them she'd come to retrieve it, even offering them a substantial sum of money in exchange for its return.  When an agreement didn't appear to be immediately forthcoming, she retreated down the catwalk into the jungle, promising to return with an "offer".

- The group discussed this turn of events for a while the next morning, but ultimately decided to continue their investigation of the Age as planned.  However, given the promised return of unknown persons, it was decided that Kathleen would conduct her study of the descriptive book in or near the bunker on the jungle floor, the entrance to which Norman had discovered a way to bar.  Reis decided to continue her expirementation in the canopy unless Kat raised the alarm.

- Meanwhile, Norm and Kenta travelled along the catwalk to the west.  They found one additional canopy hut above it a couple of miles away, but then nothing.  As midday passed, and they hadn't discovered where the conduits following the catwalk led, they decided to press on and prepare to spend the night away from the linking point.  Just after the sun had sunk below the horizon, the catwalk led them out of the jungle and onto a long pier protruding into a large body of saline water.  The pier had sustained some damage; near the end they found some mangled machinery and a ladder descending into a tube-like structure that led into the darkness below the water...

- While Norman, Kathleen, and Reis were finishing up their studies for the day, Kenta was attempting to gain entry to the hut with the light.  While he was investigating the trap door on the underside of the hut, he heard the unmistakable sound of a link, and began to hear footsteps and voices in the room above.  The two voices seemed to be arguing about a few things, and Kenta heard some references to "others" he interpreted to be himself and his companions.

- Kenta told the others about what he had overheard when he returned to the canopy area they'd linked into.  Believing the unknown people also in the Age might be after the book Kenta had taken from the man they'd seen when they first arrived, Kat decided to hide the book in her sleeping bag before they went to sleep.  She was awakened by creaking sounds outside sometime during the night.  She quietly roused the others, and the group of them were ready when a figure attempted to enter the hut they were sleeping in.  Kat shone her flashlight at the intruder, and the bright light temporarily blinded everyone.  The figure gasped and ran - with Norm and Kenta chasing it in the dark.

- Down on the catwalk, as Kenta and Norm began to catch her, the woman who'd intruded on their hut spun around and began frantically shouting at Kenta to stop his pursuit and leave.  As Norm caught up to the two, he found Kenta standing about 35 feet from a dark shadow, only slighly illuminated by a red tactical light, and caught the steel glint of a revolver pointed at them...

- Identifying the buzzing sound as a swarm of approaching insects, the group hurried back into the canopy and took shelter in one of the larger hut structures.  From there, they were able to see the thousands of 6" insects swarm over the area, eating the edges from the tree leaves while the large blue birds preyed upon a few of their number.

- Once the swarm moved on, the group emerged and discussed what their plan should be now that the initial distractions were fading.  The group set about learning what they could from what they could find: Norman decided to dig through the D'ni documents looking for any mentioning of known threats to include in his report.  Kathleen decided she would look through what written records she could find in search of the purpose of this Age and what the D'ni were doing here.  Kenta set aboutt exploring the surrounding area, trying to get some sense or scope of the complex.  Reis began conducting some experiments in an effort to learn something about the massive trees populating the Age's jungle.

- For his efforts, Norm was able to find references to the "Vorr Cats" - a large and hyper-aggressive predatory species inhabiting the jungle floor that seemed to be the primary reason for the canopy dwellings as well as the bunker-like nature of the ground structure(s).  The swarming insects - called Dravax - were not regarded as a particular threat, though they were capable of biting.  Sitings of a massive bird that flies above the canopy were concerning, but no direct interaction was recorded.  Interestingly, Norm found some records indicating that the fruit of the trees was toxic to the D'ni as well.

- Kat was able to discover that the Age of Er'cana, like its sister ages Er'duna and Er'jerah, was constructed as a food-production Age.  Unlike those ages, however, the complex the operation here is much smaller (compatively) and specifically dedicated to the production of high-nutrition/calorie pill-like pellets that could sustain a D'ni individual and requiring very little space or weight.  The pellets were being made from the fruit of the gigantic "Talithus" trees, as well as some other components including a tree-top fern and the carapace of some subterrenean grubs.

- Reis discovered a few interesting properties of the trees relating to their gel-like interior, as well as their interesting relationship with a certain kind of luminous vine that grew upon them.

- Kenta found that the nearby huts showed evidence of having been searched by someone else fairly recently, but did not bear any further evidence of habitation.  The following day, he descended to the long catwalks and decided first to follow them eastward.  He discovered some additional bunker-like ground structures - these were smaller and round in shape - as well as some additional canopy huts.  One of the huts was located in a tight grove of trees accessed by its own spoke off the catwalk.  As Kenta approached to get a closer look, he noticed light coming from one of the structure's windows...

- The group descended into the metal structure to investigate, seeking a way out into the jungle - or to possibly determine whether that was adviseable, as the spikes on the surrounding walls have them reason to think maybe there was something...bad...out there.

- On the top floor they found some offices, bunk rooms, and equipment/gear storage.  Some written records suggested production and/or mining facilities were housed within the structure, and spoke in general terms about the state of the ongoing project.

- Below this level, they found a large production floor that contained machinery that was apparently used to produce small, pill-like pellets.  They found a few kegs of these pellets in one corner - one of them had been torn open and its contents spilled across the floor.  Strangely, some of the pellets glowed with a faint orange light.  On this floor they also found the locked door to a corner office and a pair of heavy, metal, double doors leading outside.  These doors were accompanied by bold warnings about venturing outside, citing dangerous fauna and possibly other, unknown perils.  Coming to the conclusion that no one else would likely be going after the linking book that had fallen into the jungle, they decided to make a note in their reports but to leave it for now.

- The corner office turned out to be secured by a D'ni puzzle-lock, and while Kat and Ries examined it, Norm and Kenta decided to look at what was below them in the 'basement' of the structure.  There, they found something of a strip-mining operation that seemed to be extracting electrically-charged crystals from underground - and heard something moving around in the darkness.

- Unable to solve the puzzle lock at the present time, the group decided to return to the canopy above and investigate further.  As they emerged from the metal building, they heard a buzzing sound approaching from the west...

- The group linked through to the age of Er'cana to begin the primary evaluation they agreed to and, as perviously mentioned, immediately saw a man with a large book flee the hut that contained the linking point.  Kenta gave chase across the catwalks and platforms suspended more than 100 feet above the jungle floor between massive bamboo-like trees.  He eventually caught the man as he ran toward the edge of the platform - causing him to drop the large book he was carrying.  The man hesitated only briefly before jumping off the platform and linking away, letting the linking book he'd use flutter into the darkness of the jungle floor far below.

- Kat examined the large book Kenta had "recovered" and found it to be a Descriptive book to an Age called Malves.  The viewing panel showed circular, glass and wood buildings lining a shallow river canyon.  She told them she would need to spend some time studying the writing in the book to learn anything more about it, but it was definitely a major find.

- After a brief discussion about what had just happened, Norm decided that the presense of others in the Age represented a potential security risk and that they needed to know where the man had gone, so they decided to descend to the jungle floor to attempt to find the man's linking book.

- The group found a stairway leading down to the roof of a very solid metal building rising up out of the enormous fern-like plants covering the jungle floor.  They noted that the edges of the roof were lined with metal spikes protruding down and outward as though to keep someone or something from climbing up onto it.  They located a sturdy metal hatchway among the debris on the flat roof and opened it, seeing a staircase leading into the absolute darkness below...

- After being told about the new Age by Stephen, Norman had made his way to the office of Thomas Acklesen, a co-guildmaster of the Guild of Cartographers with whom he was on generally good terms.  After some negotiation and agreeing to perform some Primary Evaluation tasks in the Age for the Guild, Thomas agreed to let Norman and his team in a little ahead of schedule.

- From there, Norman gathered his friends to discuss the oppotunity, and then made his way to where lead explorer Loren Granville lived.  She was isolating herself as a precautionary measure, having just returned from an undocumented Age.  She gave Norman her field notes and told him she had a somewhat uneasy feeling about the place.  She also told him she doubted whether the "giants" he was searching lived there.

- Meanwhile, Kenta went looking for an acquaintance in the libraries of the Guild of Scientists.  He had previously "assisted" Reis Lennox with some sample-gathering on the shores of the cavern lake.  It took some convincing, but she agreed to accompany the group if they'd be willing to pay her a small amount for her time.

- As they gathered to make the Link to Er'cana the following morning, Thomas and Kenta learned that there had been an attempted break-in at the Guild of Cartographers' area of Tokotah I.  Kathleen, however, was greeted outsider her front door by a ghostly-white figure of a man that seemed to speak mutely before disappearing...

We began tonight's session by "finishing" characters - assigning some skills, adding a few aspects, etc.  There are still some blank spots on the sheets, but in the interest of actually playing a little we decided to leave them for now.

Highlights:

- Norman was in a shared study area of the Guild of Cartographer's offices in Tokotah I.  He had been writting a dull report on a recent excursion to a further-afield area of the Age of Miristenn - which unfortunately hadn't produced anything exciting - when he was interrupted by Stephen Tviet, one of the Guild explorers.  Stephen knew something about his search for the "giants" some D'ni records had suggested may have existed somewhere in the Ages, and had heard Norman's "low gravity" theory that may have made their existence possible.  It was due to this specific detail that he was there, excitedly relaying some news to Norman about a new Linking Book the Guild of Archivists had just sent for survey.  Only an initial team had so far been sent through, but one of the things they noted about this new Age was its the low gravity - just over .4g.  Stephen had thought Norman might want to talk to one of the Guild leaders about getting "first crack" at examining the new Age.

- Norman assembled the others in his "team" and the 4 of them made their way to Tokotah I early the next morning where they met a Guild representative that gave them a linking book to "Q" (a quarantine location in Ae'gura), a couple of blank linking books should they be needed, and led them the linking book to the Age of Er'cana.

- They had only just linked through when they caught sight of a man dart out of the hut that was the linking point - with a large book under his left arm...

GM's Note:

It was getting late and I really wanted to leave this session with the group seeing the unexpected person with the book running away from the linking point, mostly in order to create interest and excitement as the game had barely started.  For this reason, I played with the timeline a bit.  At the beginning of next session, we're going to go back and fill in some details between Stephen's tip and actually linking to the Age including their discussion with the Guild leader Thomas Acklesen to determine the conditions of their access to the Age, to see if they're able to talk with Loren Granville about her field notes on the initial survey, and any preparations they want to make for the excursion.  In addition, they decided they were taking another individual with them, so we'll talk about who that is.  Then we'll jump back into the current situation and what they want to do from here...

For the first time in 1.5 years or so, a few of us got together to start a new in-person campaign.  After some talk, we decided we'd start with the Fate-based "Unwritten" - a game based on the cosmology and mythos of the Myst games that I've always loved.

Tonight we began work on characters and talked a bit about how they knew each other.

Characters:

- Kathleen Isen [Sheri] :: Artistic Linguist

- Kenta [Tony] :: Primitive Survivalist

- Norman Osborn [Tim] :: Tenacious Adventuring Historian

We also put together the beginnings of an Age Library to be featured in the campaign.

Player Ages:

- The Shattered Plains :: a fractured wasteland, written by Kathleen

- Callux :: a low-gravity, giant forest that Norman has heard rumors about

- "Jargono" :: the savage swampland Kenta accidentally left via linking book

I ran a few-shot for Sheri, Michael, Jese, Joe, and Myra over our summer vacation to SC this past week.  It took us 5 or 6 sessions, but we made it through the entire scenario (albiet without exploring every nook).

The premise was an explosion on a hillside near their town that revealed a prior-world structure. Their job was to evaluate any threats to their village it might contain.

Characters:

- Kai [Sheri] :: Graceful Nano who Rides the Lightning

- Jace [Michael] :: Clever Jack who Explores Dark Places

- Madge [Jese] :: Clumsy Glaive who Absorbs Energy

- Umi [Myra] :: Aggressive Jack who Figures Things Out

- Johan [Joe] :: Obsessive Glaive who Crafts Unique Objects

Highlights:

- The crew geared up and traveled south across the lake and overland to the place where a thin plume of yellow-gray smoke was still pouring out of the ground.  Upon arrival, they set up and activated the virtual mapper cypher they'd been given to get a feel for the layout of the structure - having to fend off a large pack of broken hounds while it procesed.  The cypher indicated a power source near the rear of the structure and some sort of control center at the far end. Kai was able to determine this structure was some sort of craft - probably one that traveled the Night.

- Once inside, they locatred the power source, which seemed to be unstable and possibly contaminated by cross-dimensional energies.  They also found Ceril, and merchant/trader from their village who had apparently come to find any treasures the ruin contained, but was instead corrupted by the dimensional leak.  Ceril fought with the until they were eventually subdued and removed from the ruin.

- While Johan and Umi were outside with Ceril, the others discussed the next course.  Feeling the power source's unstable state may result in a collapse/meldown/explosion, the group decided to make their way to the "control center" area to see if they could stabilize it from there.

- Johan and Umi missed the marks that had been left for them and ended up an an area strangely overgrown with purple, tendril-like grass and red, fleshy "trees".  It contained a malfunctioning portal of some kind, which was arcing energy from some nearby machinery.  Umi decided to go find the rest of the group, but Johan was obsessed with wanting to understand the machinery and stayed behind.

- Meanwhile, Madge, Kai, and Jace made their way through the mid-section of the craft, through a tunnel where water was pouring down from above.  By the time they arrived at the control area, Umi had caught up with them.  As they approached the final chamber, the door closed in front of them and they saw through the window a tall, slender being with numenera weaponry also examining it.

- Jace bypassed the lock and they moved inside.  Threatened by the biomechanical soldier inside, Madge moved into the room to assist her companions and tripped, falling down.  This startled and distracted the soldier, who accidentally connected its rifle with some loose conduits in the ceiling, sending a jolt of eletrcitiy through it and momentarily stunning it.

- Umi rushed in to grab the rifle as Jace made his way to one of the consoles.  Kai and Madge moved to support Umi, whom the creature immediately began attacking when it regained its senses.

- As the others held off the soldier, Jace had a brilliant insight on how to stabilize the reactor - unfortunately, in so doing, he accidentally cut power to the console as well, and the room with all of its interfaces went dark but for red emergency lighting.

- Meanwhile, Johan, having learned all he could from the portal area, had made his way back through the power core chamber just in time to see the pulsating reactor core suddenly shrink to a stable, standby state.

- The others slipped back through the door to the control center and Jace managed to reverse the security lock such that it was unable to get out.

- Believing they had neutralized the most immediate threats, the group made preparations to return to their village and make their report

[Journal of Midori-Ryuu Izumi, exerpt]

Prelude and Day 1

Trill, Myurin, and Rok finally set out on their first Journey, and I am excited to see what they do and what life they will breathe into the tale I am weaving. 

After some discussion at the Wanderer's Guild in Brunelle (the City of Stars), they decided they would first travel to the logging village of Timber in the forest at the foot of the Crescent Island mountains.  The Guide's Aid Albert has paid them to deliver a package to his great aunt Eloise Naan in the village of Three Stones (which is on their route) as well.

The first day of their travels was blessed with good weather and easy terrain on the road west along the Bull River, though they were confronted by a young Hungry Mole which they managed to drive off.  Camp was made in a small wood the road they're following winds through, and the first night passed quietly.

Postote: This group either has particular focus or lacks a typical degree of curiosity. In any event, the songbird may not be obvious enough as a guide to push them toward discovery...

- As the mink rose from the pond, the group attempted to hide with only partial success.  The creature bore down on them, demanding to know who they were and why they were there.  Clove was nearly captured, but in the end the three managed to make their escape.

- Retuning to the Blue Thistle Inn, they found Nendole already tending to the sick mouse, though she didn't seem terribly interested in the moss they'd gathered.  As she tried to leave, Hakett lost his temper and grabbed her, causing her to shriek until his patrol mates freed her.

- Having seen to Tom as much as they could, the patrol left Copperwood heading back to Elmoss.  They hoped to find some sign of Tom's wife Vereena, but none was found.

- When they arrived at Elmoss, they found that the settlement had been "closed" - and was no longer recognizing or allowing entry to Guardmice...

- The patrol headed north in search of the healer-mouse called Nendole.  As they approached the area in which her hut was rumored to reside, they encountered a number of crude, mouse-like totems hanging from the surrounding trees, and Hakett's superstition and believe in the mystical overwhelmed him - causing visual and auditory halucinations of fog and menacing crows.  The noise from his defiant cries attracted the attention of a nearby otter, whom Nipp just barely managed to convince that the armed guardmice would be more trouble than they're worth.

- Clove found the dead stump perched on the riverbank that contained the recluse's hut.  They eventually convinced the eccentric mouse to speak with them, and even got her to begrudgingly agree to help.  She sent them a bit further north to a pond to gather the necessary "springfire moss" - an plant which Nipp had never heard of.

- Locating the pond in a basin near the river, Nipp and Hakett went down to the water's edge to gather the very normal-looking moss, while Clove kept watch from the hilltop.  It wasn't long before she saw the forms of a small band of ferrets making their way through the forest directly toward their location.  More worrying, however, was the large mink now rising out of the water in front of Nipp and Hakett...

- The Patrol entered the settlement of Copperwood and made their way to the Blue Thistle Inn.  Tom's condition had continued to deteriorate, and a faint with a nasty fall rendered him all but unconscious.  Nipp attempted to help the local doctor - a young mouse called Riley - with his care, and had the physician tend to her own wounded leg as well.  Unfortunately, Tom's wife hadn't made it to the inn, much distressing the innkeeper - her brother Bander.

- Meanwhile, Clove and Hacket met with Orpha, a captain for Copperwoods army, and discovered the largest problems currently facing the settlement were the driftwood that had dislodged from a beaver dam upstream and made the harbor and docks all but unusable, and the fact that a large and irritable snapping turtle had taken up residence a little ways downstream.

- While having dinner that evening at the Grainbarrel Tavern, they patrol met up with part of another patrol led by a mouse called Marta.  She was interested to hear about the group's encounter with the ferrets and had Nipp place the location on their map as best she could.  They had come down on Gwendolyn's request to speak with the leaders of the Copperwood army about their current strength and readiness, which they were so far evaluating as mediocre - but the efforts to clear the docks had taken most of their energies.

- The next morning, Riley was waiting for Nipp.  Tom's condition had taken a bad turn in the night and his fever began to spike again.  Riley's efforts were proving ineffective, and Nipp couldn't think of anything else to try herself.  It was then that Elsie, the inn's chambermaid, hesitantly suggested that....maybe they could seek out a mouse called Nendole.  A witch that lived in the forest north of town...

- The massive owl loomed out of the shadows, landing on the ground before them.  It told them it was the hare it was after, and that the mice were free to leave.  Rather than attempt to fight the enormous predator, Nipp tried instead to convince it that the hare had been poisoned by nearby ferrets and that eating it would in turn poison the owl.  The owl seemed disinclined to believe the mouse, but as Nipp continued her insistence, it eventually became unwilling to take the chance.

- Unfortunately, Nipp convinced the owl not to eat the hare before she could direct its attention to the ferrets she knew were nearby, and the owl instead turned on the mice.  Swooping down upon them, it grabbed both Nipp and Clove and began flying off with them.

- With some effort, Clove managed to free herself from its talon, but held on and made a heroic effort to free Nipp as well.  Before she was able to, however, her grip finally failed and she fell back to the forest floor.  Meanwhile, Nipp was able to identify a weak point in the bird's talon, and biting hard into it got the owl to drop her as well.

- Hakett, Tom and the hare began to make their way in the direction the owl had flown and, much to their surprise happened upon Clove and Nipp.  At that moment, however, two of the ferrets from the burrow had caught up with them and were just about to leap onto the group when the owl suddenly swooped down on them from the darkness.

- As the predators struggled with each other, the group made their esape.

- Tom thanked the Guardmice for their aid and asked if they could take him to Copperwood where he hoped his wife was waiting for him.  After 10 days of cautious travel, they arrived...

- Outside, the three had a brief discussion on what to do about the situation.  Hearing something moving clumsily in the wood some distance away, Hakett decided to go investigate while Nipp & Clove decided to sneak in and attempt to free the captured mouse while the ferrets slept.

- Hakett happened upon a hare that had been injured by a ferret's spear.  Unable to help the animal himself, he decided to return with Nipp.  Meanwhile, Nipp and Clove discovered the door to the cell with the mouse was locked and neither were able to pick it open - fortunately, Hakett arrived and told them he thought he could get it open.

- While Haket climbed up and attempted to open the door's lock, Nipp used some oily supplies from her medicine bag to keep the hingest from squeaking.

- After freeing the mouse, they slipped out just as the ferrets began to wake.

- Hakett led them to the injured hare, but just as Nipp began to examine the animal, Hakett spotted a great owl leaving its perch...

- Iris & Ivy spoke to Jass for some time about his crystal, his version of the Elam Nethley tale, and his plans to get to the dwarven city of Unver Gaul to continue his search for the Heart of Shadow - as well as some discussion as to what they might do next themselves.  When they said that the Nethley they had been pursuing was supposedly searching for a lost temple, he told them he had heard of a site called the Skytemple Ruins from one of the hunters.

- The shopkeeper Delna came to ask them if they could retrieve some special ferm leaves from the Blackwood Forest for her, as her normal supplier hadn't been to Laduun in some time.

- A couple of days later, Jass came to their inn at breakfast saying that he'd managed to get permission to enter the gate to Unver Gaul and asked if they wanted to accompany him.  They had decided, howver, to pursue the lead at the Skytemple ruins and so parted ways.  They agreed to leave word at the Cliffside Inn should they discover anything new regarding Elam Nethley.

- Iris & Ivy left Laduun an headed east along the cliffside to the place where a path wound through a massive cleft in the cliff.  A few miles into the journey as they made their way through another narrow canyon, they were confronted by a winged, lion-like creature demanding all of their treasure...

- The patrol headed northeast from Elmoss back to the Tomstead with the intention of pursuing the ferrets they believed had been present and at least partially responsible for its destruction.

- Locating an old trail, they followed it for the better part of a day almost due south until they came to the entrance to an old ground hog burrow.  They watched it for some time, seeing one ferret return.  Later that night, they sneaked in and found a crack in the burrow wall leading into what must be a portion of the Darkheater - with a few ferrets inside.  Listening to their conversations, they came to believe that the ferrets had captured and were holding one of the mice...

- Kole ran back to the shop to get Clove as Nip and Hakett engaged the spider and attempted to clear a path between it and the settlement's gate - eventually getting it open and letting the creature out.  After ensuring that a couple of mice who had been bitten had received treatment, Nip returned to the shop to keep an eye on things there, while Kole, Clove, and Hakett went on to find the shopkeepers brother for questioning.

- The found Vessmer, a blacksmith of sorts, in a temporary shop outside his house on the north road. He was friendly enough until he caught sight of Kole and flew into an indignant rage, accusing the latter mouse of cheating in a previous card game.  Clove and Hakett were able to subdue and calm the mouse enough to get some information out of him.  He didn't like Kole but, while he may not have been a master craftsman, he thought his work seemed adequate.

- Upon returning to the shop, the resumed their discussion with Baddisk about Kole's pay.  The shopkeeper tiredly proposed paying Kole half of what he had previously agreed.  Kole wasn't especially pleased with the situation, but decided he was unlikely to get any more and agreed.  Nip wrote copies of the document which each of them signed.

- Having settled the last of their commitments in Elmoss, the group set off for the Tomstead - hoping some trace of where the ferrets had gone remained...

- As Iris & Ivy fought the shadowy creatures descending from the cliff, they were joined by some of the town watch and the man Ivy had spoken to earlier in the day - and found that he also had a crystalline warrior that would appear to aid him in combat.  Once the last of the creatures were destroyed, the two crystal warriors shook hands and vanished.

- The man with the glowing gem - a tall warrior dressed in hides and carrying a large sword - abruptly got up and left the tavern.  Ivy pulled Iris outside and the two spotted him heading down a nearby alleyway, where he seemed to be looking quizzically at the amulet he was wearing.

- As he made his way back through the alleyway, they attempted to tail him with mixed results.  Splitting up, Ivy ended up confronted by the man who seemed somewhat suspicious and confused.  After some explanation, he seemed willing to talk to her. 

- He was currently working in the mine as a guard, but had originally come to the city hoping to travel to Unver Gaul.  He was looking for something called the Heart of Shadow that had belonged to a sorceror called Elam Nethley - apparently, there was a prophecy in his home village in a neighboring kingdom that that artifact would soon cause widespread districution in the area.  He had also been given a gem by a man that mysteriously appeared in his camp one night.  He agreed to meet them later to talk more.

- After meeting back up, Iris & Ivy decided to look into an advertisement they had seen about a shop called "Delna's Enchantments".  The proprietor of the establishment clearly had some measure of elven blood herself, and seemed quite eager to serve them - giving them a significant discount on her services.  She was able to help them indentify the properties of some magical items they had recovered from the hilltop ruin on the plain to the north.

- Ostra's tavern was every bit as crowded around the time of the evening meal, and dinner took them longer than expected.  By the time they were headed to the Cliffside Inn to meet with the man called Jass they'd spoken to earlier.  As they approached, Ivy noticed some shadows moving down onto the buildings from the cliffs - just as Iris looked up to see a long, tentacle-like claw reaching out for her...

- The hunting party escorted Iris & Ivy back to the Laduun Inn in the city, where they spent the remainder of the day resting.

- The following day, they spent some time getting a feel for the city and to gather some information.  It was a large, walled community tucked into the foothills at the base of a massive cliff where mines bored into the mountainside. 

- They learned that the gate leading to the tunnel road to the dwarven city Unver Gaul had been closed due to monster activity, and that one of the mines was similarly affected, causing some unrest: miners were striking and counter-striking around the issues of creatures in the Ironhold mine.  They even found a posting requesting guards to help defend those working in the mine from unknown creatures.

- The two also spoke to a local elven scholar called Elivius Thorrel who told them he had also heard the story of Elam Nethley, though the version he told was somewhat different from the legend they knew.

- As they attempted to make their way to a prominent tavern for lunch, a swarm of black bee-like creatures began pouring into the city, seemingly coming from the cliffs.

- After fighting off the blackbees, they continued to Ostra's Tavern, where Ivy caught site of a glowing gem around one patron's neck which seemed to echo a blue glow now coming from Iris' backpack...

- The leader of the goblins stepped forward, seemingly surprised to see them emerge.  He asked in broken common whether they'd killed the ogre and what they wanted.  Ivy managed to convince him that the ogre was dead and that they could have their lair back and they slipped away before the other goblins turned violent.

- On the road southeast to the city of Laduun, they were caught-up-with by the blue creature who attempted to communicate with them, but had a great deal of trouble doing so.  It seemed to want them to help it get home, though it couldn't articulate where its home was.  In the end, it simply accompanied them on their journey.

- As they entered the foothills near the cliffside and the city, the group was attacked by a number of diseased wild boars.  The fight started to turn ugly when a group of hunters from the city arrived - just after Ivy was incapacitated by one of the creatures...

- Iris & Ivy descended into the ruin of the tower and the caverns beneath it - encountering a carrion crawler and the ghost of a goblin warrior tied to a magic sword.  The ghost wasn't happy to see they were elves, but told them they could keep her sword if they killed the ogre who dwelled in the caverns.

- The two ended up finding and destroying the ogre, who turned out to be a servant of Erythnul, in some kind of old throne room.  There they also found a chest full of treasure.

- As they emerged from the ruin, they found a group of goblins waiting for them...

- Iris & Ivy spent the next couple of days in Helok's Ford awaiting to give their testimony in the trial of the theives they'd caught. During this time, they did look at some local records in the local temple.  They didn't find anything relating specifically to Elam Nethley, but they did find some odd discrepancies in the records around the same time.

- The two gave their testimony at the trial and remained to see what would happen.  The two theives were given a lenient sentence of hard labor.  As came to light during the trial, there were some local tensions between some of the fishermen - which the theives cited as the reason for their actions.  Some of the local authorities are looking to resolve those issue.

- The following day, Iris & Ivy left Helok's Ford heading east and south toward Laduun, planning to head to the dwarven city of Unver Gaul from there.  As they traveled across the plain, they caught site of an old ruin on a small hilltop.

- As they made their way to the site to investigate, they were attacked by a few goblins looking for food.  After fighting them off and continuing to the site, they found a collapsed tower - the basement of which was littered with various bones and pools of foul-smelling goo...

- Nipp attempted to push her hot-tempered tenderpaw out of the common room at Solomon's Inn, but Clove was both stronger and more agile than her mentor.  The drunk mouse Dranden engaged in something of a shouting match with the young mouse about the flaws of the guard wherein it came to light that he held them responsible for the death of his daughter.  As Dranden ran out of energy and Solomon intervened to convince him to go home, the situation dissolved - but there seemed to be a significant number present who shared his thoughts.

- The following morning, the local mouse Kole arrived to take the Guardmice to the shop where he'd done his work and not been paid.  They examined the worksite and spoke with the shopkeeper who told them he had to get his brother Vessmer in to "fix" Kole's poor work.  As they made their way to Vessmer's house to ask him some question, they found that a large wolf spider had emerged in the center of town where preparations for Vernalstar were taking place...

- Hakett, already somewhat tipsy, returned to Solomon's Inn on the east road in Elmoss.  There he amused himself telling tall tales of giant weasels to one of the younger waitstaff, and was asked by a local mouse called Kole if he could help get his pay from a withholding shopkeeper.  Hakett agreed, but the errand would have to wait for the following morning.

- Nip and Clove made their to the upper tree area of the settlement and spoke with members of the Guild of Moss about purchasing a few rolls for the Lockhaven apothecary.  Elmoss' own supply was low so the price was somewhat inflated and in order to purchase most of what they needed, they also agreed to carry additional moss to Sprucetuck.

- Nip and Clove then met back up with Hakett at Solomon's for dinner, where a drunk mouse was beginning to cause trouble for them...

- Ivy and Iris spoke with Typhel at the Hall of Light, and managed to get some healing for Ivy.  From there, they made their way to the encampment they had found outside of town.  As they approached, they heard the voice of a man shouting at someone.  Sneaking closer, they saw the other suspect yelling at the blue creature.

- The two were spotted, and a chaotic battle ensued between them and the blue creature, the man, and one of the guards from town who had apparently also been nearby.

- They eventually drove the blue creature off and captured the man, and are currently heading back to town with the guardsman.

- The patrol did their best to fight off the squirrels who'd set upon the caravan's grain, only losing one back in the process.  They managed also to avoid the attentions of a kestrel.

- The group continued safely to Elmoss, where the city guards seemed less than happy to see them.  Hakett returned to a favorite pub called the Pillbug to do some thinking and take the edge off the journey's trials while Nipp and Clove delievered the mail, secured lodgings, and discovered where to acquire the moss Konrad had sent them for.

- Iris & Ivy took their captive back to town and turned him over to the local militia.  Later they took the captain and a few others to the camp they'd found and recovered the rest of the stolen valuables, though they hadn't been able to find the other suspect - a man called Dav.  The captain asked them to stay in town for a few days as they would need to speak to the magistrate regarding the incident.

- The pair then went over to the docks to find a man called Haelmare, whom they'd been told may have been around when Elam Nethley came through around 50 years ago.  He agreed to meet with them that evening at the tavern and told them about his encounter with the man.  His description of Nethley wasn't at all what they'd expected.

- Iris decided they should try to catch the other thief, but Ivy was fairly worn down from their previous encounters.  They decided to stop by the local temple before returning to the camp to see if Dav returned...

- The winged blue creature who had taken Iris' sword snapped its fingers summoning a few tiny air elementals and leapt out the window.  While Ivy chased after it, Iris ran out of the room and outside.  Unsure of the best course of action, she decide to find one of the town guards who took her to speak with their leader.  The guards listened to her account, but were unconvinced that the creature was the theif they had been looking for.

- Ivy, meanwhile, had followed the creature just close enough to catch site of it diving into a wooded area on the riverside about half a mile north of town.

- The two met back up at the inn and finished resting.  Early in the morning they made their way to the place Ivy had seen where they found a small camp with a sleeping man, a pair of bedrolls, and Iris' sword leaning against some heavy-looking packs.

-  As they made their way to the packs and grabbed Iris' sword, the man awoke and the blue creature came flying into the camp shrieking frantically.  The man attempted to frighten them off while the creature swooped in swinging at Iris with its claws.

- The pair fought off the man, eventually severely injuring him while the blue creature became more distressed.  Its howling seemed to summon winds from off the river which coalesced into a massive air elemental.

- Iris grabbed one of the packs while Ivy picked up the injured man and then they quickly exited the area, taking their captive back to town...

- Ivy & Iris helped the travelers right their cart and collect their horses and then continued to the river town of Helok's Ford.  When they arrived, they were questioned by a couple of guardsmen about who they were, what their plans were, and how long they'd been in the area.  Apparently there had been a recent rash of break-ins and thefts and the leadership suspected a transient or new-comer.

- Looking for an old fisherman called Haelmare who might have been around when Elam Nethley entered the area, the two went to a tavern he was said to frequent: a dockside dive called the Backwater.  They didn't find him, but they did speak with a half-elven server who told them another man had asked about Elam Nethley nearly a year ago.

- The two decided they would try to find Haelmare at the docks in the morning, and went to get some rest at the Stonebridge Inn.  As they rested, Ivy became aware of something moving in the room - when she roused herself, she saw a strange, whispy blue figure perched at the window as if about to leap out - holding the scimitar their grandmother had given Iris...

- The patrol kept an ear out for the sound of whatever was approaching, but decided not to venture out to investigate.  Whatever it was seemed to pass them by.

- The following day brought the storm Hakett had predicted, and the group holed up and waited it out.  The only incident occurred when a box turtle began making its way toward their shelter.  Nip was able to establish some very rudamentary communication with it and convinced it to look elsewhere.

- The following day, the caravan once again headed out toward Elmoss.  They decided to stop at a local wilderness homestead for wheel repairs, but found that it had been smashed and burned out.  Their investigation turned up skunk tracks and ferret fur.  The patrol discussed splitting up to go after the ferrets, but eventually decided their first duty was to the caravan.  After the wheel was repaired, they set out again for Elmoss.

- The following day as they travelled down the road, Nip noticed they were being tailed by a grey squirrel whom she though might be after the grain in their carts.  As she was relaying this information to Hakett, another squirrel burst onto the path from the right, smashing into one of the carts and tipping it over...

- Headed back to the village of Bolgrove.  Camped on the way.  During the night, a man calling himself Eli appeared to Iris, asked her questions about their quest, and gave her a purple crystal.

- Upon returning to Bolgrove, stopped at the tavern and the home of the druid Saffa.  Were not able to find any info on the "heart of shadow" or the other man who seemed to be looking for Elam Nethley, but the druid told them that the "dwellers of the deepest darkness" might allude to the dwarves of the Galloth Mountains.  There is a gate to an underground passage to the dwarven city of Unver Gual from the mining town of Laduun.

- The following day, they set out for the kingdom toward Helok's Ford to cross the river and then continue south to Laduun, as this was their best lead.  On the road, they met with a caravan being attacked by giant insects - and they ran in to assist.

- After yelling to the others about the approaching snake, Clove leapt onto the creature's back.  Hacket and Nip arrived shortly to help, and the three managed to kill the serpent before it could swallow Clove.

- The crew finished work on the bridge the next day and continued on toward Elmoss.  As they went, Hacket noticed the change in the wind and told the group they would need to hole up somewhere because the next day was sure to bring a violent thunderstorm.

- The patrol was unable to find an ideal shelter, but they did find something passable a little ways from the road.  It took some doing, but the group managed to reach relative safety before nightfall.

- Unfortunately, they efforts to get the carts of grain into the shelter had resulted in a broken wheel.  The caravan leader Jayma told them about a homestead a bit further up the road.  If they could rig a usable wheel to get them that far, the carpenter that lived there could probably give them a more permanent solution.

- As the group was winding down for the night, they heard something moving out in the forest - some distance away, but getting closer...

- The sisters continued on toward the Sunken Shrine.  The found a broad, submerged avenue lined with broken columns leading up to an overgrown and crumbling stone structure.  They noticed a couple of humanoid skeletons partially-submerged as well.  While Ivy was examining one of them and Iris was looking over the statue, the two were attacked by and aggressive pack of rats and one giant dire rat.

- After fighting off the rats with Aelrah's (Iris's wolf companion) help, the two entered the building.  While attempting to dismantle the barrier between the antechamber and the main hall, they heard a creaking overhead and scraping sounds outside.  Outside, they found the skeletons had animated and were coming to attack them.

- Ivy's quarterstaff made short work of the skeletons and they returned to the structure.  After gaining access to the main chamber, they discovered a naga - an enormous snake with a reptilian woman's head.  She told them that Nethley wasn't there, but that another had come looking for him.  He had mentioned something about a "heart of shadow" and the naga had told him to seek out those that "dwell in the deepest darkness".  After some conversation that nearly turned violent, the naga succeeded in convincing the two to leave its lair.

- Level up to 2

Hannah has played No Thank You Evil and enjoyed it, but we may have reached a point where it's simplicity and whimsy aren't quite as enticing as they used to be.  Not that she doesn't like kid things, but she's 9 now and has been into Harry Potter, Avatar, and some fantasy books that aren't quite as "for small children".

Trying to think of some more creative things to do during this pandemic thing, when we asked if she would be interested in playing D&D, she was adorably excited.  Because I'm me, I spent way too long conceiving of a setting (and WAY too long drawing a map for it).  We ordered her some dice of her own, and this last weekend spent an evening and an afternoon rolling up characters and starting an adventure.

System: D&D 3.5

Setting: The Kingdom of Elionde

Players: Sheri, Hannah

Schedule: Weekly?

Characters:

- Iris [Hannah] :: Elven Druid

- Ivy [Sheri] :: Elven Monk

Session Highlights:

Twin sisters Iris and Ivy had happened upon the mostly-forgotten mystery of a famous druid from their country called Elam Nethley.  Nethley possessed a potent magical talisman said to have been blessed and empowered by the angel Saphrielle.  Around 50 years ago, he had traveled north in search of a lost temple and never returned.  Magical attempts to contact him or discern his fate failed, but a divination suggested that if any were searching for him, they should travel to the Kingdom of Elionde.

Iris and Ivy had been travelling along the west road through the White Ridge Forest for more than a week when they arrived at the tiny logging village of Bolgrove.  Stopping at the tavern for food and lodging, they learned from a local hunter about the existence of a ruin the locals called the "sunken shrine" in the swamp to the southeast.

The next morning they headed toward the shrine, having decided to investigate it for clues.  Just as the knight statue they'd been told about came into view, they were attacked by a large and unusually-aggressive constrictor snake.

- The patrol spent a few of days at the Sunflower Inn and providing lookouts and support for the spring foragers around Ivydale, encountering a belligerent groundhog and some gathering crows.

- After a few days the grain shipment to Elmoss was ready to depart and the group began its escort to their next stop.  On the second day, they came upon a washed-out bridge that would have to be repaired before they could continue.  While out cutting small saplings for support structures, Clove spotted a water snake closing on the mice's position...

- After speaking to a few mice in town, the patrol set off into the foraging grounds to find the errant mice - two children, Kenley and Todd, belonging to a mouse called Bellatine.

- After talking with a few mice and following tracks some distance along the river away from the grounds where the other foragers had been, they determined that one of the mice must have fallen into the water and been washed downstream.

- The group found them camped under a rock overhang just as a young raccoon was closing in.  Hakett managed to get the beasts attention and led it on a chase away from the others while Nip & Clove prepared to move the freezing children to a new location where they could make a larger fire - this was complicated by the fact that the older mouse, Kenley, appeared to have sustained a concussion and they were not able to rouse her to consciousness.

- The following morning, the mice returned to Ivydale and delivered the unconscious mouse to the local healer.  They touched base again with constable Tanner, the mayormouse Melta, and Ranleff, the quartermaster in charge of the grainstores. 

- The most pressing needs in Ivydale were to get the wall repaired where it had been smashed by a fallen branch, to make sure the mice foraging in the field were safe - especially after some tracks were found - and to escort the first spring shipment of grain from their winter store down to Elmoss.

Having been unable to run my normal, in-person games for some time, and with things looking more and more like it'll be a while before I can, it seemed like it might be time to start a remote-play game.  Since Taylor & Dave had been begging me for some time to run some kind of Mouse Guard game, it sounded like a good choice.

System: Fate Core

Setting: The Mouse Territories

Players: Sheri, Taylor, Dave

Schedule: Remote play, TBD

Characters:

- Hakett [Dave] :: Crabby Patrol Leader

- Nip [Sheri] :: Field Scholar Guardmouse

- Clove [Taylor] :: Battle-ready Tenderpaw

Session Highlights:

Hakett received a mission from the matriarch a bit earlier in the season than is usual.  He and his patrol were to make their way southwest to the fallen settlement of Walnutpeck to look for evidence of new weasel activity.  They'd still need to perform the other expected Guard tasks for this time of year, however, and on their way to the first stop at Ivydale encountered a section of the road that had been completely washed out.  Deciding not to perform the 'quick fix' through the brambles atop the hill, they backtracked to the neighboring valley and cut a new path south.  While doing this, they encountered a wandering badger, which they managed to avoid - but its presence so close to Lockhaven and Ivydale was concerning.  Upon reaching the settlement the next day, the guardmice discovered a pair of young mice from the settlement had gone missing...
 

Session Characters:

- Hannah: Wizard ("Star")

- Micah: Robot

- Sheri: Spy

Highlights:

- Upon emerging from Marlin's Tower, they saw a bright red boad approaching the dock - empty apart from the pelican they'd seen earlier perched on it.  Star and Sheri got into the boat, while Micah jumped into the water and walked to shore on the seabed.

- The group proceeded through the forest of Into the Closet until they reached the Braggy Crags.  About halfway through, they started to hear cries for help above the boastful voices of the crags.  They found an alien creature being captured by a trio of Sawtooth Witches and Buglar guards.  After a bit of sneaking and pummeling of the guards, the group freed the alien Gronk, for which he thanked them.

- The group finally reached The Hive sometime later, and talked/threatened their way inside to see Woodlyn, the bee queen.  Woodlyn directed them to their "bibliograbee" Mystaa, who was head of their library.  Mystaa wasn't very cooperative, but they eventually convinced her to let them borrow the Leafsicon if they could acquire the Kitchen Witch's copy of 'Ally Alchemist's Cookbook'...

System: No Thank You Evil

Setting: Storia: The Land Next Door

Players: Sheri, Hannah, Micah

Schedule: Occasional weekend afternoons

Since Hannah has been talking about wanting to play again lately, I decided to start a No Thank You Evil campaign for the whole family.  Micah's only 4, but he did pretty well his first time - and everyone had a lot of fun.  The way I run NTYE has morphed a bit over time.  Overall the system and setting are fantastic, but I've started stripping out things here and there that I think adds a bit of "clutter" - at least for our us.

Session Characters:

- Hannah: a Pirate named Crystal

- Micah: a Pirate

- Sheri: a Wizard

Hightlights:

The group appeared on a rocky beach near a sunken tower.  They heard a voice from the tower beckoning them inside.  Down the beach they found a rowboat to reach the tower, but had to fight off some giant, crab-shaped Animal Crackers to get it.  They were also chased by a Crackin' on their way to the tower, but managed to get to the dock before it destroyed their boat. 

- Inside, they met Marlin - the fish wizard.  He told them he needed their help to find a magical artifact called the Wand of the Deep.  It was somewhere in Storia, but he hadn't been able to find out where.  He asked them to go to the forest of Big Blue where all of Storia's history is written, to see if they could find its last known location.

- Unfortunately, everything written in Big Blue is in the Language of Leaves.  Before they could read anything in Big Blue, they would need a Leafsicon to translate.  Marlin didn't have one, but thought queen Woodlyn might - so he suggested they start there.  He also said he had some things in a chest upstairs they could have before they left.

- The Foxes met up with Boros and the rooks who'd been waiting nearby; they joined the group while Drave went to investigate the reports they'd gotten about their hideout in the Coalridge mine.  As they entered Doan's to get rid of the bouncers, they immediately found themselves under attack.  Thane and Asp were able to recover from the ambush and chose to engage their attackers with demands.  While Boros restrained one of them, Asp demanded that the other take his friend and leave - that this was their place now.  Clearly outnumbered  and off-balance, the two bouncers retreated without a fight.

- The Black Foxes are growing in strength and reputation, and are close to ending this war with the Stone Club.  Time is running out on some of their obligations, however, and Drave has now discovered that their hideout is currently unusably haunted by the Ghost of Lord Weirin...

- Taryn once again found himself in his recurring dream of a card game between himself, his patron Olidammara, and an entity he is sure was a representation of death.  As the game progressed, Taryn began to fair better, ultimately playing cards that ended the game in flames.  All that remained was a single, glowing crystal.  As he tossed Taryn the crystal, Olidamarra once again told him that he had, in fact, done all he could for him - but his tone this time was more bemused than grave.

- The group met downstairs for breakfast and discussed how to proceed.  They talked with a halfling called Landon a bit about some oddities of the local plant and animal life, and asked Baillin where they might be able to find the elders.  The group made their way to the elders' house among the reeds on the western edge of town.  As they approached, they saw a pair of figures standing just outside the building: one was a black haired elf, and the other was a young girl in a tattered dress - a girl whom Lily amazingly recognized as a cousin who only would have been 3 or 4 when their family's caravan had been attacked by slavers almost 12 years ago...

- The group headed to the Night Drive club in the Neon Green to find Victor Malstrick, trying to get more info on the corporate string-pulling that seemed to be going on and to figure out how he fit into all of it.  After talking their way inside, they managed to find him through a woman called Lilith.  Victor told them he would tell them where they could find Balthazar - one of the former Aethercorp execs - in exchange for doing a job for him (and in addition to the 500k payoff), and they agreed.  They would need to plant an object and some data inside the HQ of a corp called Corvin-Systova.

- The next day, they met with the DCPD, who'd contacted them again via their ghost card.  The man who met them told them he was there on behalf of Sgt Kyotu (whom they knew).  The job he was sending them on was a bounty - they were after a man called Alexandre Makarta, a mid-level Proto-Nine executive.  They were offering 200k.

- V was contacted again by Rory, who gave him a datadrive from the Proto-Nine messaging system that might contain recoverable messages between high-level P9 execs.  He also told V that P9 was raided and that it's collapse was imminent.  He tried to extract the deleted data, but found with the tools he had available, it was going to take a significant amount of time.

- After meeting with Victor again to pickup up the package, the group made their way toward the Corvin-Systova HQ.  Just as they were putting their plan of infiltration into action, Sara received a mental contact from the girl she believed was behind the psychic shrieking she had experienced - this time, however, the contact seemed delibrate and contained some context clue as to her location...

- +3xp

- The crew's efforts to sway Merson away from his association with their rivals continued to grow shakey as the evening continued.  Having set up the groundwork as being a local doctor with connections, Thane made a desperate bid push Merson to agree to a future meeting at his office.  The aggressive "invitation" fell flat, however - though it attracted some attention from the Bluecoat, Cork, who was also at the table.

- As Thane was leaving the table, the ghost of a well-dressed gentleman appeared at the table and sat down.  Drave used his Attuning abilities to interact with the spectre, and learned that it wanted to join the game.  Seeing an opportunity in the fact that no one else could hear anything the Ghost was actually saying, Drave leaned into Merson and suggested that the Ghost was there for them - and that he could protect them from it in exchange for some measure of Merson's loyalty.  Merson agreed, but they Foxes would need to rid of the Stone Club's "bouncers" at Doan's bar first...

- Meanwhile, outside, the Stone Clubs gang had made a show of force against the Foxes by way of cornering Thane.  He was able to stand his ground, however, and a nearby Bluecoat presence might have played a role in the leader's decision to simply re-state his threat instead of escalating the encounter.

- The group discussed for some time exactly what to do next, even using a Divination spell to try to determine the best way forward.  They ultimately decided they would use their lyre to repair the city's fractured wall, and then head southeast to the fishing village of Tonler looking for info on the Osada Forest and the secluded elven settlement said to be there.

- Despite evidence of orc raiding on their way down, they found the village of Tonler still mostly at peace.  Guards did keep watch on the palisades for orc activity, but they hadn't experienced any direct attacks - though they do suspect an overdue caravan may have fallen victim to them.

- Most of the few that they talked to in the village seemed wary of the forest to the south, and were generally less-than-eager to talk about it.  The one elf they encountered told them of the locals' superstition and that he had spent some time in the forest and did find it a little..."off".  While he didn't have much specific information on the elven settlement, he did mention that, despite their denials, the two elders of the town were commonly rumored to be from it.

- As the assault continued, Mjolnir destroyed the remaining turret and breached the perimeter wall in two places.  The Vindicator, Clint, and light tanks on the other side managed to land some respectable hits - including a worrisome headshot on the company's Shadow Hawk - but it is becoming pretty clear that they are likely insufficient to repel the assailants.  Two helicopters arrived on-scene are providing some additional threat, but the last exchange fell pretty decidedly in Mjolnir's favor.

- While V went to meet with Marion Plaskov to inquire further about the Watchful, Kendra, Mario and Sara went to meet their employer and make the delivery.  This went without incident: their contact, Hwan Byeong, was impressed with their performance and the group walked away with another 80k along with the suggestion that future contracts might be considered.

- V wasn't able to get much out of Plaskov other than the fact that he'd been hired by someone to hit the armored van.  He was hesistant to mention the Watchful or any of their activities.  He implied that they might be able to speak more freely in a legal environment, and V gave him his contact information so that this might be arranged.

- V was contacted by his old coworker Rory who had become aware of the disarray in the Proto-Nine HQ.  He wanted to know if V knew anything about it, and the two talked a little about what the group had seen when they broke into the facility.  V offered Rory some pay to stay at P9, do some prying, and report on anything he might be able to find out about what had been happening.

- Delpub was airing more news on "monster" sitings as well as Corvin-Systova's rebuttal to Ullertech's assertions that they were behind the incidents.

- Sara tried again to contact whatever disturbed mind was sending out the psychic shrieking she and other members of Delphi had perceived.  The target seemed to be a child, probably a girl between the ages of 9 and 13.  While solid contact proved elusive, she was able to send a simple telepathic message asking "what did you lose?".  She was met immediately with a mental shout showing a man and a woman, whom Sara suspects might be the girl's parents.  Calling V over, she shared their images with him and asked if he could find anything about them.  Initial searches, however, turned up nothing.  A few days later, she was able to contact the girl again - this time while she was asleep.  From the disorienting dream-mind, Sara was able to extract her name: Ryma Forsben.

- The group received another message on their ghost card for another meeting...

- +3xp

New Character:

Asp [Taylor] : Slide

Session Highlights:

- Drave and Thane made their way into the black fog within the tavern, searching for the gathering they'd been told about.  Unfortunately, they quickly became disoriented and lost, encountering a coin-laden ghost and a spectral door in a back corner of the establishment.  Drave attempted to interact with the ghost, but managed only to upset the being, which began to deform and emit a deafening howl. 

- The two slipped away back into the fog and were about to give up their search when a voice greeted them - telling them it could aid their search in exchange for something.  Thane found himself unable to turn and look at the speaker, but Drave managed to resist the compulsion and turned to find an enormouse spider probing its forlegs into Thane's brain.  Drained of further resolve, he wasn't able to tell his companion about what was happening.  Thane agreed to a trade, and the spider planted the knowledge of Merson's location in his mind before retreating into the darkness above.

- Drave and Thane found the card game where Merson was present with two men and two women - and shortly joined by a Bluecoat called Cork who told them if they wanted to talk, they had to play.

- The  two were dealt in and began their talk about the Stone Club's immenent demise - speaking to no one in particular, but hoping to plant seeds of doubt in Merson's mind.  One of the others at the table - a woman called Asp - seemed to be trying to aid in this effort by asking questions and verbally underlining certain details...

- Lily continued distracting/entertaining the people outside.  As she moved up onto the steps of the tavern's porch, she became aware of the shouting coming from the argument inside.  Giving looks to her companions, Ravina and Tyrrox made their way closer to the building.

- As their conversation with Respina concluded, Kael mentioned to her that he and his friends were needing to leave the city.  She seemed surprised and a little concerned by this, but advised them that, if that was their intent, they should probably leave sooner rather than later.  Taryn gestured to the unfolding altercation between the thugs and the tavern owner behind him, and told Respina that the man was part of a cult that had been causing trouble for the city - all the way back to the incident at the Festival of Thorns.  She asked whether he should be taken into custody, but Kael said he would follow them to see where they went.

- When the argument in the tavern finally came to a head, the thug made some threats, flipped over some tables, and stormed out.  Joining the man on the porch, the three of them headed away from the area.  Kael and Tyrrox followed them to another tavern near the docks called the Siren's Cask.  After a few minutes, they followed them inside, but didn't see any of them within the small establishment.  They had a brief conversation with the gruff bartender before rejoining their companions to decide what to do next...

- Kendra & Mario did their best to avoid the camera and hotwired their way past the old keypad.  Inside they found a debris-filled hallway that appeared to be under construction.  There were no stairs to grant access to upper levels, and the only door was on the back side.  Finding no obvious way to open the door, the two had V (who was still hacked into the system from the sewers outside) open it for them.

- Inside, they found a much different environment: a clean and brightly-lit corporate research facility.  They made their way to the elevators only to be confronted with a heavily armed and armored security guard.  Fortunately for them, they got the jump on him and were able to take him out before he could even respond.

- On V's direction, K&M headed up to the 5th floor where the vaults that supposedly contained their target were.  Using a backdoor in the security system, V was able to bypass the compex computerized lock on the vault they wanted and opened it.  Unfortunately, it was about that time that the corp became aware of his presence in the system and, not too long after that, the fact that there were intruders in the facility. V locked all of the doors, but not before the other security guard made it to their level.  She sent out a request for backup, but V had already hijacked their outgoing data connections and her alert was funneled into a black hole.  She fired a few bursts of automatic gunfire at K&M, who were saved by their bulletproof vests, and Mario was eventually able to knock her out with his robotic arm.

- Meanwhile, Sara was outside keeping an eye out trouble approaching on the street and also probing for whatever was generating the psychic noise she'd been experiencing.  While she wasn't able to make contact with it, she was able to feel its presence just past the edge of her perception.  It seemed to be a young mind, a powerful psion, and one not completely in control of its powers.

- K&M grabbed the device they'd come to recover and made their way neatly out of the building.  Thanks largely to V's efforts, there was no cavalry coming to make things more difficult for them.  The group returned to Kendra's Klunkers to talk about their next move.

- Sara returned to Delphi's offices to speak with Deidre Telns about what she'd learned, and V made his way to the antique shop "Passed Gems" to speak with the Watchful.  He gave them the other case they'd swiped from the Proto-Nine HQ and told them he and his friends were interested in bringing down the corrupt corporations...

- +3xp

- Mjolnir's Wrath made their way toward the target planet of Capricorn III with Gallager's Minutemen.  Lengthy conversations on the 7 day burn from their jump point decided that they would both hit the area Gallager felt most likely contained their primary targets: munitions factories producing autocannon ammo.  The designated area was the military base on the edge of a large city on the northern continent called Sellefry.

- Gallager sent a scout into the area, and she returned with news that the military sprawl on the northern area of the city contained a single mech hangar that could hold up to 2 lances, a number of light tanks, and perimeter turrets.  It also contained at least two buildings that looked to be factories of some kind.

- In order to overwhelm and minimize losses, the group decided they would both attack the base.  A small distraction effort by Gallager divided their attention, and by the time the main force began it's attack on the perimeter defenses, the base's defense forces were scattered.  As they began their assault, Mjolnir's Wrath saw that they were dealing with two LRM turrets, two light tanks, and a pair of medium mechs: a Clint and a Vindicator.

- As the engagement unfolded, Gallager told them that he was currently engaging a Hunchback and a Jenner in addition to a few tanks of his own - and he warned that he was picking up incoming airborne radar blips...

- On his way to meet the others at the temple where Rothan had awakened, Kael was met by Eliot Jaand of the Watch and told that the Prime wanted to speak with them.  She would be at a tavern in the south market district from noon.  They should be as inconspicuous as possible.  After the group finished talking with Rothan, the decided to go see what this was about.

- While Lily, Ravina, and Tyrrox waited outside in the busy market, Taryn and Kael went into Sasha's Tavern.  They made acquaintances with the bartender and the owner herself before Respina arrived.  The Watch Prime told them that she had grave concerns: someone was attempting to undermine their efforts to prepare the city for the orc horde.  There was a evidence of sabotage in several areas and she was suspicious of the origin of whatever malady had afflicted the Constable and his Second.  She was planning to recommend the city be magically sealed but needed someone she could trust to investigate to find the culprits.

- During this conversation, a couple of thugs entered the tavern and began harassing the owner.  Taryn noticed what appeared to be the bottom of a Many Eyes, Many Teeth insignia tattooed on the back of one man's neck...

- Rothan had been healed, but was still unconscious.  The priest and his guards flew back to the city, and the group decided to continue on through the night.

- As they neared Rolessi the next morning, Tyrrox saw something like the mirage of a signpost and somone sitting by it - though it turned out to be a tree stump.  Tyrrox heard someone's voice coming from somewhere.

- Once at the city, they found the gates had been sealed and so needed to traverse to the far side - though they did convince the guards on the wall to pull Rothan over.

- The city seemed to be making preparations for a seige by the orc force, which scouts indicated was moving closer.

- Taryn continued having his strange dream about some kind of  card game with his former patron and a mysterious dark entity.

- The group was notified when Rothan awoke.  When questioned about what had happened, he told them about arriving in Kelsguard, meeting up with a treacherous man called Aulthust, the portal in the bowels of the keep, and the demonic entities coming through it.

- The group left the keep and returned to the abandoned village, setting up camp for the night in the empty Dark Pine Inn.  During the night, they were visited by the strange old woman looking for her son, whom they'd seen at the keep some weeks ago.  Kael tried to get her to leave, but she appeared inside his room, near the injured Rothan.  Unnerved by the intrusion, Kael called for the others and continued to yell at her to get out.

- The group found a wagon they could use to transport their unconscious patient, and started off toward Rolessi in the rain the next day.  When they made camp that night after a hard day, they found that Rothan's corrupted injuries seemed to be worsening.  Afraid he wouldn't make it to the city, Kael and Ravina wind-walked to the Temple.  Ravina brought one of the priests back while Kael attempted to retrieve horses but found that the gates were being barred and reinforced - and the guards were refusing to open them.

- After arriving, the priest consecrated the area and suggested the use of a magical artifact to concentrate their healing magic to a potency that might be sufficient to clear the cursed wound.  As they began, however, they found themselves attacked by demons, and the writhing wound itself seemed to be resist their efforts.  The ritual was ultimately successful, healing the corrupted wound and bleaching everything in the area a brilliant white.

- Having fought off the attacking sigil and eventually dispelling it, the group passed through the door and descended into a round chamber connecting three large tunnels and containing a misshapen arch they believed was probably the former portal to Ver'Sheole.  In addition, they found a large demon corpses, and a living and possibly conscious but completely unresponsive Aegis Rothan - a man that had disappeared from Igveston months ago.

- As the group tried to bring Rothan out of his stupor, they became aware of a number of lesser demons converging on their location.  They closed what doorways they could, and carried Aegis back up into the keep.

- Noting some supernatural wounds that resisted healing, the group decided they needed to get Rothan back to Rolessi - for healing and, hopefully, answers...

- The next morning, the Watch Prime came to escort them to the White Hall.  Once there, they met again with Mayor Dale and Lord Magnar as well as a couple of the Talonwings who had recently returned from a scouting mission.  After reports were exchanged, the Mayor asked if the group had any particular advice with respect to where to focus their energies.  While the party admitted the rise in recent violent crime was troubling, they felt that ensuring the city was as prepared as it could be to deal with the orc horde was the most critical concern.

- The group then went to the Iron Hall to speak with the assassin they'd captured after the previous night's ambush.  He didn't have much info for them, other than to say that they had been hired by someone called Black Shade specifically to kill them - and that he expected additional attempts soon.

- Meanwhile, Kael had received a letter from an elder in the elven settlement of Velgrin detailing a past relationship and a clue as to the possible whereabouts of Kael's father.  Kael told the group he would be pursuing this lead, as it was his reason for being in the region in the first place.  Lily, however, saw another troubling aspect to the letter: it mentioned a great "mother tree" with large, reddish, 7-pointed leaves.  Leaves identical to the one the pixie had shown her which was starting to become brown and brittle.  If the corruption was also in the south forest, that would suggest it was nearly everywhere.

- Feeling there might be some connection between Ver'Sheole, the events at Saint Orvusk, and what they first encountered at Fort Kelsguard, the group decided to return to the latter.  Within the bowels of the keep, they found a green, glowing icon of a two-headed serpentine creature shimmering before an iron door.  As they approached, the walls around them began to crack and decay, and, just before it lashed out at them, they heard its words: "My power is growing"...

- The Foxes laid low for a couple of days before again resuming operations.  They had an encounter with the Stone Club's gang in Fenwell Hook that kind of ended in a stalemate.  Tellis reappeared and gave them a couple of tips including the location of the Club's hideout and the name of an individual that runs their gambling racket.  He also told them that taking out the face of the org wouldn't be enough - if they wanted to cripple the Stone Club, they would need to deal with the leader of the gang - a man by the name of Dauch.

- Though running out of time on several commitments and opportunities, the Foxes decided they needed to press their advantage against the Stone Club.  Coming to the conclusion that direct confrontation was not their forte, the crew decided to undermine the Club's financial situation by convincing the gambling tychoon to switch allegiances.

- After doing some legwork, the found out that Merson participates in a card game with some other locals once a week at the Black Circle Tavern in the north of the district.  The establishment seemed to be a bit more high-brow than they were accustomed to and, once inside, they also found it difficult to navigate.  A strange shadowy darkness seemed to fill all of the spaces between the table, making it very difficult to identify any other parties present...

- On their way back to the inn from the White Hall, the group quickly found themselves under attack on a street in the Shops District by a coordinated force of assassins.  The resulting skirmish was brief and intense, but they managed to stay on top long enough to outlast their assailants.  When representatives of the Watch arrived and inquired as to what had happened, the group explained the situation.  One of the attackers that was alive but had been knocked unconscious was taken into their custody.

- The group continued back to the inn where they asked the innkeeper who had delivered the message Ravina had received.  The innkeeper told them it was one of the city couriers who usually worked for House Magnar.

- The silence was broken by the sound of a whiskey bottle shattering on the saloon floor.  The man cleaning the tables turned away from the stranger in the doorway and stormed out of the room.  The bartenter seemed just as confused as to what was going on.  He told them that the man in the gray suit was called Malone and that he was fond of hanging around the abandoned train station. 

- After finishing their breakfast, Victor decided to get some sleep at the Last Lights hotel while the others went to find Mr. Malone.  The conversation with Malone at the train station was somewhat unnerving and confusing.  The man seemed to display a very calm and curious insanity - and was very interested in them.  After they concluded their discussion, Leah went to see about getting into the post office where she'd be working while the others took a cue from Victor and decided to get some rest.

- After a short rest, James went with Victor out to check up on his sister Sara.  She was very happy to see them, and obviously distressed at her husband Edward's behavior.  She told them that he'd disappeared for a few weeks, and since he'd returned he'd been out digging in the pasture.  She was concerned about his sanity, and also that his partners - other former coal miners with whom he'd started the ranch - were going to kick him out.  The two went out to the pasture where he had dug 9 holes about the same size and shape as graves, and was just staring at them.  As Victor expressed his sister's concerns, Edward became confrontational.  He rambled about the heat, about not believing it, and about having to go back before collapsing into near-unconsciousness.  Victor and James got him back to the house, and Sara called for Father Clarence and a nurse called Jessica Farns.

- That night at the saloon, James and Victor got into a brief scrape with a man called Jack Santos they'd seen earlier that day at the Ranch.  Some time later Mr Malone appeared again near Jack and a few others - they seemed very agitated by his presense.  As he walked back to the door of the saloon, he asked them "who it was going to be".  Jack pointed angrily at James, but Mr Malone told him "No, not that one - he's not one of us."  The marshall then got up and said they could take this disagreement outside, but Mr Malone told him it was too late for that.  It was then that Jack pulled out his gun and shot another man.  Both he and Jack seemed utterly shocked by this.  Mr Malone walked outside, muttering something to himself.

- Chaos ensued, during which a candle was tipped into a puddle of spilled liquor and ignited a fire.  One of the other men took off after Mr Malone.  James was the first outside, where he saw a large splatter of blood in the street leading toward a darkened alley.  Down the alleyway he found more blood, entrails, and body parts.  As he examined them, he caught a brief glimpse of a spindly shadow moving further into the darkness.  The others joined him in searching, but they found no more evidence beyond some strange scorch marks on a few nearby buildings...

- The group decided to meet with the mystery contact that had messaged their ghost card.  The arrived at their usual meeting place early, and saw a limo approach and a group of people get out: a man in a nice suit with a half-cybernetic face and several obvious bodyguards.  He told them he'd gotten their info from the group's DCPD contact and that he had a job for them: the rival corporation Ullertech had stolen a cybernetic prototype and he wanted them to get it back.  They'd be paid 20k up front and another 80 upon completion.  After some discussion, they decided to take the stranger up on the job. 

- That night they saw the news broadcast about the creature attack they'd witnessed.  They were somewhat unnerved to see themselves in some footage from a corp security camera and hoped the poor resolution would be sufficient to keep their identities a mystery.

- The next day, the group made some preparations and V sent a message to his hacker contacts looking for info on Aethercorp - a defunct corporation they suspect might be behind Justin Mills' activities and the monstrocity.  Sara returned to the Delphi office in hopes of talking to Dr. Telns about some psychic disturbances she'd experienced: a sound like thousands of distant screams.  Dr. Telns didn't seem to be present, but Sara spent some time talking with one of her associates who relayed a request from the Dr to her: Deidra Telns was hoping Sara could use her abilities to locate the nature and source of the disturbance.

- That night, the group traveled to the target area indicated by their employer: an area of Old Harbor still sparsely inhabited.  Finding a power substation and following the largest conduits running through the sewers, they located the likely target building.  While V spliced himself into the data lines and gained access to the facility's computer systems, the others broke their way in through the door at the bottom of the back stairwell.  Once inside, they found their way through the dark and damp basement to the stairway up into the building.  Looking up they saw a metal door, a very old and worn-looking keypad, and camera pointed in their direction...

- After a couple more exchanges with no real progress on either side, Isaac managed to turn the tables on Vostok with one decisive salvo, setting himself up for the win a round or two later.  As Fyodor made his way off the field, Isaac attempted to smooth things over by congratulating him on a good match - with some success.

- Meanwhile, Thaddeus attempted to quietly enter the bar where his crewman Marshall Fox was holding a gun on another patron. Unfortunately, the chime above the door gave him away and startled Fox, who reflexively whirled to see who was coming up behind him, giving the thugs in the bar an opening to leap on him.  Thaddeus ultimately waded in to the resulting melee in an attempt to pull Marshall out.  By the time Thad had KO'd one of the attackers, Marshall had managed to get just enough leverage against the one pinning him down that he was able to pull himself free - limping, but not seriously injured. 

- The situation fizzled from there, and the two got a cab back to the drop port - during which time Thad was able to pull little out of the dispondent crewman about what had happened.  Morale on the small crew had taken an obvious hit over the concern about Fox's actions and well-being, so Isaac had the ship's mate call everyone back from leave where he gave them all news of his win, their new ally, and their hopefully-lucrative contract - and to celebrate, he was taking everyone out for a night on the town.

- On monday, the crew met with Major Caldwell at a military office to sign and discuss the particulars of their mission.  They would be heading to Capricorn III - a Capellan world in a near-border system.  They would be target munitions factories and depots on the planet.  The AFFS would be covering transportation to and from the system, and would be paying them a 750k contract fee for the mission.  They were free to take whatever salvage they could pull from the planet during the week of operations.

- On friday, they lifted and over the next week made their way to the system nadir to rendezvous with the merchant-class jumpship Sunset Crane and Gallager's modified leopard Krenshar.  From there, it took about 5 weeks to make the jumps to the Capricorn system, where the two merc companies detached and began accelerating toward their target world...

GM's Note: One of the great things about this session was the snake-eyes I rolled for Marshall Fox's reaction to the door chime when Thaddeus entered the tense situation.  I had prepared a bunch of possible dialog angles between Thad, Fox, and the gang that all when out the window when Marshall completely dropped his composure. One of the things I love about RPGs - sometimes the dice make pretty radical turns in the story.

- The group split up in the gallery and spoke to a few others present, including the Watch Second Wencia Naldibar, and Osiris Knell, a resident wizard.  Also in attendance were a few nobles they recognized, including a young man who has a beef with Kael over his interest a certain member of House Barens, and a woman they'd seen acting strangely at the Magnar City Social earlier in the year.

- When the hearing concluded, the group met up outside the gallery where they were approached by Heglan Foula, one of the nobles in opposition to Julius Nevarg's push for increased internal focus.  He offered the party a substantial sum to "investigate" House Nevarg in search of conflicts-of-interest that might call into question the house's motivations.

- Meanwhile, Lily had been "called" back into the darkened gallery by a pixie who came to ask her about what she and her companions did up at the monestary at Saint Orvusk.  He told her that their actions had had some effect on the ongoing corruption, but that it wouldn't be enough to prevent its worsening.

- The group then left the White Hall and headed back to the Baron's Tower to ask the innkeeper about who had given him the false message when they suddenly found themselves under attack...

- Having received multiple messages from Rory about the state of the case, the made arrangements to meet him for their payoff the next day.  They finally managed to break on of the cases open.  Inside they found 32 vials of some substance and an injector.

- Deciding to see what "Justin Mills" wanted in his message to Mario, the group headed over to the address at 3am.  The location turned out to be an old Ullertech warehouse.  The guards outside didn't know anything about "Justin".  As they were leaving, a 12 foot monstrosity emerged from the shadows and began smashing its way into the facility.

- As the firefight began, the group retreated to a "safe" observing distance, where they happened upon a young woman videotaping the scene.  Sara was able to assess that she was related to the media/press in some way.

- The creature did a lot of damage, took a lot of gunfire, and limped away.  The group followed it an eventually found it collapsed and apparently dead in an alleyway much further into the Old Harbor district.

- The following day, the met with Rory to give him the untouched case, and told him they were gravely concerned about what was inside.  He gave them their payoff, and they left.

- The group received a message on their ghost card indicating another time and passphrase, but the fact that it didn't seem to originate from their contact at the DCPD concerned them.

- V told the rest of the group that he suspects the whole thing to be the work of corrupt corporations - Proto-Nine, and the defunct Aethercorp that they suspect "Justin" is working for.  His aim is to bring them all down somehow.  And Sara tells them that she had received another message from the Watchful - the "resistance" group that seemed to have a similar aim...

- Isaac Clarke went to talk w/ the Major Caldwell about their contract and found out that Vostok's Hijackers had requested an override on the AFFS' decision to award part of the contract to Mjolnir's Wrath - citing their superior accomplishments.  He tried to talk the major into sticking with his original decision, but Caldwell indicated that, even if he himself didn't like it, on paper, giving the job to the Hijackers seemed to make more sense.  It was then that Fyodor Vostok joined the conversation and suggested a 'mech duel as a way to decide, the Major seemed to like this idea.

- The following morning, the gathering reconvened at the Northtown Military Base's training grounds, where Isaac and his Hatchetman faced off against Fyodor and his Quickdraw using virtual weaponry.  The first few exchanges landed decidedly in Vostok's favor, and Isaac is now scrambling to turn the tables.

- Meanwhile, Thaddeus received a call from their ship's mate: one of their crew apparently left the ship about 20 minutes previous - with a pistol.  Thaddeus found out where he was going and headed that way.  When he arrived, he found one of the ship's techs pointing a gun at a patron at the bar...

- Kael and Ravina went to the Temple of the Golden Sun to report the situation at Saint Orvusk to the clergy there.  The priest they spoke to was a little confused about their reports of Orvusk's grave being broken into because, he told them, Warult Orvusk was buried there in Rolessi.

- Lily returned to House Dyn'Talor to request they send a message to their members in Igveston about the growing orc problem, and they had a short conversation about the fey of the Charothi Forest.

- Later, the group received a message from Tyless Vallane requesting their presence at the ongoing hearings at the White Hall that night.  The hearings were a part of the continuing debate between where enforcement resources should be allocated: within the city where violent crime was rising, or focused outward where reports of orc activity had people on-edge.  When they met up with Tyless Vallane in the gallery, however, he told them he hadn't written the message and wondered what duplicitous entity wanted them at the White Hall...

Setting: Dark West, Northern New Mexico Territory, Town of Redwood

System: In The Cards (homebrew)

Characters:

- Leah [Sheri] :: The new postmistress

- Victor [Tim] :: Rancher coming to visit his sister

- Oliver [Dave] :: Company man come to find out why coal shipments have stopped

- Roxanne [Taylor] :: ???

- James [Tony] :: Traveler looking for a fresh start in a new place

Session Highlights:

- A group of travelers meet up on the road and camp together with a man called an old prospector a few hours outside the town of Redwood.  They all shared dinner and had a nice chat about the area.  Elijah, the prospector, told them that the area had been declining quite a bit since the coal mine closed and the trains stopped coming into town, but he was hopeful that the area would stick it out and survive. 

- Late that night, the group was awakened to the sounds of Elijah hurriedly packing up his things in a near panic.  They found the stagecoach driver and his two guards dead from apparent stab wounds, and Roxanna saw something moving outside the camp.  Whatever it was, Elijah apparently caught sight of it too, and went screaming into the night in the opposite direction as Leanne swore she heard a distant train whistle.  On edge but unwilling to risk the horses in the darkness, the group holed up in the camp until morning.

- The next day they headed into Redwood.  While Leanne and Victor delivered the mail to the town hall and spoke to the marshall about what had happened, Oliver, James, and Roxanna went to the Bucksaw Saloon for some breakfast and an early drink to calm their nerves.  They spoke to the bartender about the previous night's events, and James asked if there were any local natives that might have stories about "things" roaming the wilderness.  He told them he could only think of one natve that lived in town - the widow of a miner by the name of Caleb Solomon.  One of the barhands seemed to be listening to the conversation and seemed, for some reason, to be growing very angry because of it. 

- It was then that another man appeared in the saloon entrance.  He wore a nice, grey suit and was looking at a gold pocketwatch.  The already quiet saloon fell completely silent.  As he looked up, he smiled and said in a low voice "Can you hear that train, a-comin'?"...

GM's Note: The idea for this game came out of a conversation a month or so ago when someone suggested we do some kind of horror one-shot on halloween.  I kicked around a few ideas while putting it together, but pretty quickly decided this would be a great opportunity to finish the idea I had for a western-themed game system that used only cards and poker chips - no dice or even character sheets.  Over the course of a week or so, I fleshed out the basic ideas and put together a creepy, Dark West game to run with it.  It didn't take super long to explain, seemed to run quite well, and everyone really loved the feel of it.  I may make further tweaks, but I'm quite happy with how it came out.  Of course, I cannot "one-shot" a "one-shot", so we only made it through about 1/3 of the scenario, but everyone liked it enough that we decided we would try to get together soon to see if we couldn't continue it.

- After a brief conversation with the captain of the military caravan, the party contined back to Rolessi.  There, they split up and made reports about the gathering orc horde to Kael's contact at the House Vallane Adventurer's Guild, the Watch Prime, as well as Mayor Dale and Lord Magnar.  Overall their reports seemed to be believed, but questions remained...

- Deciding it was their best shot at getting access to the upper laboratories, V used his neural link to venture into the Proto-Nine computer system, heading for the security area.  Once past the System Sentries, he found a panel full of door lock indicators and releases - the only problem was, he could only override them for a few seconds.

- The rest of the group made their way up to floor 82 and slipped through the door after V opened it.  They found the labs on this level to be in a state of complete disarray.  Sara located the case they had come to grab without too much trouble, and headed down and out of the building with it - playing off an encounter with Bluestar Security using some fast-talk and her psionic empathy.

- Kendra and Mario, meanwhile, grabbed another case and decided to check out some of the upper levels.  V told them that the upper floors were all VIP/CEO penthouses and executive meeting spaces, but when the two arrived, they found the place completely abandoned.

- Returning to meet up with V who escaped from the VR system only after a tangle with one of the Sys-Ents, the three were able to convince Bluestar that they were legit and exit the building as well.

- The group met back up at Kendra's shop.  They tried to open one of the cases, but only managed to scratch up the exterior.  Meanwhile, Mario went to talk to some doctors about plastic surgery to repair his scarred face and on the way back stopped at one of the city's PostTerms where he found a message containing only an address and a time from Justin Mills...

- +3xp

- The group descended to the fleeing caravan and engaged the orcs and monstrous wolves attacking it.  They were just starting to gain the advantage when one of the orcs, apparently a druid, turned into a massive bear and toppled one of the wagons.  The group managed to fight off the bear and the remaining orcs, allowing the remaining wagon to continue toward Rolessi.

- The following morning, the group had left Igveston and was travelling toward Rolessi when they spotted smoke rising some distances to the south.  Knowing they were seeking signs of the orcs they'd been told were massing in the region, they decided to detour and investigate.

- Upon reaching the locale, they found a massive orcish encampment on the borders of the Charothi Forest, spilling onto the western Cyrran Plains some miles east of the village of Etteseph.  Among the orcs they found ogres, monstrous vultures, and signs of seige weapon construction.  Perhaps most interestingly, they found that the horde seemed to be commanded by a group of hobgoblins who themselves were lead by a human.  Using his ethereal ability, Kael entered the commander's tent and saw a dwarf there he recognized from the Magnar City Social some weeks previous.

- Having attainted this intelligence, the group left for Rolessi.  Travelling eastward across the plains, they came upon a small detachment of the Reaches Military being harassed by orcs and monstrous wolves...

New Characters: Patrick & Roland

Session Highlights:

- As Isaac and Thaddeus began their conversation about which contracts to opt into, Fyodor Vostok, the commander of Vostok's Hijackers, approached and attempted to convince Isaac to sell Mjolnir's Wrath to him for 50M.  The offer was arguably low, and Isaac still had higher hopes for his budding company, so he declined - visibly irritating Vostok.

- Dresden and Nathaniel arrived and joined the conversation.  The group tried to get more info out of the Major and Hollaster about the recon mission they'd been tipped to, but had only limited success.

- They were later approached by Samuel Gallager, head of Gallager's Minutemen, who suggested they work together on one of the offered Search-And-Destroy missions.  He seemed interested in their company, and insisted Isaac tell the story of how he'd once single-handedly taken out a Battlemaster in his Hatchetman.  After some further internal discussion, they decided they'd take him up on it.

- It was a while later that they noticed the blue confirmation light on their mission slot revert to a "pending" white as Fyodor placed his bid on the previously-full mission...

- The group left the DCPD and split up.  Kendra, Mario, and V made their way to the Marquee District to find some high-end communicators.  The place they found, called "Comms & Bombs" was a bit lower-end for the district, but had what they were looking for.  A bit pricey, but the team walked away with 4, subtle in-ear communicators that would reach a distance of about mile through most kinds of barriers.

- Meanwhile, Sara went to the Lift District to a generic office block in response to a message she'd received.  There she met with Dr. Deidre Telns, a woman who claimed to be a part of an inter-planetary neuroscience firm called Delphi.  As they conversed, it became apparent that they were, in fact, an organization dedicated to emergent psionics.  The meeting was a little tense, and Sara remained very suspicious, however much the Dr claimed not to want anything more than to offer her organization's support in exchange for info about Sara's gifts.

- After the group reunited, they paid a visit to "Passed Gems", an antique shop buried in the Neon District.  They mentioned Marion Plaskov and, after some persistence with the shopkeepers, learned that they were associated with an organization looking to depose corrupt corporations - one of them being Proto-Nine.

- The group then returned to Kendra's shop to plan their heist against P9 that night.  Using the parking pass and IDs Rory had given them, they took the elevator up from the parking garage.  On one of the lower-middle floors Kendra managed to swipe a Clearance 2 keycard from a worker who had fallen asleep at his desk, getting them up to floor 64.  They managed to get inside one of the manager's offices on that floor, ducking the patrolling Bluestar security guard.  While V tried to learn what he could from the computer system, they heard the guard's radio go off just outside and the announcement it made - apparently, they'd aroused some suspicion...

- +2xp

- The party regrouped and decided they would make their way back to Rolessi.  Figuring that Igveston was on the way back to the larger city, the decided to stop in and have a drink at the Laughing Jack - and to take a look around to see if there were any further signs of disturbance there.

- They spent some time talking with Jack about recent goings on, and learned that overall things were calmer than they had been.  Taryn asked Jack about some divine "issues", Kael danced to the amateur musician playing that evening, Ravina played cards with some locals, Tyrrox met up with some old buddies from the Briglau House Guard, and Lily made her way to the Magus Academy to check in on Valthious.

- Despite the overall urgency of their present situation, the group realized they were all pretty tired (and that Kael was pretty drunk) and so decided to go ahead and stay the night in Igveston and head home in the morning.  That night, Taryn once more found himself in a dream he's been having more and more frequently - a revisiting of the afterlife...

System: Battletech / Mechwarrior Basic 2e

Setting: The Capellan March, Inner Sphere

Players: Tim, Adam

Schedule: Occasional Thursdays

Session Highlights:

- Mjolnir's Wrath was invited by their contact, Lt. James Hollaster, to a sort of "contract party" hosted in the Fortymile system.  The AFFS was apparently planning a military campaign that was going to make significant use of merc units, and a number of the best in the region were present in the large hotel conference hall.

- The officiating major welcomed the various units and presented 8 potential contract offers with few details for which they could offer their services, including planetary assault, search & destroy, and reconnaissance.  The evening was to be spent in negotiations and socializing over horderves, dinner, and champagne.  Hollaster had privately suggested they take one of the low-paying recon missions, but his motives are not precisely clear and something with a bit more cash and action seems more attractive...

- The group found themselves under attack by mystery agents - presumably tied to the RVR corporation.  Hotel Bluestar security arrived on the scene shortly after, but the chaos of the situation was already out of hand.  The group managed to fight off the attackers and escape before more Bluestar arrived on-scene.

- Having obtained the data from the designated contact, V made the swap with K-Method for info on "Justin Mills".  The alias was apparently being used by a corporate mercenary and assassin by the name of Victor Malstrik who seemed to be hired by a defunct corporation called Aethercorp.

- The group received a message from the DCPD on behalf of Marrion Plaskov, who had requested to speak with them.  Their conversation didn't make much sense, but he did slip them a business card for an antique shop in the Neon district with the word "Watchful" hand-written on the back.

- V got a message from Rory offering a job.  He apparently needed whatever was in the case Victor had taken, and is offering the group 60k to swipe another from the upper levels of the Proto-Nine headquarters...

- +2xp

- Concerned about a double-cross from Justin, the group hurried back upstairs.  There they did indeed find someone with a gun in the room with Plaskov, but it wasn't the thug - it was Rory, a former coworker V knew from his days at Proto-Nine.  V and Mario were able to talk him down enough to pass on what they knew about Justin and the case he had taken, at which point Rory bolted out of the room, apparently in pursuit.  Unsure exactly of what was going on, the group kept tabs on the room until the police arrived - just to make sure no one else came in trying to do something with their target.

- They met up with Sgt. Askara again the following morning.  She told them their pay would be on the card, but commented that there were a few details of the case that didn't make any sense.  For one, Dynamics (the primary financial corp of the city) hadn't said word one about the missing cash.  Also, they'd had an odd call from someone at Proto-Nine asking if they recovered any of the company's property when they arrested the perpetrator.

- Meanwhile, V got a response from someone within the hacker collective he'd asked to dig up info on their medic friend, Justin Mills.  The contact, a person going by the handle "K-Method", told them there were 16 records for "Justin Mills" in Delcron's personnel database, only two of which were active.  None of the 16 looked anything like the medic.  The contact said they had additional info, but if he wanted it, V was going to have to do something for them.  Namely, he needed to go to a casino in the upscale Marquee district and exchange an ID card for a data stick from a certain man.  After some discussion, the group decided they'd make the exchange. V made the card per K-Method's instructions, and the crew bought some fancy clothes and made their way to the White Stag Hotel Casino.

- While Mario made some money gambling, the others set about looking for their mark in the sprawling 4-level gaming hall - eventually finding him among a group of wealthly-looking individuals from the RVR corporation - the single most powerful corp in Delcron City.

- When V gave the man the ID card, he was given a hotel keycard and a room number instead of a datastick, and was advised to 'keep an eye on' a particular man that seemed to be watching their exchange.  The group headed into the hotel, pretty sure they were being followed, and made their way up to floor 56 which was undergoing renovations.  While the others waited in the cluttered hallway, V found a suitcase in the room containing the datastick and a silenced, high-caliber pistol with a note reading "just in case".  About that time, Kendra heard a crashing sound of something coming up behind them...

- +2xp

- While Lily and Taryn inspected the dagger they'd found in the abbot's back, Kael, Ravina, and Tyrrox descended into the catacombs.  There they found the bodies a few orcs and hobgoblins and a number of scattered bones decorated with golden runes.

- Meanwhile, Lily and Taryn heard a banging sound which they traced to a set of large double-doors that had the familiar eye-tooth symbol painted over them.  When they called out to whatever was inside, the pair received a two-word reply: "save us".

- Scouting ahead, Kael descended to the bottom of the crypt, where he found more bodies and a group of five glowing, skeletal guardians positioned near one of the far tombs that had apparently been broken open.  The whispered chant they'd been hearing seemed to be coming from these beings.

- Taryn pulled the door open.  On the other side they found a large meeting or dining hall containing dozens or hundreds more bodies, all of it shouded in a thick, ghostly mist.  The distressed spirits of the deceased seemed trapped and confused.  Taryn and Lily performed a kind of musical 'last rites' for them, and felt the ghostly presence fade from the room.

- Having decided not to engage the skeletons without their companions, Kael, Ravina, and Tyrrox made their way back into the monestery.  After some discussion, the group decided to head to a library they'd found while searching the place.  While Lily and Taryn spent some time learning about the history of the place and the saint for whom it was named, Kael, Tyrrox, and Ravina took one of the volumes recording who was interred into the catacombs and returned to them, trying to determine who might be buried in the far tomb.  As they examined the grave sites, they heard growing whispers and something scraping against the stone drawing near...

- Standing over Lily as she climbed out of the blood pool was a massive stone giant, accusing her of the evil twisting the place.  He called down magical fire upon her as well as the ghosts and bodies, banishing the corrupted spectres and sending Lily diving for cover. 

- Ravina and Kael made their way back to the courtyard to see if they could find Lily.  Taryn and Tyrrox were still upstairs in the abbot's chambers when his ghost appeared - unmoving and floating over his body slumped over his desk.  They spoke to it and it answered, but they couldn't understand it.  When it made no aggressive move, they looked at the dagger in his back, noting that it bore a symbol of Many Eyes, Many Teeth.

Back in the courtyard, Lily attempted to convince the giant that she and her friends were not responsible for the state of the place as he pressed his attacks - eventually convincing him to stop.  After a final threat, he and the two other giants that arrived began burning the blood and bodies - turning the entire courtyard into an inferno.

- Once the fire burned out and the giants left, the group discussed what they had seen and tried to piece together what happened here.  Making their way to the broken-down door leading into the catacombs beneath the monestary, Lily heard a voice echoing up from it: "The sacred ground has been broken, and now the living must return to it."

- The group made their way to the Gale-James Hotel and set about trying to figure out whether Plaskov was there and where he might be.  They ended up running into Justin Mills - the medic from the previous night - and learned that he was actually after Plaskov too: not for the man himself, but for something he had apparently stolen.  Some sort of tech his "clients" wished to recover.

- They'd figured out a likely floor, and after their discussion with Justin, decided they'd just go room-by-room, with a skeleton-keycard V had made from a room key lifted from one of the guests, until they found him.  Sara's empathy gave them a clue, and they found Plaskov, apparently passed out drunk on his hotel bed.  They bound him with ducttape and found the combination to the room safe.  Inside was a bunch of cash, and the case Justin had been looking for, which he took and left.

- Not sure how they'd get Plaskov out of the hotel without raising a LOT of suspicion, they decided they'd tell their police contact where he was and just let them pick him up.  While Sara was downstairs sending the message from the hotel's PostTerm, she saw Justin Mills have a brief exchange with another man as he was walking out - a man that happened to be one of the bikers from the night before - the one who'd shot Mario... 

- +2xp

- As the voice echoed through the stone courtyard, red lightening began to arc from the floating ghost to several of the bodies, which seemingly spawned horrifically corrupted ghostly creatures which floated, oozed, and clawed their way toward them.  Taryn, Ravina, and Tyrrox headed deeper into the settlement after Kael, who was following the trail of blood.

- In the uppermost room, the group found a sigil oozing blood and burning brightly on the wall.  Its potency was so great that even looking at it was difficult and disorenting.  With some guidance from Taryn, Tyrrox was able to enter the room and smash through it - disrupting its magic but producing powerful electrical discharges and a gush of blood.

- Meanwhile, Lily found herself in a room of complete darkness with a pair of voices asking her who she was and what she wanted.  The voices spoke some form of ancient draconic and identified themselves as a "great serpent". They didn't get far in the conversation, howevern when she suddenly found herself submerged in blood.  Swimming up and out, she found herself back in the (relative) bright light of the Saint Orvusk courtyard, with a booming voice demanding answers of her...

- The group continued away from the forest up into the mountains.  As they approached the settlement, they began to discover signs of violence.  When they reached the monestary, they found it littered with bodies.

- They noticed a pool of still-liquid blood standing in the area, with streams connecting to most of the bodies in a somewhat odd fashion.  As they investigated, ghosts of some of the dead monks and townsfolk began to appear - obviously maddened.

- As the ghosts attacked, the party reacted.  Ravina was able to turn several of the ghosts, and Tyrrox managed to obliterate another's manifested form.  Kael set one of the bodies on fire, resulting in a ghost that burned with ghostly flame.  Taryn discovered that by separating a body from the pool of blood, the ghosts would calm. 

- Lily then attempted to dispel any magic on the blood, but when her spell completed, she vanished.  Also convinced the trailing pool of blood was at the root of the "problem", Kael took off into the monestary, following the "trail" to see where it led.

- Back in the courtyard, Taryn, Ravina, and Tyrrox were still dealing with a couple of lingering ghosts when they heard a booming voice from above them...

- The group broke into an abandoned apartment building across from the bar to stake out and watch to see if their target return - and he does, very early in the morning, meeting some kind of medic. 

- The group decided they'd go grab him, but they hadn't counted on a trio of bikers arriving, apparently after Plaskov as well.  The insuing firefight left Mario, Kendra, and the bartender wounded, the bar shot up, and Plaskov chased out of the bar.

- When the group met up the next day, they decided to sneak back into the closed bar to see if anything left behind might point them toward their quarry.  Here they finally had some good fortune: Plaskov's jacket.  Inside they found a folded piece of stationery from the Gale-James Hotel with what looked like a product model number for something secretive produced by V's former employer...

- +3xp

System: Savage Worlds

Setting: Delcron City

Players: Sheri, Taylor, Dave, Stephen

Schedule: Every Few Fridays

This game was started on Stephen's suggestion, and Taylor and Dave were really interested in getting to play something.  After some voting, we settled on a cyberpunk-style game using the Savage Worlds system.  I'm using a portion of one of my homebrew settings for this game.

Template: The party are a group of friends who have been taking jobs as private investigators and bounty hunters for the last year or so, and it's proving lucrative - or, at least, more lucrative than their crappy jobs.

Characters:

- Sara [Sheri] :: a medic and emergent Empath

- Mario [Dave] :: an asteroid miner and pub bouncer

- Kendra [Taylor] :: a mechanic who runs a junk shop

- "V" [Stephen] :: a hacker now wanted by his former employer

Opening Session Highlights:

The crew got a message from their contact at the DCPD about a possible job.  When they met up with sgt. Askara Kyotu at the usual place (an abandoned pier in the Old Harbor district), they were told about an armored car holdup.  Three attackers, one of whom apparently killed the other two and was injured and on the run.  They'd ID'd the man as Marrion Plaskov, a corp-worker in his late 40s who'd been let go about 15 months previous.  The PD had gotten a tip about a man matching the description at a place called "Hotwired 6" in the Neon district near Res II.  Askara told them bringing him in would be worth 20k to them.

- The group went to the bar, which was crowded and loud.  They looked and asked around a bit, eventually talking to a couple of thugs who subsequently attacked them in the street outside.  After Kendra took a wrench to one of their heads and Sara paralyzed the other with indecision, they learned that the group's target had paid them to "take care of" anyone asking questions about him.  The thug told them the man indicated he would be back to the bar, and then fled down a back alley.

- +2xp

- The group resupplied and headed out of Rolessi to the woodlands to the west using Ravina's Wind Walk spell.

- The Charothi Forest is old, thick and has a very heavy canopy, so they weren't able to see much from the air.  When they caught sight of a wisp of grey smoke, the descended to investigate, finding a couple of humans breaking camp in the late morning.

- They spoke with the humans - Eddard and Frennel - for some time, and learned that they and two previous traveling companions had been attacked by orcs on their way to Velgrin.

- While they spoke, a number of fey creatures appeared - warning them of a darker threat to which the orcs are merely an overture...

- After camping for the night, the group made it back to Rolessi.  Their plan was to see if they could find someone to implement a more permanent solution to the problem at Ver'Sheole and then find some way to move against the growing orc presense.

- Rolessi, however, seemed to be in a state of social and political turmoil.  In general, much of the populace seemed to be a little on-edge.  The PCs reports of orcs to the west had developed into all sorts of rumors, and several sudden assassinations had made many feel unsafe.  The leaders of the city were apparently engaged in heated disagreements about whether the primary focus should be on internal or external problems.

- Lily and Taryn spoke with Lady Wyrra of house Dyn'Talor about the nature of the rift they'd found in the ruined keep and the anti-magic field that was currently containing it.  She told them that her house would see what they might be able to learn and hypothesize about possible solutions, but that few would be as capable as they (the PCs) were in actually acting against the forces at work.

- The city had sent out several militia parties to investigate reports of problems in the region - and some had not returned.  After some discussion, the group decided they would head to the remote settlement of Saint Orvusk, which had been cut off from outside contact for some weeks amid reports of unusual orc activity...

- Lily, Tyrrox, and Ravina were upstairs battling the hordes of demons rushing out of the previously-sealed room.  They were managing to keep most from escaping, but some managed to push their way through.

- Trying to stay focused, Taryn dropped the key and headed deeper into the room - trying to get closer to the rift before triggering the anti-magic effect.  He was unexpectedly pursued, however, by a pair of devils that suddenly appeared.

- Kael, meanwhile, played as though he accepted the hezrou's offer for aid in defeating the more powerful demon while he too maneuvered further into the room.

- Fighting broke out between the two most powerful demons in the room, but the most powerful demon present seemed intent only on tempting Kael - presenting him with powerful artifacts and an implicit promise of great power.  Taryn, on the other hand, was struggling against the devils to get the orb out of his pack.  Seeing Kael less harassed by enemies, he threw his pack to his friend.  Kael caught the bag, which interrupted interaction with the demon.  Within that brief moment of clarity, he pulled out the orb and shattered it.

- The resulting shockwave plunged the room into darkness as all magical and supernatural effects were extinguished.  The group hurriedly withdrew, occasionally being buffeted by demons also escaping.

- Near the surface, they reached the edge of the anti-magic effect.  Outside they found a dense magical fog and the distant sounds of battle.  As Ravina cast a Wind Walk spell to aid in their flilght from the region, they caught site of the bronze dragon, still very angry at the intrusion...

- The Foxes had discovered that Muggs (the leader of the Stone Club) was going to be attending a particular hound race at Vreen's and made a plan to pull of their hit operation then and there.  Fortune was with the PCs' crew this time, as Muggs conveniently separated himself from his attendant and bodyguard - a woman called Rellanna.  While Drave tangled with her and everyone else was distracted by the manifesting form of a horrific spectral ogre, Erik was able to move in for the kill.

- This turned out ot be Erik's last operation, however - the scoundrel's life had taken its toll on the man, unhinging him a little.  His companions decided they'd turn him in to take the fall for the crew to clear some heat on them.

- While their leader is dead, the Stone Club is by no means defeated.  They're undoubtedly planning a counterstrike, and foxes will need to press their advantage if they're going to make this strike really count...

- After some discussion and further study of Lily's map, the group decided to explore another possible entrance to the dungeon vaults: a secret passage that seemed to originate from another building.  After finding that route impassable, they resigned themselves to the "main" entrance and decided to rest for the night.  Passing through the streets again the next morning, they found them thick with an unnatural fog and could hear the sounds of some commotion in the distance - at least some of which was certainly the dragon. 

- The plan for the dungeon vaults was this: they would break the seal and fight off the demons just long enough for someone to get near the rift and shatter their anti-magic orb (an object they'd picked up back in the horde of the dragon they'd fought in Velgrin) - believing that rift to be the source of the "wrongness" and hoping that the anti-magic field would seal it up at least for a while.  They would then do their best to flee on foot until they escaped the magic-void area and could use spells and magical equipment to enhance their escape - hopefully avoding the dragon.  They would then return to civilization and tell others what they'd found and what they'd done, and advise them that they had no way of knowing how temporary or permanent their "solution" might be.

- The warding seal on the vaults seemed ready to give and it collapsed immediately on contact with Lily's Dispel Magic spell.  The door itself unexpectedly disintegrated, and demons began pouring out - though most seemed more interested in escape than combat.  While Lily, Tyrrox, and Ravina fought with the fleeing hordes, Kael and Taryn fought their way down to the dungeons below.  There, Taryn found himself with a familiar red key and a mental nudge toward the malfunctioning portal, and Kael was addressed by a Hezrou telling him he would need its help to destroy the Glabrezu now approaching them...

For a variety of reasons we decided we'd start a new Battletech campaign rather than continuing Aralakh.  We spent a session making new characters with some slightly different rules.  The new gang will be a Davion-aligned merc unit operating somewhere near around the midpoint of the Capellan march.

- Though they could still hear the pounding of the dragon above them, the group decided Lily should cast her Legend Lore spell to learn more about the place they've found themselves in.  In so doing, they learned that the deep interior of this keep was once the lair of Lochthuun, the legendary hydra, and that its death apparently tore open a rift into the lower planes which was the origin of the contaminating evil of the region.

- Deciding they needed to see what was actually going on in the dungeons below, Kael activated the ethereal ability of his armor and passed through the door.  On the other side, he found several dozen demons, a malfunctioning portal, and the abyssal rift floating above the perfectly-preserved body of a massive hydra.  The group now needs to decide what to do about the situation to prevent the situation from worsening and to keep the cult from abusing it...

- As the Mafka zealots launched their attack and the roaring creatured bellowed from outside, Ravina began her spell to de-petrify the goblin leader.  As the creature's warnings grew closer and more angry, the zealots retreated.  Ravina completed her spell and managed to restore the goblin chief to life, though he was not too happy to see his saviors.  As the building shook, they all moved further into the structure away from whatever was outside.

- The goblin chief stopped his aggression against the group, but insisted they part ways.  At Lily's convincing, he indicated the way toward what the goblins called the "Deep Evil" - which was down in the lower dungeons and vaults of the keep.  They made their way down, hearing the furious pounding overhead, and found a sealed door bearing an evil, pulsing rune...

- The group awoke to find themselves surrounded by goblins.  They were approached by one of them - Tofkag - who turned out to be the leader of one splinter of a local tribe.  In exchange for their help in de-petrifying their leader, they told the PCs they would lead them to the keep by ways that would avoid the more hostile goblin factions.  They spoke with Tofkag for some time about his tribe, the keep, and the "Deep Evil" he said dwelled beneath it.

- Making it to the keep the following day, they made their way into the ruin.  Within the CourtHall of the primary tower, they found the statue of the former leader of the goblin tribe - as well as some of the Mafka zealots Tofkag had warned them about.  The altercation was only beginning when the building was shaken by a tremendous roar from overhead...

- After a considerable conversation, the rest of the party managed to convince Taryn that going after the Orb was too dangerous and put the rest of their mssion in jeaopardy - though Tyrrox tended to think they could defeat the goblns.

- The group continued northward to the Navlin forest - a cool, pine-covered region leading into the foothills of the Elmhine mountains.  Inside they found the slaughter of a village of some kind of humanoid mushroom race and had a run-in with some territorial canine humanoids.  Deeper still, they found that the forest was corrupted and diseased, and they began encountering bloated, corrupted, undead, and unusually aggressve animals.

- On the far side of the forest, the group located the old elven road up into the mountains that would take them to Ver'Sheole.  As they climbed, they found evidence of several recently-used humanoid camp sites and even caught site of someone else on the road.

- Near the top, as they pressed on into the night, the group was ambushed by a goblin warband, which they managed to fight off.

GM's Note: This session had two pretty serious combat encounters, and I was very entertained by how much terrain factored into both of them, as well as the previous river-ambush encounter.  We also did an interesting encounter-setup-contest between the PCs and the opposing force for one of them to determine who started with the high ground and prep time.

- Erik met up with his "friend" from their smuggling run at the Maple Grey in Silkshore and got an easy job offer.  Drave stumbled back into the Foxes' turf, but was acosted by the Bluecoats on the way in.  He tried to turn their attention to the Stone Club, but was only partially successful.  A few nights later, their tinker friend Lerrin found them at the Three Pennies to tell them that the Club was making problems in Fenwell Hook again.

- The gang spent some time discussing their options and gathering some info on their rival gang.  They were able to track down the Stone Club's HQ, as well as some that their leader Muggs has made a recent habit of betting on the hounds down at Vreen's races in Nightmarket.  The time has come to strike - and they're looking to cut the head off the snake...

- The group fought with the goblins on the high bank and the monstrous elder water elemental that had appeared in their midst.  The tactical advantage the goblins had proved to be very effectve, and the tide of the combat didn't turn until Taryn pulled out his orb and used its powerful breath weapon.

- It was then that the sole surviving goblin in its area - a spellcaster of some apparent power - took notice.  Using a potent stunning spell, he froze Taryn, took the orb from his hands, and disappeared into the grasslands before any of the others were aware of what had happened.

- Now deprived of his second source of power, when he came to the panicked Taryn insisted that they follow the thief.  Kael quickly found that the trail suddenly vanished a few hundred feet from the site of the encounter, however.  The group interrogated one of the subdued goblins and found that the spellcaster, called Akrisk, had taken over their tribe some months ago - though he couldn't tell them much about his abilities.  After releasng him, the group tailed him back to his warren - Ravina's divination having suggested this would be the best way to recover the artifact.  There they found a large triibe inhabiting a cavernous hollow in the ground in a small, hilly region of the grasslands...

GM's Note: Ever since Taryn had found that Orb of Dragonkind and I ruled it had actually be held for some of ts abilities to be used, I have been mindful every time he uses it.  Sooner or later, I knew that something smart enough to recogniize its power would take interest and try to deprive him of it.  As this particular NPC spellcaster was very powerful, I knew if he saw it, he would make a play for it - and I'd given him a couple of spells that would give him a shot.  Even so, several things had to go just right for him to be able to pull it off - and I didn't expect it to actually work.  So now the players are on a little detour from their time-sensitive misson, and they're having interesting coversations about how and whether to try to get it back.

- Lily had a conversation with the innkeeper Helia, giving her a few more details than they'd told most of the townsfolk.  She also asked if anyone unusual had been through town, and after talking to a local farmer, they discovered that someone matchng the description of the missing Aegus Rothan had been seen several months ago.

- Using some magic from Ravina and Kael's sense of direction, the group headed north toward the Navlin Forest and the road into the Elmhine Mountains that would lead them to the abandoned Ver'Sheole keep.  The river, however, kept pushing them further west, and they eventually decided to cross at a ford, where they found themselves ambushed by goblins...

- As the group left the library, they found a young elven woman weeping at a run-down shrine originally devoted to Corellon Larethian.  As Lily engaged in conversation with her, it became increasingly clear that something was wrong with her.  The woman became increasingly agitated, and apparently reached a breaking point when an unearthly shriek came out of her.  The sound was loud enough to vibrate the surrounding structures - and attract the attention of the bebilith that had entered the Courthall.

- Lily attempted to ignite the webs the spider-demon had constructed across the street, but found that they would not burn well.  The party had just begun hacking their way through when the spider burst through the large, half-open doors of the building.  Kael fired arrows and Lily summoned a celestial creature to distract the monster as they made their escape.

- Back in town, the group rested at the inn and told the townsfolk some of what they found at the keep on the hill.  Most were troubled at the news, but few seemed surprised.  Taryn had another chat with a strange but familiar swordsman, and Lily also was visited by a strange old woman whom she later decided must have been the hag she and her friends had encountered when the first arrived in the region.  Apparently she came to tell them that orcs were massing in the western corners of the area, organized by something claiming an eye/tooth symbol...

GM's Note:

This game has been going for a while, and I found it very satisfying to (finally) get to bring in a hook from all the way back at the start of the campaign.  This narrative thread was so old that we've added 2 players to the group since it was on-screen.  When the PCs had spared this hag and saved her "pet" hydra, she told them she would not forget their kindness - and has now made good on that by alerting them to a growing problem they otherwise had no way of knowing about.

- Though wearing down quickly, the group continued the fight against the demons until their leader noticed the monstrous demonic spider trying to gain entry to the hall - at which point it fled and its remaining lackies went with it.

- After taking a moment to regain their strength, the party decided they would make a search of this main structure of the keep.  Its upper floors contained the bodies of quite a few dead demons, the most of which were piled before the door of a small study.  Having discovered there was someone inside, they had a brief conversation through the locked door before he vanished.  It wasn't until later that Lily realized who it was: Aulthust, the marked man.

- The group picked the lock and searched through the room, finding that the man was apparently concerned with books on elven lore and history and something pertaining to a dwarven settlement - and they learned a few tidbits from the open books they found and decided they would head to the keep's library.  There they found more info about the keep they're heading to - Ver'Sheole - and saw more evidence of Aulthust's search for information on a place called Ur'Galek...

- Unable to trace the tattooed man (suspecting he was an illusion) and aware that demons in the streets around them were closing in, they made the decision to smash their way through a window of the large, central building.

- Once in position, Tyrrox shattered the glass and metal of the window and everyone scrambled up and through it.  Though their efforts were well coordinated, they soon found themselves under attack and pressed between a gang of demons from inside the building, and the monstrous, demonic spider from outside...

- The Inspector directed the Pirate Olivia and her Pretty Pony to take the hobgoblins they'd captured to Lucy Lawful in Out The Window. 

- On the way to the Crossroads, they saved Edwin Bear from a gang of Fluff Spiders. 

- They encountered That Imp at the Crossroads, but they managed to get past him by convincing him that his demanded toll of three Unicorn Feathers didn't make any sense.

- Once through the Crossroads and into Out The Window, they searched the crowded city streets for Lucy Lawful's office.  Just when they found it, however, a wave of Bobgoblins swept them into Nortorious Inc. where Olivia found herself locked in a filing room...

- The party gathered themselves together and made their way deeper into the keep.  They found the central building structure - likely the lord's manor and court they were seeking.  Between them and the entrance, however, was a great deal of webbing they believed was probably from the massive demonic spider Lily had seen earlier.  From the attic of a nearby tavern, they were able to get a slighly better view of the area.  They were deciding whether to go through the webs, traverse the rooftops over them, or smash their way through one of the high windows when they caught sight of someone moving in the abandoned city: a tall man with a curling tattoo of a two-headed dragon on his face...

- The group was continuing its struggle against the Gelugon and its Bone Devil minions when a small horde of Babau demons were alerted to the situation.  Taryn had managed to distract and anger the ice fiend - which was both good and bad.  As the Babau rushed in, the Gelugon once more blasted the entire area with a wave of frost, further wearing down the already-battered PCs and the demons alike.  The PCs collectively decided to let the mortal enemy fiends take out each other while they disengaged. 

- Unfortunately, the injured Kael found himself pinned down against one of the buildings in the street as the fight between the outsiders raged around him.  Taking aim at the Gelugon's head, fortune smiled on the desperate ranger - giving him a perfect shot that felled the devil.  As it exploded into shards of ice, the Babau horde chased after the remaining Bone Devils, leaving the PCs alone on the frozen streets...

- As the group proceeded deeper into the fort, Kael found a town-square area that contained a fountain - all of it frozen over with a thick layer of ice.  The bodies of dozens of devils and other monstrous humanoid creatures littered the ground.  There was a sudden tremor and a red, electric glow "awakened" the ice devil lying in a far corner, which then summoned several more fiends to its aid.

- The group struggled to reunite and coordinate its efforts against this threat, but a building collapse resulted in something of a bottleneck in the street. Ravina was KO'd attempting to keep the creature from concentrating its attacks on the injured Kael, Lily is having some difficulty getting into position, and Tyrrox has been tied up with a pair of bone devils. The gelugon has proved itself a formidable opponent, and while the acid breath from Taryn's orb was effective, the ice devil returned in kind with a blast of frigid air...

The battle continues...

- Fortune was not on the side of our scoundrels tonight, which meant that all of their successes came with a lot more strings attached.

- The pair found out which door had been repainted recently from a man hanging out on a balcony in the backpool, but only after Erik agreed to take him out for a drink the following evening and the manifesting ghost echoes prompted them to act on this information immediately.

- Once inside, the crew met the man called Thad they'd been told about - some Iruvian hawker from a gang called the Incense Collective.  Turns out the gang that Tellis used to run with indirectly caused some problems for Thad's organization, and that was going to dent the profitability of any deal to be made.  By this time, Boros and Erik were so worn down that they just wanted to take what they could get and be done with it. 

- The gang ended up with some impressive coin, but it was only a fraction of what their stolen loot was worth.  To top it off, Thad only agreed to the deal at all if they promised him a favor, but they had to get something out of this and they knew their bargaining position was slipping by the second. 

- Looks like the Foxes are going to be breaking into a Bluecoat watch station to destroy some incriminating evidence - but first, they've got to do something on their own turf about the Stone Club...

- With armor all but completely blasted away from both sides, each hit began to have a real impact.  While Aralakh and the attackers both took quite a bit of critical damage in recent exchanges, the key turning point came when the newly-arrived reinforcements managed to take the 95-ton Banshee out of the fight.

- After fighting off the orcs, the group stayed the night at the Darkpine Inn as local celebrities.  The next day they made their way into the pine forest and up to the sealed keep.  The forest was unnaturally dark, devoid of animal life, and host to shadowy beings that lingered just at the edge of their perception. 

- Upon arriving at the keep's walls, they found that the doors of the gate had been broken but wedged back in place, and that something had gouged abyssal words into the stone wall.  Lily was able to read the writing, but when she tried to tell Kael what it said, something began to affect her mind or perception.  Believing him to be a threat, Lily attacked Kael - stabbing him with her sword.  As the others attempted to discern what was happening and talk her down, she appeared more and more disconnected from the present situation.  An enchantment-breaking spell from Ravina eventually returned her completely to them.

- Meanwhile, Taryn had found a way into the keep.  Climbing a tree that had fallen against the wall, the group was able to easily bypass the gate and the 15' wall it was set in.  Once inside, they found the streets littered with half-completed statues of people (which they suspect may be victims of some unusual petrification effect) and the dead bodies of several devils.  The only living thing they encountered was a senile old woman who didn't seem to know much about what was going on.

- After the old woman wandered off, the group decided to press further in, searching for the lord's manor...

- The other boatman turned out to be an opportunist called Tellis looking for a way to make some coin with his info.  He gave them some instructions and the name of a likely buyer for the goods they'd just pulled out of the canal.

- The crew decided to jump on the opportunity immediately - both to unload their hot cargo asap, and because they really need the coin to finance their other efforts.

- Making their way to Silkshore, they made contact with the Bluecoat Lannerhand and got access to the backpool - but the blue door they were supposed to find is nowhere to be seen...

- Having lost their heavies, Aralakh found itselve in a seriously-out-gunned 2-on-4 match.  They spent a couple of rounds in defensive maneuvering before getting word that half of Garret's Bluesabres lance was coming in to assist them. 

- The arrival of the Clint and Orion didn't exactly even the playing field, but it did add significant strength to their previously-desperate position.  Even so, they had poor fortune overall in trying to inflict significant damage on their foes...

- The party continued to engage them undead leaders as the orc horde descended upon the village.  Some well-placed blows, a summoning spell, entangling vegetation, and a breath weapon kept the raiders from reaching the town and sent them fleeing back into the wilderness.

- After the battle, Taryn once again noticed a strange flash in the dragon orb he had been carrying - it was accompanied this time by a voice and a summons.  What he found when he answered was a sort of meeting place for the current owners of the orbs - though this was not at all to say they were "friends".

- One of the villagers did give them a bit more info about the keep - but mostly they weren't sure what was going on.  The keep had suddenly ceased opening its gates and no human sounds are heard coming from within.  The darkness that has settled upon the pine forest has kept most of the villagers away from it.

- As the party continued more earnestly engaged the raiders, they found the two lead orcs to be a considerable challenge.  By the time the rest of the band was reaching the village, only one of the wolves had been killed.  Lily sent a sonic bolt through the remaining wolf and its orc rider.  The stroke felled the latter, but then that a strange, red static seemed to pull it back up from the ground, it's eyes glowing bright as arcs of brilliant red electricity shot between the tall spires of the keep on the hill behind them...

- The group was talking a bit more with the locals - trying to get a feel for the village and whatever is going on there - when they suddenly found themselves under attack by some raiding orcs from the plains to the west, and by shadows from the pine forest at the edge of town...

- Having discussed their next move, the party made plans to seek out the keep called Ver'Sheole: if Many Eyes, Many Teeth had interest in the location, they wanted to reach it before the cult did.

- They consulted with Tyless Vallane again about what the House Vallane Adventurers' Guild knew about Ver'Sheole, which, unfortunately, wasn't much.  It was an elven keep located in a pass up in the Elmhine Mountains that has long been abandoned.  An old "road" leading up and out of the Navlin Forest should take you to the keep if you can find it. 

- Tyless was a bit more help in planning their route, however, knowing more about the Reaches than any in the party.  He told them the fastest way would likely be to go north through the town of Blosam and then east to the Navlin Forest and the mountains, but, he said, if they took a slightly longer route through Fort Kelsguard, they might be able to find useful information in its library.  Feeling like they might need more info to find the place, they opted for the latter option.

- On the way to Kelsguard, the party found the remains of a wagon and the bodies of two men apparently attacked by orcs.  Tyrrox happened to notice a letter among the tattered clothing of one of the men - it was addressed to the constable at Rolessi and detailed a call for help from Fort Kelsguard, saying that the keep had cut itself off from the village outside and that they suspected their paranoid ruler had finally gone mad.

- They arrived at the village of Kelsguard just after dusk and made their way to the only establishment that seemed to contain any activity - a reasonably-sized inn called Darkpine run by a somewhat cantankerous woman by the name of Helia Twill.  Lily did a good job of presenting the party to the suspicious strangers in the best possible light, but while Helia did tell them that something was certainly wrong, she refused to go into any detail.  Instead, she told them that if they wanted to find out what was going on, they needed to go to the keep and look for themselves...

- Tyrrox brought the nearly-unconscious Eliot Jaand to the watch-captain Wencia, who was sure that he'd been drugged.  She asked Tyrrox some questions about the situation and was alarmed at the mention of demons.

- Taryn caught up with the woman in the purple dress talking in an alcove with a dwarf.  He heard parts of their conversation, including mention of Malefes, some sort of deal, and an elven keep in the eastern mountains called Ver'Sheole.  Tyless Vallane later brought up this name again, and wondered if it was another designation for the same keep Taryn had been researching.

- Lilly spoke to Lord Magnar about the magical mark on the floor of the hall, which turned out to be the symbol of Many Eyes, Many Teeth.  She suspected a woman in a yellow dress as the source of the mark, and was able to learn that she seemed to be connected to lesser-noble house of Nevarg.

- Fredrick Thullus of the Reaches Arms approached Taryn, Tyrrox, and Kebrand Brightwinter about some help the House Vallane Adventurers' Guild could be to him.  Apparently a contact of his at House Briglau in Igveston had news of increased orc activity and an intentional rock-slide bearing the eye-tooth mark.

- The Foxes regrouped after their last score, but they know clocks are ticking on some outstanding "problems".

- Borrick - the leader of the local Bluecoat patrol - cornered Erik in the Three Pennies, threatening to run him in. The scoundrels managed to dodge Ironhook for the time being by promising a future favor.

- The Foxes' gang returned with news about a ditched smugglers' shipment in one of the Coalridge canals.  Needing coin for their plans and figuring the shipment must be worth something, they decided to jump on the opportunity.

- They "acquired" a boat from a local fisherman and went to the place the gang had described.  Due to some good fortune they managed to locate and recover both small metal crates with relatively little consquence, but before they could vacate the area, another boat came up the canal.  They made like they were simple fishermen, but the inquiry "So how's the fishing tonight?" called from the other watercraft didn't sound completely sincere...

- As Lily was beginning her performance, Taryn found his way into the library where he spotted a woman in a dark purple dress apparently stealing a book from the library.  He did his best to apprehend her, but some confusion with the guards and some subtle magic allowed her to slip away and he lost her in the crowds outside.

- Lily noticed some unusual activity from the stage involving a woman in a bright yellow dress, who was apparently leaving the party as she was finishing her set with Julius Nevarg.  As they neared the exist, she saw a young woman in a dark purple dress approach and hand her something.  She also saw Taryn apparently searching urgently for someone or something - and he was a cloaked in shadow, meaning he had activated one of his more potent magic items.

- Meanwhile, a fight broke out near Tyrrox between a dwarf and a drunk, and he spotted two men escorting an apparently-drunk guardsman out of the hall.  When he approached he was able to see the that guard was more dazed than drunk and so intervened.  The two men made it into the hall outside before Tyrrox caught up with them and, when pressed, revealed themselves to be quasits and flew away - causing a small amount of commotion with the nearby guards.

- After spotting some strange marks appearing on the floor, Kael - who'd previously been enjoying the evening with Gella Barens (a young noblewoman he'd met in Igveston) - began to get a hunch that something was wrong.  He met up with Lily as they approached the Balcony where Taryn was scanning the room for his quarry...

- Aralakh's good fortune couldn't last, perhaps because it was too good.  Now realizing his opponents were a significant threat, the Marauder began to check his overconfidence and think more tactically.  Though he'd been hunting the Phoenix Hawk, its defensive maneuvering began presenting him with more ideal shots against the Crusader and the Warhammer which he no longer blindly ignored.  This change in tactics from their most dangerous opponent - combined with gravity and some bad fortune - resulted in the loss of both units over the subsequent exchanges.

- Their primary heavy units now disabled and the Phoenix Hawk starting to show some wear, Aralakh's position is beginning to look more desperate.  Hopefully reinforcements will arrive soon...

- After a rough initial contact, Aralakh's forces began to rally.  A few decisive rounds exploited their dangerous enemies' poor fortune and lack of effective coordination.  As the result of concentrated fire, the Banshee has lost its AC/5 and a signficant quantity of armor while the Marauder's left arm PPC has been destroyed. 

- These scores didn't come freely, however, as the Banshee repeatedly pummeled the Crusader with its powerful fists, and the Phoenix Hawk is starting to show some wear as well.  Still, the tables have drastically turned in Aralakh's favor and an engagement that was starting to look desperate looks much more promising.

New Character:

[Keara] Ravina - Dwarven cleric of Moradin

Highlights:

- Six months after the attack at the Festival of Thorns, the PCs find themselves invited to the Magnar City Social - a yearly gathering of the nobility and honored guests - for their efforts in stopping the rampaging beast and the subsequent investigations into the activity of the cult known as Many Eyes, Many Teeth.

- Lily and Tyrrox were greeted as local celebrities, Ravina chatted about her home city with a dwarven jeweler called Pierless Gray, Kael ran into an old friend, and Taryn spoke with some of Dyn'Talor's court, a man concerned with Magnar's defense of the city, and Tyless Vallane, who told him a particular book Taryn was looking for might be found in the Magnars' library.

- The group was able to ward off the attacking predators with Naran's daylight abilities, directed by Piper's artifact which had tuned in to their dimensional energy signature.

- Continuing on, they eventually left the fern-encrusted tunnel, finding their way along catwalks suspended in nothingness to a vault that had been torn open from the inside.  6 massive tentacles protruted from it in different directions, and within it was a swirling vortex of black smoke.

- Once they moved into position, Naran used the artifact Piper had made to amplify her cutting light abilities to sear away the darkness - but each time she did so, she became weaker.  The others fought off the flock of bat-like shadows that began streaming from it, and they all did their best to dodge the great tentacles which reeled themselves in and began grasping at the intruders.

- As the blackness was cleared, they were able to catch a glimpse of the interior of the vault - where they saw the source of the living void: an open book.  When the last of the blackness was burned away, the book lay inert on the vault floor - the faintest wisp of black smoke issuing from its pages. 

- The void intrusion now disrupted, the group suddenly found themselves in some sort of control room amdist blaring alarms, frantic error displays, and components and terminals which were burning out and arcing eletricity - the system was overloading.  Against all odds, Piper, Naran, and Ronin managed to manipulate the system to bleed off the excess power and return it to a relatively stable condition.

- The group made their way back to the surface, where they found Polious looking somewhat relieved.  The Weathervane had stabilized - and, even better, was now operating at about 85% of ideal output - a marked improvement from the unstable 30-50% they'd been getting previously.  While its days were still numbered, he was optimistic that they would have at least another 5 years to prepare for its ultimate failure.

END OF CHAPTER 1

GM's Note: Chapter 1.  This is chapter 1.  And it took us two years and 62 sessions to get through.  I think the reasons for the long timeline were a combination of having the party split for so long, having short 1.5 - 2.5 hr game sessions, and that there is just SO MUCH to explore in the Ninth World and beyond.  Also, our group tends to "take the long way".  Don't get me wrong, the campaign has been a blast, but they have only scratched the surface.  For now, however, we're going to set this one aside and play some other things.  On our return, my plan for Chapter 2 is to advance the timeline a significant distance into the future: the players will construct a new generation of explorers set to build on the discoveries this group has made.

- Naran and Piper headed back to town, where they found that the ruin surrounding their settlement seemed to have "energized" in some way.  Polious was reporting that output levels for the Weathervane were averaging around 120% - up from about the 30-40% of the preceding weeks - but that the system was increasingly unstable. 

- Piper resumed work on the devices the group needed to address the problem and was able to finish them over the next several hours.

- Ronin, Ganthet, and Helios made their way through the night back to Arable, having a brief encounter with a strange, hovering eye covered in voluminous robes.  It seemed to have "left" something for them - a component that turned out to be *exactly* what Piper needed to finish the devices she was working on.

- After resting up, the group headed once more into the corridors below the Weathervane - searching for the epicenter of the dimensional-void they had been encountering.  Using the 'detector' Piper had made, they found their way deep into the ruin, through large sections that seemed to be "missing", and ultimately onto a long, twisting set of catwalks extending out into seeming nothingness.

- Eventually, the pathway led them to a large spherical chamber - from the outside closely resembling the control room they had just scavenged in the B Dome - but the inside was covered in luminous purple ferns.  As they made their way through it, Ronin began to suspect that they were being watched - just before they found themselves under attack by shadowy beast that seemed to materialize from a cloud of black smoke...

- The Foxes were given a job offer to steal a set of paints from an artist in Charterhall that had been illegally infused with spirit essences.  It promised to be an easy score with a decent payout and since they were needing some cash quickly to get what they needed to stay ahead of the Stone Club, they took it.

- The target was located in the old Charter Wall community, and Erik and Boros quickly encountered a Bluecoat presence, intoxicated citizens, and a level of midnight activity they weren't used to in Six Towers.

- They broke into the artist's studio and were rummaging around when they began to encounter spiritual activity.  As one of the paintings began to wail and distraught ghosts began manifesting, Erik grabbed a couple of the paints and took off in a near-panic.  Boros steeled himself enough to grab a couple others as well as the howling artwork before making his getaway.

- The two were successful in their mission, but they were seen clearly by one of the local Bluecoats, a drunk, and Crenoll - the artist they robbed.

- As Piper pried the last of the needed components from the machinery, the system's stability reached a tipping point.  The pulsing blue lights in the sphere above them turned a dark red and alarms began to sound.  As they made their way back to the hatchway, several spherical maintenance automatons activated, though only one seemed to be functioning correctly.

- Outside, Ganthet and Helios confronted the many-mouthed being.  Before any real fighting began, however, it was distracted by another of its kind that had targeted Ronin.  As the two creatures argued and fought, the three of them withdrew, rejoining their friends, and all of them hurried toward the exit to the sphere - which was now full of flashing red lights and vibrating intensely.

- Once back at the entrance, Ronin, Ganthet, and Helios used their own abilities to descend from the sphere while Naran teleported herself and Piper directly back to Arable - or, close to it.  They arrived a few miles south of town at Aglarion's watchtower.  They were close enough, however, to see the stormclouds gathering to the south, the tribe of brutish abhumans approaching from that direction, and the billowing plume of smoke rising from beneath the southeast side of Arable - which had now pulled itself about 50 feet up and out of the ground...

- +1xp

- Aralakh continued their fight against the FWL attackers, but fortune seemed to be against them.  Rip's Crusader nearly had its cockpit bashed in by the 95-ton Banshee, and Drevan's Warhammer has been so battered and shot-up that it has only a single medium laser remaining.  The company has managed to return some of the damage they've received, and while they've burned off a good chunk of armor, they haven't managed to inflict any real damage on their opponents.

- Orion's Assassin is virtually untouched but Aralakh's biggest ace is the lostech Phoenix Hawk, which is also still in good shape.  Will it be enough to turn the tide?  And how is the rest of the planetary defense shaking out?

- Piper and Helios fought off the sathosh, though some sort of smoke cypher nearly killed Piper - Ronin was able to save her by sacrificing one of the artifacts they'd taken from the abhumans.

- Meanwhile, Naran found some sort of access terminal and was able not only to stop the deafening noise, but also learn something about the ruin they were in and where they might be able to find the components they were seeking.

- The group reunited, and Naran led them deeper into the structure toward something she'd seen in the readouts labeled as an environmental processor - it would likely have the sensors they needed.

- Finding their way to that region proved difficult, however, as broken corridors and other obstructions blocked what should have been open pathways.  They found themselves in a cavernous space that had been overgrown by mushroom-like fungus.  Within this area, they found the entrance to the chamber they were seeking: a hatchway in the top of what seemed to be a 100' sphere.

- As Naran and Piper climbed inside and began cannibalizing what they could from the machinery within - being careful not to disrupt any systems that would prove hazardous - Ganthet, Helios, and Ronin found a humanoid bat-creature that had been captured.  As they freed it, they were interrupted by a strange, skulking humanoid with a head covered in mouths...

- +2xp

- Having altered their contract by doubling their pay, the Lysidas Barony secured Aralakh's services to help repel the coming planetary assault.  Deciding they would meet the FWL forces on the plains to the northwest, the company set up their defenses.

- Aralakh's primary lance met the spearhead lance of the assault: a Vindicator, Dragon, and Banshee led by the defected Marauder pilot they'd previously encountered.  All of them skilled mechwarriors, the skirmish promised to get brutal very quickly.

- The forces traded missles and long-range potshots as they closed.  The first real exchange chewed off some armor from the Vindicator and dented the Maruader a little, but it was the second salvo that proved more significant: a face-off between the Warhammer and the Marauder.  Drevan led with a lucky PPC headshot that almost destroyed his foe, but the Maruader came back with a series of strikes that pounded through its right torso, destroying his SRM/6 and its ammo bin.  A split-second premonition before the hit prompted Drevan to dump the missiles, keeping his unit from being ripped apart from the inside only moments after initial contact...

- The group returned once more to the "B Dome" - this time with Piper - in order to find components she needs to complete the the devices they require to help them address the blackness plaguing Arable.

- They encountered some sathosh on the way, including one particularly unusual individual in white, robe-like garb and weilding obvious numenera.  With the help of a hologram their presence seemed to have triggered, Piper and Helios found their way up into some sort of control chamber...

- Ganthet, Ronin, Naran, and Helios traveled north to the "B dome", now revealed to be a 1400' sphere and hovering about 200' above the landscape.  They found a collapsed crater beneath the floating orb containing some remnants of the metal sphere and a partially-crushed burned stonework structure - as well as the entrance to an underground sathosh lair.  Unsure of a good way to reach the sphere above and unintentionally attacting the sathosh's attention, they decided to return to Arable.

- Piper continued working on her new devices, and Naran and Helios were finally able to nail down the exact capabilities and limitations of Naran's teleportation ability: to be reliable, the starting point and the destination must be located in direct sunlight otherwise the jump would always be off - sometimes a little, sometimes a lot

- Piper eventually came to the conclusion that to create the necessary artifacts, she would need some specialized components she didn't have - and the most likely place to find them would be the B Dome...

- +1xp

- Having acquired a few more members - a gang of Rooks and a cutter called Boros - the Foxes decided their next move would be to kick the Stone Club out of Fenwell Hook.  They'd had their eye on this territory for some time, and their contact that lived there was getting increasingly impatient.

- Their efforts to gather information about the area yeilded mixed results and they were unable to pin down exactly where and when the Stone Club appeared and/or what they did in the area.  They ultimately decided their approach would be an ambush-style assault: they'd jump the gang when they came to harass Lerrin again.

- The Foxes set up a concealed position outside Lerrin's shop and waited for the gang to appear.  When they did, the engagement quickly went sideways - it seems that someone may have tipped off the Club to someone else operating in their area.

- The resulting skirmish was brief and bloody, though it resulted in no immediate deaths on either side.  Though their gang broke and ran off and Borors and Erik took a great deal of injury and stress, they were ultimately able to beat down and run off the part of the Stone Club gang that operated in Fenwell, claiming that turf for their own.

- Now at-war with the Stone Club and under the eyes of the Bluecoats, the Foxes found themselves in a tight spot.  They had the good fortune to meet up with a Leech who helped patch them up, but their gang hasn't been seen since the street fight.  Worse yet, they're down to their last few coins.  The crew needs some easy cash - and soon...

- Flashback: About 24 hours after their return from the margr encampment, Drakald organized a search party to go look for Tala and Kelon, who still had not return.  What remained of the encampment was a  bloody mess of dead margr and scavenger beats.  It took a couple hours of searching, but they eventually found the bodies of both of their friends.  Upon return to Arable, a funeral for the lost was arranged.  Even with the return of Naran and Helios, the spirits of the town were depressed for a y several days - lifted somewhat when Piper arrived.

- The group spent some time discussing Polious' concerns.  Despite the Aeon Priest's feeling that the device was doomed, they beleived that if they could remove the void influence from the Weathervane, it might recover enough to be stabilized.  They did some experiments on the puddle-like protrusions finding that bright light seemed to boil it away.  With the help of a cypher, Ronin was able to look "inside" one of the puddles, to find a swirling vortext of shadow leading deep into the earth.

- Ideas for how to remove the void were difficult in coming, but the group eventually decided their best bet was to somehow amplify Naran's light ability and direct it at the "heart" of the void, somewhere deep within the ruin beneath tham.  Piper set about trying to make a some devices (one to enhance Naran's light ability, and one to detect the source of the void intrusion), Naran spent some time studying the strange portal books they'd found on their journeys, and Ganthet, Ronin, and Helios discussed a venture up to the now-floating B Dome...

- +1xp

- With the Marauder's arrival, Aralakh's recon lance now found itself severely outgunned.  Needing to drop some heat, Steiner maneuvered his Blackjack around some rock formations to avoid line-of-site to the big guns.  Unfortunately, this left Riley and the Hatchetman totally exposed and the only viable target for the Marauder as well as the Vindicator.  The 45-ton 'mech could normally survive a round or two of that sort of barrage, but one of the Marauder's PPCs landed a direct hit on the unit's head, totally destroying it.

- Instantly down another unit and believing Riley to have been killed, Steiner gave the order to retreat.  The Marauder's pilot demonstrated impressive skill by continuing to score solid hits against the fleeing units, but the remaining three were able to escape with their info.

- Meanwhile, Rip and Toulonne visited the small, run-down port town of Urngen.  There they noted some FWL sympathies and a certain hesitance by the locals to engage certain topics of conversation: the two eventually determined that sections of the town showed signs of 'mech presence and damage, but no one was talking about it.  As they left the town to drive back to Lysida City, they could see the tell-tale thruster glow of a pair of dropships descending to the south...

- Pirate Hannah and her little sister Olivia get a call for help from The Inspector.  He had too many cases and needed someone capable to take over one or two of them.  Hannah took a look at the wall and grabbed the 'Wanted' poster.  A pair of Hobgoblins had stolen a bag full of coins from Big Bucks Bank and were hiding out in the Fear Factory.

- On the way to the Factory, they met a goblin salesman who tried to get them to buy a few things, but he didn't seem to have anything they wanted.  The lock on the door to the factory didn't pose much of a challenge for the crafty pirate, and they ventured inside.

- After wandering through a few rooms of the abandoned toy factory, they encountered a Blunderbus who tried to steal a couple of coins from them.  When confronted he told them that "they" made him do it, and he led them to the interior room where the Hobgoblins were holed up.

- Hannah's "Good Blaster" broke through the hobs' armor and made them feel very guilty.  She tied them up and brought them back to The Inspector who told them that the theives were wanted by Lucy Lawful...

- Steiner took his Blackjack with Riley in the newly-acquired Hatchetman, Orion in his assassin, and Morgan in the Jenner into the western badlands to look for signs of 'mech activity related to the terrorist cell they'd been hunting.

- After some time in the badlands, they began picking up weak radio transmissions and began to notice sensor interference in their 'mechs.  They ended up in a boxed canyon where they found a Flea and a Clint and a few semi-permenent structures.

- Engaging the units was more difficult than it should have been, largely due to whatever was causing the sensor scrambling.  As they fought with the lighter units, Steiner realized that their foes were painted with obvious FWL colors, rather than the hodge-podge, bandit schemes they'd so far encountered on this contract.  Further, the area they were occupying was almost certainly a dropship LZ.

- The lance managed to take out the Flea, but the threat increased significantly when reinforcements showed up in the form of a Vindicator who landed a couple PPC hits right out of the gate.

- Morgan turned his attention to the building the suspected of housing the sensor-jamming device in an attempt to remove that edge from their enemies.  It was pretty heavily armored, but with some help from his allies, a couple rounds of sustained fire destroyed it and the interference they'd been experiencing cleared instantly.

- It was then that Steiner's sensors pegged their biggest problem: a 70-ton Marauder closing in on their position...

- As Ronin attempted to cover Ravri's escape from the merkadian, Helios suddenly appeared between them and a large margr (Glaan) emerged from the chaos behind it.  Helios and the margr engaged the spike assailant while Ronin fired at it with his bow, eventually piercing its chest and causing it to explode in a burst of green, electrical energy.

- While Kelon and Ganthet attempted to occupy the surrounding margr, Naran made her way to the controls of the large, wheeled cannon artifact as the a loosed crag worm bore down upon them.  Naran was able to take control of the device and decipher the controls enough to get it moving in a direction away from the rampaging beast, driving it away through the chaos of the camp and out the other side.

- After taking a few more shots into the skirmishing margr with his numenera polyp weapon, Ronin sensed that they had done what they could and assisted the injured Ravri away from the encampment.  Noticing the telltale signs of his brother's lightening abilities, Helios waded into the camp to help cover his escape.  The warcamp now thoroughly consuming itself, the parties from Arable disengaged - each making their way back to the town by their own route.  Only Kelon and Tala did not return.

- The townspeople were happy to be reunited with Naran and Helios, and there was more celebration on their return.  Once she and Olim arrived, Piper spent some time with Polious fixing the dozen or so perplexing "bugs" that seemed to continue to plague the Weathervane, despite their efforts and what the Aeon Priest was sure should have worked.

- After some time had passed, Polious gathered them all together with some troubling news: the Weathervane was dying.  A number of major components were shorting out and could not be replaced without depowering the entire system, but the burnout of a number of regulatory systems and the malfunctioning of interfaces meant that they only way they had to shut it down would also burn out the entire thing.  On top of that, its power output seems to be much less than the core the group had recovered should be providing - and it's continuing to drop.  He gives it less than two years of reduced operation before it burns out completely, and he has no contingency plan...

- +2xp

GM's Note: For the first time since Mar 6 2017, the party is completely reunited!!

- Drevan, Toulonne, and Braeggan flipped over the steel table and took cover behind it, returning a few shots with their pistols as they decided what to do.  The building was on auto-lockdown, but the back door had been opened moments before the alarm was raised and wouldn't seal until it closed again.  They attempted to give some covering fire while sending Braeggan out the door to (relative) safety.

- Moments later, the truck that had rammed through the wall exploded violently, killing many of the attackers while the rest ran away further into the building.  Drevan and Toulonne pursued one down the hall and discovered that the stairwell doors - which should have been locked - were open.  When they returned to the mess hall, security teams and medics were already on site.  As the incident wound down, the two were asked some questions and allowed to leave.

- When the rest of the company returned, they found out from Riley that about 20 minutes after they left the battlefield continuing their escort mission, a Marauder and a Cyclops arrived on the scene.  They all spent some time doing field repairs (enough to get the Whitworth moving again), and the group of them headed off to the west.  Consulting the satellite maps, to the west was largely plainsland.  Beyond this was a rugged badlands region, the compound of a wealthy noble, and the small port town of Urngen.

- The group also got word of the Bluesabres returning to the city and decided they wanted to find out what they knew.  Steiner and Orion caught up with a couple of them at The Militiaman, and learned they'd found little in the mountains to the north, but that they had intercepted a Hermes II heading east and were currently working to salvage it.  They figure the Hermes was heading into the forest, and they're planning to hit that area next.

- The company did some quick repairs to get a deployable recon lance and sent them to the badlands to the west while Rip, Toulonnne and a couple of crew went to speak with the noble.

- Naran returned to where Helios had been, only to find him missing.  Looking around, she noticed Ganthet and Kelon in the camp below her, freeing the worms and fending off a merkadian.  Still invisible, she made her way down the slope to some cover and began zapping the spiked man with sunbeams.

- Ganthet used his electrical affinity to awaken and prod the sedated crag worms, who lunged into the camp, adding to the chaos unfolding there.  Kelon attempted to keep the merkadian's attention, which quickly devided between him, Ganthet, and whatever was searing him with bright yellow light.  The three of them kept him unable to focus on a single target, and Naran was eventually able to finish him off.

- Trying to keep Ravri's quarry from spotting her, Ronin fired a couple of polyp canisters in his direction.  The merkadian spotted him almost immediately and charged up into his hiding place.  Not wanting to be cornered, Ronin leapt away into the darkness, but this turned the merkadian's attention elsewhere and he spotted Ravri just before she was able to backstab him.  Ronin returned and began firing arrows and canisters into the resulting skirmish, but neither he nor Ravri seemed to be able to do much damage to the merkadian threat.

- The warcamp itself was quickly devolving into internal conflict.  The margr gathered there were only loosely held together by merkadian control - and most of them resented the outsiders.  One tribe leader in particular called Glaan, saw and opportunity as things began to unfold and made her move against the one called The Eye.  As the duel began, the margr gathered, uncertain of what to do, waited to see how it would turn out - and thus who to side with.  The resulting struggle was brief and brutal, but Glaan ultimately came out on top, crushing the merkadian's head with a final blow that dislodged its numenera eye.

- After killing the merkadian, Naran, Kelon, and Ganthet had a brief conversation about what to do next.  They had killed a probably leader, but they still needed to do more to reduce the threat posed by this band.  Seeing a large numenera machine powering up and rolling through the camp, they decided that would be their next target.  Though outnumbered dozens to one, the three waded into the camp, fighting off abhumans as they went, until they reached the device.

- Ronin and Ravri, both beaten down signficantly, began to make a retreat to the north, away from the fight.  Ronin used his numenera device to put as many polyp growths between them and the merkadian as possible, but it was only slowing him down.

- Glaan, having wondered through the camp in search of the other oppressors, finally spotted the green numenera discharges of the one called The Fist.  She shoved her way through the intervening chaos, emerging to see the merkadian wading through a growth of red polyps toward some unknown attacker in the darkness...

- +1xp

GM's Note: This situation turned into a rather lengthy and complex encounter.  Because Piper is not present - and is, in fact, weeks further in the timeline than the others - I decided to give Keara an NPC to play in this engagement.  Indicating she wanted to do something a bit different, I decided I would give her one of the margr of the camp - the leader of a sub-tribe who chafed against the merkadian's cowing of the others.  While this character was created just prior to this session, the idea of characters like Glaan present in the warcamp was always there, so it was easy enough to flesh out one of them and hand it off.  Keara really enjoyed the change of pace, and getting a different perspective on the chaos of the encounter was interesting for everyone.

- Pursued by a patrol of margr, Ronin, Ganthet, and the others scatter into the rugged landscape, forcing the enemies to split up and losing some of them in the process.  A few isolated skirmishes resulted, with somewhat varied outcomes.

- Ganthet and Kelon regrouped and decided that something must be done about the greater tribe.  Neither had a solid plan, so they decided to go for the desperate one that seemed to have the best chance of doing some good: if they could release and prod the juvenile cragworms, the beasts might be able to do enough damage to significantly weaken the horde.

- Ronin had a brief fight with the one margr chasing him and made his way to a nearby skirmish where he found Ravri being attacked by several - including an obvious leader.  The fight took a toll on them both, but with some good fortune they take out the big guy and took off before too many more could arrive.  Deciding that the game is up, they also made their way back toward the encampment - Ronin decided that freeing the cragworms they'd seen earlier was their best bet at keeping the tribe from attacking Arable, though Ravri seemed dubious.

- Meanwhile, Naran and Helios were attacked by another patrol as they wandered unknowingly into the margr's territory.  They fought off their attackers, but lost their pack animal in the process.  Gathering the remaining supplies, they continued on their way - only to stumble upon the encampment from above.

- As Ronin and Ravri made their way around the camp from the north, Ronin caught sight of Ganthet sneaking in and cutting the ropes tying the beasts down.  Noticing another group of margr approaching the area, he fired his red-polyp numenera weapon into their midst, creating confusion and buying his companions some time.  Taking note of the effectiveness of the tactic, he maneuvered into a different position and fired again into the camp as Ravri moved off in another direction.

- Above, Naran and Helios spotted a patrol heading their way.  Naran made herself invisible and teleported to the far side of the patrol in a bright flash of light, startling and disorienting them.

- Ganthet and Kelon managed to cut the cables on the worms without being seen, and the most agitated of them lunged into the camp, devouring whatever margr it came across.  As he carefully pulled back into the shadows at the edge of the camp, Helios, who had been watching the scene from above, recognized his brother.

- Ronin took notice of the figures in spikes investigating the chaos happening in the camp with a bit more focus than their abhuman counterparts.  As one moved closer to his position, he saw Ravri, all but in the open, creeping up behind it with her knife drawn...

- The Foxes decided their next move would be against Drave's rival - a witch called Quellyn.  She had apparently bound a ghost which was now haunting Drave in an attempt to get him to free it.  They did a little legwork in Crow's Foot prior to the operation, but didn't manage to get much more than some dirty looks.

- The gang made their way into the sewers and tunnels near the witch's tower where they found a boarded-up hole in its basement wall protected by some sort of ghost ward.  Drave was able to dismantle the magical protections and Erik quickly pried the boards out before they could be spotted.

- Inside the tower, they made their way toward the upper chamber Drave had seen in a vision.  They were caught by a mad, howling spectre which injected their minds with horrific visions before Drave managed to drive it off.

- Finally making their way up the brittle iron staircase into the upper chamber, they found the hanging dolls exactly where they expected them - and they could also hear Quellyn's voice chanting upstairs.  Peering into the ghost field, Drave was able to find the ghost he was trying to free and identify the doll anchor binding it to the witch.  With Erik's help, they cut the anchor down intact and made off before Quellyn could catch them - though the only loot they found was a small wooden box full of gold teeth.

- The Foxes returned to their neighborhood to discover that Flint, one of their contacts, had been questioned by the Bluecoats and may have let slip a couple of details about the Foxes' operations.  The crew did manage to do a little recruiting - picking up a small gang of rooks to help them cover their territory.

- Naran and Helios met up with some scavengers outside the Empty Machine and followed them back to the quasi-permanent encampment nearby.  They bartered for food, water, and a shelter from the supply caravan that had arrived from the north and set out toward Arable.  Late in the evening of the 4th day, as they wandered through a badlands region, the found themselves surrounded by a small band of margr...

- Ronin and Ganthet discussed their situation with the other hunters and made some decisions.  A few of them attempted to pursue the margr that had fled from the battle but were ultimately unable to catch it.  The others moved into a recon position to survey the larger tribe.  They found an unusually large group of 200+ margr, possibly being led by a couple of spike-covered humanoids, that had apparently captured a few juvenille cragworms.  As they talked about what they'd found, margr nearby were alerted to their presence...

- Piper, Olim, and Jumis made their way through the scrublands toward Arable.  They happened upon some machinery surrounded by deep, black oil on the way through.  When they reached the city, they were greeted by Neen - deputy Urshan's pet seskii.

- Piper and Olim made their way into Luigolamis.  They spoke to a couple of guardsmen who gave them some tips on navigating the city.  They were able to acquire supplies from the lakeshore markets, but had little luck finding suitable components for their damaged airship.  As they made their way out, an alarm sounded throughout the Twinned Cities and the energy barrier was activated - apparently a bandit army was closing in and the city needed to be sealed.  Piper and Olim used a cypher they'd acquired and a makeshift zipline to escape.  Once back to the airship, they set out once more for the Beyond.

- Ganthet began climbing the numenera device that had risen from the sands in an attempt to reach the top before the margr as Ronin fired arrows at the remaining enemies.  Ganthet managed to knock the climbing margr from the device and, continuing to its top, found another numenera objcet being created within teh energy bubble at the top.  As the hunters closed in on the remaining margr, Ronin gained the leader's attention.  As the massive, two-headed margr charged at him, he pulled and fired the weapon he'd taken from one of the others.  His shot was perfect and the leader was consumed from the inside by toxic fungal polyps.  Their remaining foes had fallen, but they knew at least one had escaped in the fray - certainly heading northwest to the larger tribe.

- Naran and Helios rejoined Drokkan at the bunk house.  After a a bit more rest, Drokkan agreed to take them to the machine he'd found as promised.  On the way there, he became increasingly wary - and when they arrived he found a glyph that unnerved him.  As he warned them that they shouldn't remain in the area long, Naran began to examine the complex device.  The center of the room seemed to contain a bubble of space somehow "pulled" from another location.  She discerned that, if one were to break the containment field, that person could enter the bubble and be transported to the place displayed.  In a stroke of considerable good fortune, she not only located the controls to alter the location displayed, but found several "presets" that showed floating obelisks - one of which she recognized from Polious' stories as the Amber Monolith.  From there, she was able to adjust the location eastward until Helios recognized the Empty Machine - a landmark not more than a hundred miles or so northwest of Arable.  It was at this point they ran out of time.  As a greenish mist began to fill the room, Naran activated to device and she and Helios jumped into the portal - telling Drokkan he could come with them, but that it was a one-way trip.

- Piper and Olim traveled slowly but steadily on their airship for several days - through the Black Riage via the Garl Knave, westward to the enormous Ba-Adenu forest, and then north to the plains of Kataru.  They saw distant lights in the impossibly-tall black mountains, the great mass of the largest trees either of them had ever seen, a massive automaton with a glass-like spherical head, a landscape bent down by the inexplicably-sustained gusts of hurricane-force winds, and a silver thread reaching all the way into the heavens in the eastern distance.  After a few days, however, their craft began to experience various levels of malfunction.  They worked tirelessly to keep it stable, in the air, and continuing north, but it became apparent that eventual failure was inevitable.  For the last several miles, the all but scraped the surface of the barren landscape before the craft dug into the dull earth and came to a stop.  In the distance, however, Piper could just make out the point of what appeared to be Aglarion's Watchtower - and landmark only a few miles south of Arable.

- +1xp

- Aralakh managed to keep the advantage in their struggle against the raiders, but as the trucks pulled away and the enemy force split they were forced to make a decision: would they stay with the trucks and ensure they arrived safely at their destination, or would they fight it out and try to recover their downed Panther?  They ultimately opted for the former, bringing their mission success/failure record and units gained/lost both to 1:1.

- Meanwhile, Drevan and Toulonne were back at the garrison at Lysida City talking with Braeggan (their master tech) in the mess hall about repairs to the Grasshopper, when they suddenly found themselves attack as an armored vehicle smashed through the wall and automatic gunfire sprayed into the room.

- Piper and Garrot load up Jumis and what supplies they had and manage to get the craft off the ground and some distance from the city before they came under attack by the perimeter defences.  They took a hit to the craft's secondary propulsion systems, which Piper was able to patch while dangling from a makeshift harness.  Once away, they discussed their overall plan.  They decided they would stop in the Empire's "Twinned Cities" of Jargolamis/Luigolamis for supplies and components, and then make their way to the Garl Nave to cross the Black Riage into the Ba-Adenu forest and make their way northward from there over the Beyond.  This would mean they'd have little hope of aid should their craft break down, but it also meant they would have little in the way of political trouble.

- Ganthet, Ronin, and their companions continued their fight against the margr band, slowly gaining the advantage.  The holograms that had been shifting overhead suddenly vanished, and some sort of numenera device emerged from the ground - crowned with a bubble of pulsing energy.  The leader and a couple of others broke off their fight with the intruders in order to interact with it: the leader seemed to activate certain controls while one of the others began frantically climbing the structure toward the energy bubble.

- Helios was awakened by a sudden tremor that knocked him out of the bunk and frantic pounding on the door.  It also seemed to be "snowing" inside the building.  Looking out the window, he saw some chaos in the Scavengers' Wreck, but nothing obviously corresponding with the cries of "let us in, it's going to kill us!" coming from the people outside.  He poked his head through the door and told them to calm down, but they just ran off screaming.  Seeing no apparent threat beyond the crazies outside, Helios barricaded the door and went back to sleep.

- Naran and Martylla had been making their way to the DataVault when the snow storm hit.  Naran found that contact with the crystals caused vivid hallucinations and disorientation, but Martylla and the other skeane seemed unaffected.  She made it to the DataVault only partially conscious and the next they she knew she was in some distorted facsimile of Arable.  Uncertain of her surroundings but following the cues provided, she and Martylla navigated the construct, spoke with some of the "people" there, and eventually emerged with 3 marker keys.  Taking advantage of the chaos created by the storm, Martylla was able to get them to an unattended "lift" within the vault where they could use their keys to access the correct data-drives to get the information they were after: where was Helios?  The data in the vault seemed to answer their question - as well as a few more unasked.

- +2xp

- Pirate Hannah and her Pretty Pony got a job offer from an alien called Opik: he needed someone to accompany the child alien Zot on a space ship back to his home planet.  He would give them 3 coins when Zot arrived safely.

- Shortly into the trip alarms began sounding.  A message from Opik said there was some distrubance in the engine room.  With some help from an android called Sassy, Hannah opened the hatch covering a secret ladder down into the workings of the ship.  She made her way to the back of the ship, encountering some space rats, a bubble-gum making bird, and other strange creatures.

- The engine room was being devoured by a metal-eating creature called a Lacer.  When she couldn't talk it into leaving, she tried to scare it off and then beat it up, but it proved too tough for her.

- In the end, Hannah lured the creature out of the engine room, and though it conked her out, Sassy arrived and was able to convince it to eat some of the junk in the storage room instead of gnawing on the engine.

GMs Note:

This scenario from "Uh-Oh Monsters" was REALLY tough for a single PC - and that's AFTER I dialed it back a bit.  In hindsight, instead of using deus-ex and having Sassy talk the Lacer out of eating the engine, I should have had the ship crash on a nearby planet and then Hannah would have to fix the ship to get Zot home - which would have been awesome.  Unfortunately, I didn't think of that at the time.  We'd been going for a while, and I could sense Hannah was running out of ideas, so I was trying to wrap it up.  I'm also not super practiced at running published scenarios.  Oh well, live and game and learn.

- Finding themselves threatened by rivals on apparently hostile turf, the Foxes did their best to play off the situation as expected.  They told the leader of the Stone Club gang that they had come to patch things up and even suggested that the two crews should be working together.  Their proposal got them a foot in the door (with help from some coin), but they got a bit demanding in the delivery and their "suggestions" were ultimately not well received.  Before the situation could erupt into actual violence, they took their leave.

- Deciding to continue their search for a fence, Erik went to speak with his friend Telda, a Six Towers beggar.  The woman initially told him off for his line of questioning, but later sent word to him about a hunched man with silver-gray hair called Zant who hangs out near the Black Circle Tavern.  

- Piper and Garrot were led by Quince into the Court of Rarmon where they spoke with Lord Gyre.  They were asked to explain the afternoon's "malfunction" and to give their opinion of ongoing threats.  Some of the conversation began to sound accusatory when Quince made a proposal to the Lords to move all "significant and mysterious" numnera artifacts to the control of the crown by way of the city government.  A few of those gathered took issue with this "overreach", but most seemed contentedly unaffected.  Following the hearing, Piper returned to the Orrery with Garrot in order to help return it to a (more) stable condition and then made her way back to Olim's tower to find the airship almost ready for launch.  After a brief conversation with him and some hurried preparations and last-minute checks, they decided the time had come to make their move - the test flight of their newly-completed airship would be a flight from the city's powers-that-be and into the Beyond.

- Ganthet, Ronin, and their company continued their fight against the margr as the holograms flashed and shifted overhead.  Ronin attracted the attention of one of abhumans weilding a slug-thrower weapon and Ganthet engaged with the large, two-headed creature that seemed to be the leader while Tala, Ravri, Oorum and Shynd waded into the fray with other specimens.  After being disarmed, Ganthet set off an electrical detonation cypher, which shocked and stunned most of those within the camp as a powerful energy beam from somewhere outside burned into the margr leader's chest

- Naran, Drokkan, and Helios attempted to hide as a band of well-equipped skeane descended upon the area.  Their efforts were only partially successful, and both groups decided to leave the area rather than engage them.  Helios, unsure of the location of his companions, set off toward the membrane gate leading back into the city of Rust and, once there, made his way to Drokkan's dwelling in the South Loop.  Naran and Drokkan were trying to conceal themselves in their hiding place, but searchlights suggested they'd been spotted.  Naran was doing her best not to let the growing dread become panic when she suddenly found herself back in the City of Rust.  She set the injured Drokkan up in one of the public bunkhouses and went to speak with his skeane "friend" Martylla to see if she could find a way to determine Helios's wearabouts.  Martylla suggested they check the DataVault.

- When the bubble teas hit the frozen ice rink, the froze solid into balls and rolled away - being chased by the Argle Bargles.  Since she found herself trapped in the basement, Pirate Hannah decided to let them have the bubble teas for now and concentrate on getting back up the slide.  She managed to talk the Argle Bargles into helping her up the slide, and they even gave her the rest of their (now frozen) bubble teas.

- Next she needed to get a clean pillowcase.  Crystal Noele told her she could find one in the laundry shed behind the hotel, but when Hannah got there, she found it was full of Gunks who were busy dirtying all the clean laundry.  She was able to get the only remaining clean pillowcase away from them, but got pretty 'gunked' herself in the process.

- The last component she needed was a room key.  Cyrstal told Hannah that all of the keys were in use, and that the guests with them were trapped on the 3rd floor!  Talking to the gardener gnome, Hannah borrowed a growing ladder and climbed into the 3rd floor window where she was able to talk a cat-person into giving her a room key.

- Once all the components were gathered, Hannah recited the incantation and the Jinn and Dragons went back to work, freezing the thawing hotel.  Cyrstal Noele was so happy that she told Hannah that she and her Pretty Pony could stay at her hotel for free anytime.

- Pirate Hannah came with her Pretty Pony to stay in a famous Ice Palace Hotel in Into the Closet.  When she arrived, however, she found the place to be melting.  The owner, Crystal Noele, explained that the Jinn and the Snow Dragon that usually keep the place frozen had stopped working.  When Hannah investigated, she found that the Jinn and the Dragon were under a 'Lazy Bum' spell, and to reverse it, she would have to gather some specific components.

- The first was "two partially-drunk glasses of bubble tea".  Serios, the mouse who runs the hotel's cafe, told her he'd sold the last two to a couple of Argle Bargles, which had then gone down to the ice rink in the basement.  Hannah found them there, and was able to steal the teas from them, but as she tried to escape back up the slide leading to the basement, she slipped and landed back in the rink as the Argle Bargles closed in...

- Piper and Garrot discovered the huge electromagnet that was part of the Orrery had malfunctioned, possibly as a side effect of their interface with the Atlas, and had pulled nearly all unanchored metal within a wide radius up to it.  After considerable effort, they were able to disengage the magnet and release the objects it had collected in a relatively safe fashion.  After this, they were escorted to the Sunken Palace, which they found still spinning, to speak with city authorities.

- Ronin and Ganthet met with several of the hunters of Arable to plan some action against the small abhuman margr band that had strangely taken up residence nearby and was, reportedly, harassing some of the outlying farms.  Wanting to remove this threat without drawing the ire of the large tribe further northwest, they decided they would attack at night, allow none to escape, and leave no trace of their presence.  As they launched their attack on the dozen or so margr and their two-headed leader, a number of large, holographic images of various people, places, and objects appeared within the battlefield.

- Naran and Drokkan contined to work to shut down the machine emitting the corrosive bubbles.  The glowing fish began harassing them as they attempted to disable the device, some of which seemed to siphon energy from it to become larger and more menacing.  Their efforts ultimately overloaded some part of the device, and it sent out one last shockwave that somehow encased every living thing in its path within an egg-like, red sphere.  Naran cut her way out and made her way over to free Drokkan.  She was able to cut him out as well, but he seemed to have faired more poorly and was barely concsious.  It was then that they noticed lights from a craft overhead.

- Meanwhile, as Helios bargained with the two eleen tribemen for the spoils of the room they had discovered, a third eleen hurried into the room with a warning about kenlem in the area.  Before they could make any real preparations, large, two-headed spiders began phasing into the room through the walls and ceiling.  Helios grabbed what he could, and hurriedly forced himself back through the wall toward his home dimension.  He emerged just in time to be hit by the bubble-machine's shockwave and found himself trapped in a spherical "egg" as well, from which he escaped by phasing through the solid shell, nearly exhausting his energy.

- +1xp

- Though slowed and badly damaged, the trucks made it back to the road.  Both Aralakh and the attackers have sustained significant damage from the continuing firefight, but both sides seem determined not to back down...

- As the room continued to warm unnaturally and the ghost began its operatic song, Drave decided it was time to go - prying open the window and jumping out back into the courtyard.

- Meanwhile upstairs, Erik bolted after Lady Molfon, grabbing her arm in order to keep her from escaping with her armfuls of surely-illgotten jewelry.  The ghost's song rattled something loose in his mind - visions of an icy gem that wouldn't go away - but he retained his hold and ordered her to give in.  When she surrendered, he gathered up the jewels and bolted for an exit.  Two of the guards caught sight of him as he made his escape, but he and Drave were over the wall and out of sight before they could engage in any sort of pursuit.

- Over the next few days, the crew got their payoff from Adelaide and made some efforts to reduce the amount of heat they were taking from this last operation.  After taking some personal time as well, they met and decided that if they were going to be doing this sort of thing a lot, they'd need someone to help them move their goods.

- Drave's friend Flint could only give them the barest lead, and the two made their way to Doan's, a tiny backstreet bar and gambling den, to ask around -only to find themselves confronted by local rivals, the Stone Club...

- Piper spent some additional time in the Atlas with Garrot attempting to interact with the device in an intentional way.  With considerably effort, she was able to activate the device again, focusing it on their area and where she believed her home town of Arable might be located.  Using the device seemed to be physically taxing, however, and the intense pressure-headaches it triggered ultimately became unbearable.  Believing she had adequate - if not abundant - guidance for where to direct their course, Garrot opened the hatch to descend back into the Orrery's control room, but stopped when he noticed something wrong...

- Ganthet used his lightening ability to jump to the entrance of the power vault to sever the liquid-like tentacle grasping his friend and the power core.  As he hacked through it, Polious threw an electrical detonation cypher into the vicinity.  Their combined effortes ruptured the tentacle, sending black acid all everywhere.  The three were able to get the power core back into position and reconnected, but were not 100% satisfied with the resulting operations: Polious was concerned that the core was outputting too much power, but had to admit that any additional manipulation of the setup was likely to make things worse and not better.  Above, they found that the Weathervane had stabilized closer to its "normal" operation, but that it's area of influence has shrunk considerably and Polious was concerned about a pinhole that had appeared in the perpetual clouds directly above the device's point.  Over the next few days, townsfolk began making plans for clearing land and moving farms that were no longer under the influence of the artifact while Ronin, Ganthet, and the town's hunters discussed the growing presence of margr in the area...

- Helios, Naran, and Drokkan found a nearby area to rest before sending Helios back into the vault.  Just before he began phasing through the metal door, a woman appeared among them asking to accompany him.  It took them a few minutes to realize that this woman was a manifestation of the Sisters they had met in Mekel - she was apparently some sort of artificial construct housed within the numenera cube they had given to Helios and Naran.  She wanted to find a place more suitable for herself, and believed the place Helios had found within the vault might offer more promise.  Helios took the cube from Naran and phased through the door again.  While looking around the room, he was met by two pale-skinned humans(?) who had some claim on the area he had discovered.  They agreed to give him 1/3 of the contents of the room, which seemed fair.  Meanwhile, Naran and Drokkan found themselves beset by dangerous bubbles issuing from what remained of the propulsion artifact they'd been examining when the whale awoke as well as a large rock-creature...

- +1xp

- As the engagement continued, both sides traded pot-shots as they attempted to maneuver for better position.  When the firefight resumed, it was the heavier mechs that were in the fore.  The Wolverine and the Phoenix Hawk both took significant armor damage over the following exchanges, though neither has yet lost internal structure or critical systems.  The trucks continued around the hill back toward the road as Aralakh did its best to keep their lighter adversaries from damaging them further.

- The ghost who appeared in the Foxes' coal-mine lair intruded upon Drave's mind, showing him a tower in another district of the city containing the ritual components binding him to the witch Quellyn, before something pulled him back into the Ghost Field.

- Erik scouted the guard situation at the Molfon Estate ahead of their score attempt against it.  Their noble contact Adelaide - through her servant Marta - had told them of a particular piece of jewelry she wanted from the Molfon family. 

- Though they started off well, their plan to sneak into the house quickly went sideways as they were spotted by two guards who raised the alarm.  After knocking one out, Erik intimidated the other who ran for help.  Their cover blown, the two smashed a window to get inside but set off a security measure in the process which lit up the entire house with electroplasmic light.  Drave began grabbing anything of value while Erik cowed a servant girl into telling him where the jewels were kept.

- Erik hurried upstairs into the master bedroom where he found a jewelry chest open and mostly empty.  Suspecting someone hiding in the room with the missing jewels, he opened the closet door whereupon Lady Molfon shot at him with her husband's pistol and bolted for the open door.

- Drave found a couple of coin worth of valuables on a mantle and eventually ended up in the music room when all of the lights in the manor went out and the ghost of an old woman appeared at the piano...

- Nearing completion of the airship project and still in need of a bearing on their destination, Piper went to speak with Garrot at the Grand Orrery about something few know to be concealed within it: The Atlas.  Though he was initially dismissive, Piper eventually convinced him to let her see it.  The Atlas turned out to be some form of VR planetarium showing all of the major solar system bodies.  Upon viewing this array, Piper's subconscious was able to manipulate the device - though, afterward, she was unsure how or why she'd done so.

- Black, liquid-like "tentacles" slipped themselves into the power vault where Polious, Ronin, and Ganthet were attempting to restore stablility to the Weathervane.  The tendrils flowed themselves around people and objects as Ronin and Ganthet tried desperately to sever them while keeping the newly-connected core from malfunctioning.  The grasping strands of darkness ultimately found the power core and began leeching energy from it.  As Ganthet attempted to hack it away, a surge of will from somewhere in darkness beyond strengthened its hold, tearing both Ronin and the core from the wall and pulling them toward the abyss.

- Naran, Helios, and Drokkan immediately began attempting to depower the propulsion artifact they had inadvertently awakened even as the whale and the city on its back lurched forward toward the seabed.  The giant creature with its ring of lights floated back toward them, seemingly curious about this new source of activity and extendended rigid, vine-like tendrils into the aft of the ship.  Naran and Drokkan were able to deactivate the machine after only a few attempts and, as the whale-city began drifting to a stop, they all felt for a moment as though disaster had been averted.  It was then that the static energy build-up made its presense known - growing to an intensity that resulted in a powerful arc between the propulsion device and the bulbous eyes of the looming creature trailing them.  The creature reacted instinctively, ripping its tendrils from the aft of the city and shredding much of the surrounding structure in the process.  This dislodged the massive propulsion artifact, which fell some distance toward the sea floor before it was caught by some sort of cabling which tore free down the starboard side, swinging the heavy device out in that direction and causing the whale to roll along with it.  Just when the rotation had nearly inverted the city, the colossal creature finally awoke.  Startled by the sudden activity behind it, it immediately began swimming toward what it believed to be the surface, smashing its back into the ocean floor beneath its entire mass; crushing the settlement that once perched atop it.  The titanic creature thrashed about as it attempted to right itself - splintering wood, synth, and steel - before it finally succeeded in rolling over and ascending from the rubble.  Naran and Helios had managed to get clear of the whale before the impact and avoided being buried in the waves of sediment kicked up from the sea floor by the flailing beast.  They found Drokkan amidst the rubble, unharmed and smiling - standing before the partially buried vault.

- +1xp

- Piper went to speak with Ryse and the other Aeon priests at the Embassy of Truth, telling them about the transdimensional device she found in The Pipes.  She also spent some time in the Embassy's library looking over the available maps.  Ibe and a few of the other priests suggested some courses of action to determine the location of her home.

- Ronin and Ganthet went down into the ruins beneath the Weathervane with Polious to finally repair the artifact with the power core they'd recovered.  Upon reaching the jury-rigged setup in the vault-like power room, they determined that the connections on the replacement core weren't going to make the project overly easy - and nor were the black tentacles reaching in after them...

- Helios began phasing through the vault door to see what was inside while Naran and Drokkan continued exploring the hold.  They didn't find much else of interest in the vast storage areas of the ship-city - aside from a massive creature with a ring of lights around its head investigating the structure they were in.  They pulled Helios back out just after he'd seen that the room on the other side of the Vault door was not at all what he expected.  They talked for a minute about whether to address the creature, but decided not to chance agitating it - though they'd have to wait for it to leave before feeling it would be safe to reenter the vault.  In the meantime, they decided to investigate the device Naran had previously discovered in the aft.  They began scavenging it for numenera components when a portion of it unexpectedly powered up - and began pushing the whale-city forward, toward the sea floor...

- +2xp

- Though initially outnumbered, a stroke of incredible good fortune allowed Aralakh to completely incapacitate the opposing Whitworth with a pair of lucky headshots.  The Wolverine managed to mostly return the favor a bit later, however, when it blasted off their Panther's right leg, taking it down.  Both sides having downed units on the field has upped the stakes on this engagement considerably. 

- Meanwhile, the Commando continues to harass the trucks they're escorting and their Phoenix Hawk is only now catching up to it.  The company's Jenner is also running hot after continued attempts to swat the Wasp buzzing around it.

- Meanwhile, Steiner, Riley, and Morgan were escorting an overdue shipment to a neightboring city when they, too, were attacked by the bandits.  Deficits in units and overall tonnage will make this a tough fight, but they are so far holding their own.  Whether they can keep the attackers from destroying the trucks might be another question entirely.

Characters:

- Erik [Tony] : Lurk

- Drave [Tim] : Whisper

New Contacts:

- Telda : a roaming beggar and a good source for info on the street

- Flint: a spirit trafficker with a shop in the Foxes' territory

- Kobb: a gambler and broker who takes bets on the fights at the Broken Anchor

New Rivals:

- Quellyn: a witch who holds a grudge against Drave for interrupting a ritual and the resulting injury and scar

- Darmot: a Coalridge Bluecoat who seems to have it in for Erik

- Candra: a sailor/boxer who underestimated him once and now takes special pleasure in beating him down

Session Highlights:

- As they finished setting up their operation, the crew got two score opportunities: one from their noble contact, and the other from the Circle of Flame.  The first was to steal a particular antique necklace from a rival noble, and the second was to obtain an artifact from a carraige about to move through their turf.  Since the latter was more time-sensitive, they decided to act on it first and risk the noble's impatience.

- Drave decided on a setup action to scout the likely routes and find a ghost that he could push to manifest and distract the Spirit Warden driver of the carriage.  He was successful, but the spirit took an interest in him: it's apparently being controlled by another and it seeks release.

- While the driver was distracted, Erik entered the carriage and found it coated with ice.  He managed to free the box containing the Soul Gem from its containment and made a run for it before the Warden could catch him.

- The Circle of Flame was impressed by the Foxes' daring success and gave them the 6 coin payoff promised.

- The crew took a fair bit of heat from the operation as they were both spotted and the Spirit Wardens are a high-profile faction.  Erik attempted to pin the deed on some local rivals, the Stone Club, but only managed in further agitating that gang.

- The two had spent a day or to trying to unwind from the stress of their score and were planning their operation against the Molfon Estate for Adelaide's necklace when the spirit Drave and previously coerced appeared in their hidden lair...

- Ronin and Ganthet return to the illusory forest they'd encountered when they'd started their quest - though it had definitely moved further north from its previous position.  They made their way through the hologrammatic trees as quickly as possible, though it took several hours.  Somewhere near the center of the wood, they found a giant, tangible tree surrounded by large, translucent pods.  A nearby pool of water allowed them to refill their canteens for the remainder of their journey, though something about the place felt 'off'.  When they finally reached Arable, they were greeted with desparate pleading and endless questions - particularly about their missing companions and the success of their mission.  They learned that the Weathervane's function had been steadily deteriorating since they left and would need attention soon if the settlement is to survive.

- Naran and Helios continued exploring the wrecked whale-city with Drokkan.  Naran found a sort of command or navigation room while Helios phased through a pressure-sealed bulkhead to enter the captain's quarters, which were still dry.  Inside he found numenera devices and a chest of shins amid the mess of papers and objects thrown from shelves and tables.  Naran found some interesting maps for which she went to some lengths to salvage and preserve, as well as a metal safe which she cut from the surrounding equipment.  After giving the remainder of the bow a once-over, the three proceeded into the cargo holds where they found some metal plates that superheated when they came in contact with one another, a crate of pearls that seemed to repel water, and a large metal vault which promised their real payday...

- +1xp

- The Thunderbolt survived long enough for the pilot to regain consciousness and become a threat, but a lucky shot to the machinegun ammo cache caused a massive explosion which ripped the unit apart.  The Hermes II, meanwhile, had managed to take out one of the Assassin's legs before changing its tactics.  Its heavier support gone, the Hermes began destroying the repair trucks still working on the damaged facility.  Using the terrain and speed to its advantage over Aralakh's remaining heavier units, it was able to destroy all three trucks and escape the engagement area - securing a technical victory.

- Aralakh's objective to protect the crews repairing the power station was a failure overall, but they did manage to salvage the remains of a Thunderbolt chassis.

- Ronin and Ganthet fought off the trio of margr, who turned out to be sentries for a massive encampment further into the northern badlands.  They were able to outrun the pursuing band, eventually arriving at the oasis they had visited some weeks before.  Once more, the glowing purple diamond appeared above the well at the site, and individuals seemingly from different worlds or realities wandered in.

- Piper and Olim cleaned up the tower and made some plans to carefully limit what they divulged about their project.  When the inspection came, however, the Queen herself was leading the examination.  Unfortunately, she was able to determine the nature of the craft they were restoring and, as Olim feared, had in mind several uses for it.  To prevent the commandeering of his new vessel, Piper suggested they finish repairs on the ship and then use it to leave for her home of Arable - if they could determine the precise direction.

- Naran, Helios, and Drokkan split up and began exploring the whale/ship/city.  Naran located a large numenera device at the aft surrounded by glowing fish and Drokkan found what he believed to be the "captain's quarters" but was unable to get inside.  Helios, however, ran afoul of a giant black eel-like creature and some dangerous plants.  The group managed to fight it off and resumed their exploration of the strange place.

System: Blades in the Dark

Setting: Doskvol, the Shattered Isles

Players: Tony, Tim

Schedule: Occasional Weeknights

Starting a small, experimental Blades in the Dark campaign.

Tonight, we made the crew: the Black Foxes.  A pair of disgruntled ex-miners from the district of Coalridge got together and decided to start a more lucrative, less legal enterprise.  With the help of some chance relationships they've set up a hideout in a disused corner of the coal mine and have their sights on an area of the declining Six Towers district still possessed of some unjustified wealth.

Crew Type: Shadows (theives/spies)

Contacts: Adelaide Phraoig (noble), Lerrin (toolmaker), Mirage (Circle of Flame contact), Ulf Ironborn (gang leader)

Allies: The Circle of Flame (Occultists), Ulf Ironborn's gang (Bravos)

Enemies: The Stone Club (Bravos), The Dimmer Sisters (Occultists)

- Ronin and Ganthet headed east across the desert plains, but their not-quite-domesticated aneen kept driving them north.  Ronin noticed the brilliant-purple object above the oasis they'd seen on their original journey west and reoriented their course but from their northward position, this took them through a badlands region.   They found themselves under attack by margr and are now attempting to fight off the abhumans while keeping their wild pack animal from running off.

- Piper and Olim's meeting with magistrate Quince was interrupted by the Angulan Knight Yal-Sara as she "delivered" the body of a man she'd been sent after.  Once the magistrate regained his composure, he decreed that Olim must provide documentation on his efforts and agree to an imspection.  On their way back to the tower, he voiced to Piper his concern that the queen was angling to seize control of his services and the airship he was restoring.

- Naran and Helios followed Drokkan through the crowds gathering around the return of Vareallius' ship to talk with a skeane friend of his about some deep water equipment for his new companions.  Once this was acquired, the three headed up through the membrane gates and into the cold, dark waters.  They jetted along the sea floor to the place where the deeping martelling was sleeping and then up into the city on its back and made plans to split up and see what they could find in the time.

- +1xp

- As the battle continued, the Assassin chased after the HermesII which had maneuvered behind the facility and was preparing to attack the repair crews.  This left the Centurion and Crusader to engage the Thunderbolt.  After a few rounds of concentrated fire, the Thunderbolt made a dramatic charge at the Crusader, inflicting brutal damage to its center torso and damaging its engine shielding.  In so doing, however, the T-bolt took some unexpected damage to the head which KO'd the pilot!

- After pulling out of Holt, Aralakh continued on to their original destination in Lyran space: the Lysidas Barony in the Fianna system.  They met briefly with Baron Hepstein who informed them on the particulars of their issue with a local terrorist cell.  He'd already hired another small merc company which was currently engaged in the north - the first company to eliminate the threat would get a significant bonus.  The most pressing outstanding objectives were to establish a visible presence within the city, to escort a shipping convoy to a neighboring city, and to defend repairs to a final power station outside the city - so Aralakh distributed their forces across these areas as they saw fit.

- The company's Crusader, Assassin, and Centurion had been dispatched to protect repair trucks at a previously-attacked and severely-damaged power station about 10 miles northeast of the city, where they engaged a Hermes II and a Thunderbolt who'd come to disrupt the operation.

- Naran and Helios continued into the darkness of the South Loop.  After getting pulled deeper in to the Rustways by a strange current and encountering some massive monsters that seemed to repeatedly appear and disappear, they found their way back to the corridor and on to the Scavengers' Wreck, the more inhabited portion of this dark ruin.  There, they eventually found Drokkan, the many they were looking for who they were told found something in the ruins that might be able to transport them elsewhere.  Unfortunately, he insisted he was pressed for time at the moment - so the two agreed to go with him to help with whatever he was doing: which turned out to be exploring the remains of a deeping martelling whale settlement...

- Ganthet and Ronin evaded the monstrous metal automaton that emerged from a doorway on the far side of the large chamber they'd decended into when it unexpectedly powered-down.  In fact, the entire complex seemed to be powering up and then losing power at regular intervals.  Ronin led them further into the ruin where they found various control rooms and eventually a vertical shaft lined with glass pods, some of which contained creatures that had seemingly been grafted with plants. - one of which, a margr, was still alive.  The ladder in the shaft gave them access to the hatch at the top, and they emerged back onto the plain above.  The aneen Ganthet had left tied up had eventually worn itself out trying to escape, and was now calmly resting.

- An explosion blew out a wall at the top of the tower and sent Piper falling down the stairway into the room below, where Olim was still trying to catch the escaped threviars.  The two pursued the darting creatures downstairs, where they apparently repowered an automaton friend of Olim's and then animated a giant pile of junk which began harrying Piper as she continued her search for some sort of containment device.  It was about this time that there was a pounding on the front door and a voice demanding that Olim come out.  Piper and Olim managed to break apart the junk pile and collect the remaining threviars about the time the door burst open amd one of the Rarmon guards came in and insisted they come with him to speak with the magistrate...

- The company engaged the bandit forces, but it quickly became apparent that fortune wasn't on their side.  They established a new set of LZ coordinates with the contingent returning to the site, and made to lift off.  The ship's aft suffered structural damage when the bandits detonated the mines that laced the area, but critical systems remained intact and they were able to pull away.

- Aralakh finished their resupply and left Hassad for the Fianna system in Lyran space.  On the way, however, they decided to stop at Holt to meet with a potential buyer for their stolen experimental weapons.  They realized a little too late they'd been set up, however, and now their forces are split and their dropship is under attack.

- After concluding the mission, the company jumped to Hassad back in FWL space to regroup.  Aralakh claimed a Grasshopper, Hatchetman, and Jenner from the pool of salvaged 'mechs recovered from the operation - an impressive haul.  They regrouped, repaired, made a couple of new hires, and settled on a fairly well-paying contract in the Lyran Commonwealth as their next op.

- Piper returned to Olim's tower and resumed helping him on his airship restoration.  They encountered a large number of mysteriously burned out components related to the man's previous attempts to restore functionality to the craft.  As they worked, snakes seemingly composed entirely of electricity leapt out of the craft and began causing havoc with other nearby devices whie the two tried to recapture them...

- While attempting to climb up and out of the opening from which he was dangling, Ronin mistakenly grabbed a vinelike plant and his weight ripped its shallow roots from the structure until it snagged on a piece of machinery.  While he climbed the rest of the way down, Ganthet descended into the chamber himself.  As they surveyed their surroundings, the blocky tower that jutted up from the center of the chamber lit up and the entire structure began a small but intense vibration.  A number of nearby panels powered up, while other areas began to pop and spark with shorting circuits.  Ronin noted a number of broad holes that had been punched through the walls of the chamber from outside just before a pounding sound of metal-on-metal began...

- Naran and Helios spent some time speaking with Thuriss and Marna at the now-emptied Great 'Leens tavern before setting out through the city toward the South Loop.  The pair's persistence with the guards at the gate eventually yielded results and the door was opened for them - revealing the dark, tunnel-like passage into this newly-opened section of the Rustways...

- +1xp

- Jyun and Orion continued their guerilla tactics against the badly-damaged Capellan remnant, avoiding their biggest guns and pressing each tactical advantage until they were able to disable all of the resisting units.  They emerged by no means unscathed, but the job was completed successfully enough to score a followup contract offer from the FWLM (should they choose to continue in its employ), and the salvage haul should be worth it.

- Piper awoke and continued attempting to find her way through the caverns and back to the surface.  She found a spiraling passage heading downward which led to a chamber full of crystals and eventually a room full of complex machinery.  She was confronted by a glowing banner-like entity which asked her a number of questions before asking if she wished to return to the surface.  After answering in the affirmative, the next thing she knew she was on the crowded streets of Rarmon with her back to the Obstinate Door. 

- Thruird blasted the Great 'Leens with bursts of ice from her mask while panicked bystanders fled.  Naran was temporarily frozen to one of the pub's machines and Helios attempted to tackle their assailant and cover her face.  The attempt failed, but it did distract her long enough for Naran to free herself and engage the Russet in conversation.  The unexpected turn confused the girl enough that she dissipated the mask and left - obviously still angry but no logner violent.  In the remains of the bar, the two spoke for some time about how to proceed in finding a way back to the mainland.

- Ganthet waited for Ronin for some time before leaving the power core in a "safe" place and heading north after the herd.  As he approached a watering hole next to a cliffside, Ronin found him - now human but covered with smears of blood.  The two made their way to the water's edge, where they were greeted mentally by some unseen entity.  When they were unable to comply with its requests for a "clearance code", the ground began to shake.  Ganthet hopped on a nearby aneen before it bolted away, but Ronin fell into the water and was unable to escape before the bottom fell out of the pool into a massive underground chamber.

- +2xp

- Meanwhile, Drevan hacked his way into the Phoenix Hawk and carry out some of the Lostech weaponry he'd found along with it, but its sensors detected some approaching units.  He decided to walk it all the way back to the safety of their dropship, but by the time he returned, he found his powered-down Warhammer being approached by an Orion and a Vindicator.  The ensuing firefight was brief but brutal; in the end the Orion was forced to withdraw and Aralakh was able to claim the remaining movable Lostech, as well as report a Vindicator for additional salvage.

- Knowing they are outgunned but not necessarily out-armored, Aralakh adopted a strategy of long range sniping from deep woods positions, hoping to draw the Capellan units to them and gambling that they can eliminate the biggest threats before they get close enough to be a problem.  Damage is significant on both sides, and while the Capellan mechs are running hot, they've still got some big guns - and Aralakh's Centurion is feeling the loss of its AC/10.

- While trying to trap an aneen to use as a pack animal, something inside Ronin was overcome with hunger.  He transformed into an enourmous red serpent and began tearing open the scattering animals.  His ravenous feast was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a cragworm, which fought with him for territory - nearly dragging Ganthet off after being greviously injured.  Ronin, still a giant snake, pursued the fleeing herd beasts to the northeast while Ganthet recovered.

- Piper was attempting to find her way up and out of the cavernous depths when she encountered a small hive of crab-like creatures seemingly composed of the cast-off junk around her.  The brushed them off and eluded their pursuit for some time, before stomping on one that surprised her.  It let out a piercing sustained shriek, which awoke something giant behind her in the darkness.  Whatever it was bellowed and pounded the walls and floor of the cavern, causing underground earthquakes that nearly buried her.

- Naran and Helios entered the "Great 'Leens" tavern and learned something about the place and its odd games, as well as the city at large and some possible ways back to the surface.  The most apparent seemed to be Varealius' craft or a gateway found by a man called Dokkan, but they were also told they could speak with the Deephunters (skeane that know the area outside the city well) and/or consult the Datavault for more information.  Their conversations were interrupted, however, when the bartender called for a drinking game and unwittingly insulted a teenaged girl - who then revealed herself as Thruird, the Russet, and began ripping appart the tavern with blasts of ice from her conjured mask...

- +3xp

- Upon engaging the crippled units, Aralakh's Assassin and Centurion found there were several others nearby.  They destroyed the Jenner outright and have hammered a few other units over the ensuing exchanges, but they still face the Wolfhound and the mobile turret as well as a Clint that came in from the Northeast as well as a Hunchback and a Rifleman that were powered down in nearby woods along with some geurilla forces.  Their opposition is badly damaged, but it remains to be seen whether they can withstand its firepower long enough to neutralize it.

- Aralakh made some hasty repairs to their units in preparation for their second, cleanup mission - a sweep across the surrounding countryside looking for stragglers and salvage.  Most notably, Drevan found a cache of Lostech - including a pristine Phoenix Hawk - while chasing a pair of crippled units into a thick forest.  Meanwhile, Jyun and Orion happened upon a limping Jenner, a mobile turrent, and a Wolfhound undergoing field repairs...

- Piper was on her way to convincing her assailant that he had mistaken her identity when malfunctioning machinery distracted them.  Arcs of electricity infused her with some form of energy and hideously mutated the madman. She continued deeper into the Pipes and was jumped by a thief attempting to steal her pack.  Piper managed to hold onto her belongings but not her footing, tumbling down a pit into darkness...

- Ronin and Ganthet were able to jumpstart the gravity cypher again, allowing them to push the power core down the mountain toward the plain.  Wanting to make the most of whatever time it had remaining, they pushed on into the night and found themselves ambushed just after twilight by a tall, fierce, and 6-limbed creature...

- Having returned to the relative safety of Rethirra, Naran and Helios chose a new book - this time, one of the small volumes labeled with 'Alaeta' - a place they suspected might be associated with Earth.  Linking through the book into a dark alleyway, they found their environment was filled with liquid rather than air, and in attempts to recover attracted the attention of one of the creatures dwelling.  It quickly led them into the city to a place where they could be "decontaminated".  In the subsequent conversations, Helios and Naran were pleased to discovered that they were, in fact, back on Earth - even if the specific location turned out to be a sealed city on the in the black depths of the ocean..

- +2xp

- Piper decided she would see what progress she could make toward the task the Order of Truth had set for her.  Finding the storm-drain entrance the priests had told her about, she decended into the underworld known to the citizens of Rarmon as "the Pipes".  She had a chance encounter with a strange fortune-teller with a glowing third eye who offered strange visions, wandered into some dark warrens, and eventually made her way into a surprisingly populated area before being accosted by a large man demanding she keep her end of some unknown bargain...

- Naran and Helios bolted back up the stairs as the doors burst open and two avian heads on long, serpentine necks surveyed the room and a cloud of thick, blue fog billowed outward.  They were pursued by 3, smaller, 4-legged, bird-like creatures with two heads - presumably the large creature's offspring.  The mind-altering fog they produced proved confusing to Helios who had some difficulty escaping it even while Naran called to him from outside while using her cutting light ability to keep the creatures at bay.  When his escape was ultimately made, the two ran the final distance back to the top, barricaded themselves in the large office, and linked back to the library on Rethirra using one of the books they'd brought with them.

- Ronin and Ganthet found the town of Urnmoll was in disarray.  A massive, whale-like creature floated over the town, raining shards of black crystal.  The townsfolk seemed to be gathering possessions in preparation to leave - all except a handful trying desperately to repair the Hydrosource, and Seluxii who was preocuppied with Rell who seemed to be ill in some way.  Their nejavin companion Vlorrex, seemingly able to understand the villagers' language to some extent, ended up staying to help them while Ronin and Ganthet proceeded to the place they'd stashed the power core.  They attached the cypher Vlorrex had made for them and covered the large device with coats and bedrolls.  The two somehow managed to keep the few villagers that attempted to speak with them on their way out from discerning exactly what they were doing - all except one particular old woman who simply eyed them suspiciously while suggesting they might not be on the right track.  They got the device just outside the town when Vlorrex's device malfunction and the heavy core dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

- +1xp

- Though their Warhammer got caught out away from the heart of the firefight, some good fortune allowed Aralakh to not only come out of the engagement on top, but also to earn some impressive salvage on the operation.

- Ronin and Ganthet fought off the murden ambush and then decided to take shelter inside the wreck once again so they could rest and Vlorrex could finish work on their gravity-negation cypher.  Once completed, the trio set out for Urnmoll.

- Piper returned to the tower with Olim, and, after spending a couple of days examining the project, began work once again.  At the end of the second day, their efforts were rewarded with some success as they were able to activate the machine's console on temporary power.  Satisfied with this progress, Piper decided to take a bit of time off to learn more about the Pipes - where the Embassy wished to send her in search of a dormant device.

- Naran and Helios spent some time examining their options, and ultimately decided to use a linking book called 'Anumos'.  On the other side they found what appeared to be the remains of a sprawling building used as some form of academy, along with linking books with similar titles.  Near the lowest part of the complex, they found a chamber which Helios recognized as the area viewed through another book they'd seen weeks ago - but this thought was interrupted by the crash of something impacting the other side of a set of sturdy doors...

- +2xp

- Naran and Helios fought off some sort of discorporating, glass-breathing lizard creature and search the ruined study - finding several more of the books presumably capable of transporting them to other locations, in addition to a note referencing a crumbling civilization and a man they once met in some sort of time-distortion field.

- Piper followed Olim to the Embassy of Truth.  After some explanation, the priests were able to restore her material state - at least temporarily.  The priests seemed interested in Piper and her experiences, and suggested there was something she could do for them.  Olim, however, pointed out that she'd already "promised" to assist him with the restoration of his "airship".

- Ronin and Ganthet made their way through the wreck back to the pod bay where they had Vlorrex begin work on the device they needed.  Before he could finish, however, something in the pod ship they'd taken refuge within activated and automatons became active outside in the bay.  They decided they should run for it, narrowly escaping the pod bay before the bay doors above opened and the pod ship lifted off.  They made their way out of the larger wreck - only to find themselves under attack...

- +4xp

- Aralakh took out the damaged Jenner and continued to inflict significant damage to the Hatchetman, which is now barely operable.  The Grasshopper and Dervish still remain significant threats, but they, too, are wearing down and nearby friendlies are keeping additional units from venturing into the sector.  The FWLM trucks continue to load supplies from the located munitions depot, apparently safe from major threats.  

- While they remain largely in control of the battlefield, Aralakh is anything but unscathed.  Their next challenge will be in securing the area and completing their objective before one or more of their own units is crippled by enemy fire.

- The encounter with on-world Capellan forces continued as Aralakh engaged the newly-arrived Grasshopper & Dervish more directly, while the damaged Jenner circled back around and began harassing the trucks that had arrived to clear out the munitions depot.  Several exchanges resulted in critical damage to both sides, and it became apparent that clearing the sector wasn't going to be as easy as they'd hoped.

- Naran and Helios spoke with the old woman for some time, learning a bit about the ancestors who created the portal books - which she seemed to regard as foolish and overly ambitious.  As they were intent on finding their way home, she told them of the ruin of a library far to the south which may still contain some of these books preserved in unusual blocks of glass.  After some discussion, they decided traveling there would be their next move.  Upon arriving they quickly found the glass structures and their preserved objects - as well as a large and apparently-agitated lizard-like creature...

- Ronin and Ganthet made their way back through the ruin toward the pod where they'd left the nejavin.  As they hurried through the ship, they were accosted by some form of mechanical humanoid which attempted to steal some of their gathered components, until Ganthet's electrified fist finally connected, damaging it enough that it withdrew.

- Intent on getting the inventor's attention, Piper began throwing his equipment around the work room - causing him much confusion as to what was happening.  She was finally able to get his attention and explain her situation by writing on some nearby schematics.  The inventor - whose name was Olim - told her that their best bet for reversing her condition would be to speak with the priests at the Embassy of Truth...

- +3xp

- Aralakh continued their push into the city, destroying a weapons factory, locating a power station, and pushing back the mounting resistance.  They destroyed one tank and crippled the harassing Jenner, which fled the field.  A Dervish and Grasshopper arrived in the sector causing them to regroup, but a lucky shot blew off the advancing Hatchetman's leg, further securing their advantage.

- Ronin and Ganthet continued their exploration of the crashed vessel, eventually finding a shaft-like structure they believed to be part of the craft's power generator.  They were beginning to harvest some components from the structure when it suddenly activated, sending a blue energy pulse down the tube, accompanied by some form of energy being that complicated their escape.

- Naran and Nimerun, having climbed back out of the hole where they'd activated the device, watched the bright blue beam firing up into the sky.  As they were about to return to the old woman's cave, they heard a distant sound and noted another beam firing up into the sky a great distance away.  Then a third.  More sounds followed.  When they returned to the old woman, she seemed to have all but forgotten the errand on which she'd sent them, though she was glad to hear they were successful.  Their conversation was interrupted by a great roar, and Naran decided to go check on Helios...

- Helios and the girl made their way to the dormant "leviathan" with instructions on how to put it back to "sleep" or possibly keep it from waking.  As Helios climbed up onto the creature toward its head, the girl began singing a strange, unnatural "song" and aggressive plants immediately began erupting from the cracks in the creature's hide.  Helios arrived at a massive, opening eye and jammed the injector device into it.  The girl began shrieking as the enormous creature stirred to life, partially lifting itself from the swamp.  The dazed creature flailed after them for a few moments before the old woman's concoction did its work and the beast collapsed back into the water, once more unconscious.  By this time, Naran had arrived and was already pulling the incoherent girl to saftey.  The three of them returned to the village.

- Piper was still with the Angulan Knight and the priest when a man called Quince arrived.  The Knight's patience barely tolerated the man, but ultimately they came to an agreement: she would be permitted entrance to the city in exchange for pursuing a man wanted for the murder of a local noble.  Piper, still seemingly invisible and intangible, followed them into the crowded city, but decided to go her own way once inside.  While heading further in, she happened by a tall, misshapen tower when some sort of "incident" happened inside causing thick, blue smoke to issue from all visible windows.  A man appeared at the door, coughing, and was quickly accosted by two guardsmen who seemed to chastise of threaten him.  The guards left, but before the man withdrew, he made brief eye contact with her.  Piper decided to follow him inside - moving through the door in her immaterial state.  Finding him working on some device at the top of the building, she attempted to get his attention.  He seemed to be able to see (if not hear) her - that is, until he removed his goggles...

- +2xp

- As they made planetfall, Aralakh was briefed on their objective: they would be entering a sector of an urban industrial area looking for targets.  Any supply depots were to be held until they could be cleaned out.  Production, research, and repair facilities were to be destroyed to cripple the Capellan war effort in this region.  Resistance was expected to be light to moderate; mech forces were known to be on-planet, but probably not in large numbers.  As they approached the edge of the city, engagements had already begun elsewhere.  Thus far, resistance was a bit more than anticipated, but not problematically so.  They were also warned of incoming contacts to their position, and that guerrilla forces had been observed.

- In their initial advance, Aralakh located a factory and a munitions depot, destroyed a 20-ton Stinger and a building concealing a laser weapon, and maimed a retreating tank.

- Ronin and Ganthet continued deeper into the wreck they were exploring, coming upon a processing bank of some kind.  While scavenging for parts, the scattered debris began assembling itself into towering construct which assualted them.  A purplish, tentacled creature then approached them, finally convincing Ronin to take a bite from its bread-like outer flesh.  Consuming this part of the creature seemed to sate it in some way, but Ronin the last hour or so of his memory replaced by a scene of burning wreckage.

- As the caravan awaited inspection outside the city, Piper witnessed an heated exchange between the town guard and a well-armored woman who'd flown up to the city on a large, reptilian creature.  The Xi-drake seemed able to see Piper, and made some movement toward her as if to investigate until the disagreement at the gate became physical.  An Aeon Priest arrived on the scene and had some success diffusing the situation.  The caravan was permitted entry, but Piper decided to stay and listen to the conversation between the priest and the Angulan knight.  Apparently, she had come from Dynafel in search of a varjellan fugitive.

- Naran proceeded through the village after the spick whom she'd been sent to assist by the old woman.  The two of them dove into a large circular pool and made for a metal artifact protruding from its center - apparently the source of the painful pulses that were emanating through the settlement.  After some doing, the two were able to stop the pulses by more fully activating the device, which was now firing a bright blue beam up into the sky.

- Helios, meanwhile, took a small boat out of the village to the south and was gathering red flowers for the old woman when he noted some bubbles in the water moving in his direction.  As he was rowing himself back to the village, a massive, plant-like creature erupted from the water and began flailing about.  The creature made his escape difficult, but he ultimately returned with the needed blooms.  The woman mixed into the concoction she was making, loaded it into a strange, gun-like device, which she handed to Helios - sending him and a strange girl into the swamp to the south, telling him they must put the "Leviathan" back to sleep...

- +2xp

- Aralakh met up with the so-called "Capellan Insurgency" holding their crew members hostage.  The situation clearly being under their foes control, the company decided to go through with paying the ransom after ensuring their crew would be returned and they could all walk away.

- After resolving that situation, the various merc companies being employed by the FWLM forces were briefed on their mission: they would be lifted to the Yunnah system where they would be looking to destroy newly-developed research and repair facilities on a backwater world 2 jumps into Capellan space.

- Naran and Helios continued south along the waterway, eventually arriving in Quei after a brief encounter with some gate-keeping automatons in the canyon.  The town occupied a series of docks and platforms suspended over a swamp.  The townsfolk were less than helpful, but the two eventually found their way to The River's cave, where she immediately set them to work on some seemingly-urgent task with no explanation.

- Ronin and Ganthet rested, further discussed their next action, and spoke with Vlorrex.  They decided their best bet was the power core they'd stashed outside of Urnmoll, and if Vlorrex could cobble together some form of null-gravity cypher to make transportation easier, they could probably managed to get it out of town.  Vlorrex then sent them out into the wreck to scavenge for parts where they came upon some sort of lab containing large tanks of reddish liquid and a mass of malfunctioning, mechanical manipulator arms.

- Piper survived the explosion but found that she had somehow become invisible and insubstantial.  No one was able to hear or see her, and interacting with objects had become difficult.  The caravan reassembled after the ordeal, made camp, and spent a considerable about of time scavenging the remains of the beast and the Hearth before setting out early the following morning.  Piper decided to continue on with the caravan and, after about another day an a half, they all arrived at the gates of Rarmon.

- +1xp

- Naran and Helios spoke with their otter-man friend again as they rested in preparationg to dive into the 'forbidden waters' in search of a way to access a starship they'd been told of by The Sisters.  He showed them a book he'd taken from a fallen Yefort raider - one that contained a black view-panel like Helios' "broken" volume.  He suggested they go to Quei and talk to "The River".

- Ronin and Ganthet explored the vault-lined hallway connected to the cargo hold of the small crafted they'd found within the wrecked carrier.  Among other things, they found a small by exceedingly heavy coin, a jacket and some wood and metal staves, and a strange rectangular book containing a viewport overlooking a rock-lined pool in a redwood forest.

- Lengthy discussions on next moves insued.

- +2xp

- Agan emerged from the crowd around Naran and Helios, claiming they had brought ruin to the village and accusing Eufren of aiding in the destruction.  When it became apparent public opinion was going south and Agan and his henchment wished to do them harm, Helios pried up some floorboards inside the central ruin and the two escaped by diving into the waters beneath and swimming out.  At Helios' direction, they made for the woodlands containing the otter-man's home.

- While Ronin and Vlorrex attempted to activate the consoles to reconstruct the nejavin's body, Ganthet took a look around in the surrounding chambers, and found they were directly above a massive bay containing some sort of space-faring craft.  When Ronin engaged the final switch to activate the equipment, a short set off a power surge in the craft accompanied by a dramatic shift, which pitched the vessel downward a further 20 degrees.  Making their way to the craft bay once the floors stilled and the nejavin's head was once again reunited with its body, the trio made their way into the ship they had found within the ruin.  It contained a control room in near-perfect condition, obviously-nonhuman crew quarters, some unusually empty pods, and a large hold with a loading door open to a large hall lined with vaults...

- +3xp

- As the Centurion joined them, the company took a quick look at the destoyed tanks.  Finding nothing salvageable, they decided to withdraw and chalk up the win instead of pressing their luck by assaulting the compound in the mountains above.

- Short on funds, the company sent a priority message to their next prospective employer, a FWLM division, saying that if they would spot them the c-bills, they could take it out of their paycheck.  After some brief negotiation, they agreed.

- Aralakh arrived at a military base on the world of Ohrensen some weeks later.  They were advised to stay on the base as the city outside was known to have some problematic criminal elements.  Their ship's crew, however, wanted to take the leave while they could get it, and convinced them to go into town.  

- The evening went well for most of them, but a few disappeared as the night wore on - only reappearing later in hostage photos of the so-called "Capellan Insurgency", delivered to the base with a demand for ransom.  The irate sergeant told the company to "handle this" or their contract would be terminated.

- Meanwhile, Rip arrived at Galatea and met with Magistrate Brandt about the dispensation of liquid assets from the defunct Buller company.  While not a negotiator by nature, Rip managed to dig up a few pieces of info that helped his cause, and ultimately left the meetings 1.75 million c-bills richer.

- Ronin and Ganthet followed the nejavin's head to the wrecked craft wedged into giant crack where the mountain had split open.  They navigated its interior until they found the place where the creature's body had been trapped.  On the way, they encountered a colony of mouse-like creatures which seemed to take some interest in them - until they reached a room with strange puddle of a viscous, acrid substance and some rotting, tentacle-like appendages protruding from it.  They glitterbombed the room with a detonation Ganthet had been carrying and hurried through.  When they reached their destination, they found the nejavin's body separated into several pieces and suspended in the air, but apparently functioning as though it were still whole.

- Naran and Helios met with The Sisters who told them of a craft in planetary orbit that might be able to return them to their homeworld - and also that a means to reach it might be found in the "forbidden waters" of the valley outside the village.  The two were then presented with a small, translucent cube and told that it would be necessary if they wished to use the spacecraft, but when Naran took the device, the Sisters vanished and their chamber transformed from the white stone building it had been to a plain, sandstone ruin that more closely resembled the rest of the village.  When they emerged, they found Eufren wide-eyed and demanding to know what they had done...

- Piper and one of the hunters attempted to destroy the rampaging beast with a cannon-like numenera device the caravan had been carrying, but it malfunctioned after discharging only twice, though that was sufficient to attract the creature's attention, and it smashed into the wagon - splintering the vehicle and sending the device flying.  Seeing their one method of injuring the creature lost, the hunter retreated, but Piper had another idea.  Short-circuiting the damaged artifact and bypassing its power regulators, she caused it begin building up a catastrophic charge.  With the help of some others nearby, she loaded it onto a wagon and shoved the unstable device toward the monster as the others fled.  The resulting explosion was more powerful than she had anticipated, however, and ripped through the beast, the landscape, and the remainder of the camp before she had time to react...

- +2xp

- After a couple of months of rests and repairs, the group sends Rip to Galatea to pursue his share of the defunct Buller Company's liquid assets.  Needing to replace their lost unit, the company decides to pursue Jyun's suggestion of travelling to Phact where he happened to know of a Centurion posted just for show.

- On arriving in-system, the plan was to use a small mech force to draw out the compound's conventional defense forces while Jyun and a small contingent approached stealthily on foot to climb into and steal the mech.

- The tank forces Aralakh's Panther and Assassin encountered were more competent than expected, and they took some significant damage before they could adjust their tactics.

- On visual, Jyun was surprised to find someone preparing to take the Centurion down to engage in the ongoing battle - and moreso that he was speaking to the pilot of the Whitworth standing across from it.  Knowing that these pilots would not only keep them from acquiring the Centurion according to their plan but would also be seriously bad news for the battle raging below, Jyun and his companions opened-fire on them.

- After quickly felling the pilots with some fortunate shots, Jyun ran for the Centurion, activated, and escaped with it - though not before losing an arm and his heavy weapon to AC/10 fire from the compound's turrets.

- By the time he met up with his companions' units below, the Panther and Assassin had gained ground and the tanks had withdrawn.  Though they took some pretty significant damage, the mission was overall a solid success - their first in some time.

- Naran and Helios helped defend the village of Mekel against the raiders and their presence now seems to be generally accepted by most of the settlement.  Eufren suggested that they speak to The Sisters, who they're told are leaders of the community.

- Ronin and Ganthet managed to force the murden to retreat further up and in to the nest.  While Ganthet watched for a coming ambush, Ronin freed the skull-like creature who told them of the ruined craft further up into the mountains which the murden had been scavenging.

- The caravan Piper was accompanying arrived at a waypoint with a large crystal that radiated significant heat.  As camp setup was completing, she left the site with a few scouts who found a small caffa swarm and decided to go hunt for goldgleam.  As they were heading back, however, they became aware of a huge creature terrorizing the encampment...

- +1xp

- Ronin and Ganthet set off to find the murden.  The hike up into the mountains was arduous, but eventually lead them to a small plateau tucked into the cliffs where they found dozens of rough columns of various diameters but all about 75 feet tall.  Between the columns were stretched various hides and insect carapaces, forming a sort of multi-leveled nest.  They approached to attempt to speak with the abhumans, but were ultimately ambushed when they entered the area.

- Piper had some time to rest and was eventually retrieved by a humanoid that had sets of tentacles in place of arms.  He lead her from the room...and that was the last thing she remembers of that place.  The next thing she recalls is being awakened by a group of travellers atop a column-like structure somewhere in the south of the Pytharon Empire - a name she happens to recognize as being a kingdom in the Steadfast, which lies across the Black Riage and hundreds of miles from her home.

- Helios attempted to communicate with the otter-man who had invited him in, but didn't have much luck.  The creature's responses were unintelligible and somewhat odd.  Eventually he fell asleep, only to awaken a short time later with the otter-man standing over him.  He then began asking Helios questions, apparently in The Truth(?), about where he came from and what he would do.  When Helios told him he was trying to find his friend and return to their home planet, the creature took him to Mekel - which was under attack.

- Naran spoke for some time to Eufren and Motof about the books, the planet they're on, and the surrounding area, before an alarm from somewhere in the village startled her hosts.  Racing outside, they found much of the settlement already in flames as a raiding party from the nearby, sinking village of Yefort descended upon the town...

- +2xp

This is a new game we put together for my brother-in-law Michael.  He wants to run a Fate game himself, but is having a difficult time getting people together.  Also, while he's read the book, he wanted to see how it plays out at the table.

Game

We had already decided on a "traditional" fantasy genre, but we set up the remaining game aspects collaboratively as suggested by the Fate Core rulebook.  What we came up with was a high fantasy setting, based on a lost civilzation, where magic is being corrupted and the PCs need to find out why - or at least how and stop it.

Characters

[Michael] Jace - Soldier without a Kingdom

[Jese] Cassia - Quick-witted Huntress

[Sheri] Talia - Itinerant Historian

[Tony] Cooper - Acquisitions Expert for the Second Dawn

Session

The group heard rumors of a cult that was speeding the corruption of magic in the world - and that they might be based in the ruin of a small keep in a forest some distance to the south.  Upon arriving, they were met by a group of goblins fleeing from an angry ghost.  Cassia was able to catch one of them and get from it that they were working for a sorceror, mining gold beneath the keep.  Goblins inside the structure itself were more hostile than terrified, however, and the group had to fight two of them off before they could proceed deeper into the ruin...

- While the two stranded 'mechs managed to escaped their pursuers and made for the designated LZ, Aralakh's desperate bid to clear the zone for the battered dropship took a turn for the worse.  As damage mounted, Steiner attempted to intimidate the opposing units into surrunder, but they knew they had the upper hand.  Riley's Trebuchet sustained critical damage to the reactor core - which exploded catastrophically - and Jyun's Panther took some unfortunate leg hits which all but remove it from the field.  Fortunately, the forced-retreat of one of the Clints and the massive damage the enemy Archer had taken were enough for the opposing force to reconsider the assault and withdraw.

- Aftermath: Riley's Trebuchet was a total loss, though Riley herself was able to survive the incident (albiet in poor spirits).  Steiner is having some growing doubts about the viability of the merc company long-term.  That said, the beneficiaries of their rescue have brought a Union dropship to Aralakh, as well as a Crusader and an Assassin with their pilots and techs.  In light of this, the company has decided to release the Leopard from their service on good terms.  They are now going to spend some time resting and repairing before taking on a new contract.

- Through some cleverness and good fortune, Ronin was able disuade Seluxii from pushing them out of the village of Urnmoll.  The group of them proceeded to have a conversation about recent events and the party's goals (hopefully without giving too much away).  The key points discussed were the murden that raided the village and (likely unintentionally) summoned the craft that took Piper, and a man said to be the foremost expert on power supplys residing in the steadfast.  After a rest, Ronin and Ganthet decided to go after the murden in hopes that they can learn something of what happened to their friend.

- Unable to find a suitably hidden location in the floating village, Helios decided to swim to a wooded shore to the north.  There he found an otter-like humanoid who invited(?) him into its dwelling for food and rest.

- Naran used her cutting light to stab at the octopoidal creature pursuing them while she and the boy escaped the remaining distance to the surface - which turned out to be under some section of the floating settlement.  He led her to a building where another man was apparently waiting for them.  The man gave Naran some sort of potion that rendered her unconscious, but when she awoke, she found she could speak to and understand them.  She was in a village called Mekel, and the man's name was Eufren.  He seemed very interested in the fact that she was an outsider and where she came from.  He told her that their ancestors had once traveled between worlds very easily, but he didn't know how they had done it.  Naran's stories about the books that had transported her and her friend fascinated him.

- Piper decided to spend some time attempting to repair her burned-out headband artifact while waiting to see what would happen next.  After several hours, she was interrupted and lead (apparently) out of the craft she was in and into some other structure.  There, she was taken to a massive chamber where several entities locked deep within some sort of crystal asked her a myriad of questions about herself and her world.  Her responses were clever and informative, and so The Seven (as they called themselves) took a particular interest in her.  After some time, they suggested that they would speak more, but that she and they required rest...

- +4xp

- Multiple drones and automatons (or possibly, armored entities) emerged from the cylindrical craft and began a sort of harvest of the surrounding village.  Using stunning and tranquilizing weaponry, they subdued Piper and Ganthet, though only the former was actually taken.

- Helios made a quick exit from the chamber where the robotic entity was tending to the thirsty machine.  He hadn't made it very far when he heard the sounds of the reptilian cats pursuing him.  Upon reaching the pool where he'd entered, he once again encountered a strange, hovering being with heavy robes and one large, mechanical eye.  It asked several questions of him before sinking back into the pool.

- Naran resisted the octopoidal creature's pushing for her to use the linking book it was presenting to her, and after it left in frustration, attempted to swim to freedom.  The distance and pressure of the water soon proved too much, however.  Fortunately, she found another "pocket" of air near the point where panic was starting to set in, and managed to reach it before blacking out.

- Aboard the craft, Piper suddenly found herself in her room back in Arable - or, at least, a very close approximation.  The door and window were impassible and everything felt slightly "off".  She was missing any functioning cyphers or artifacts that appeared technological, but otherwise seemed unharmed.

- Helios leapt into the pool after the his questioner, and began swimming "down" and away from the cat likely still pursuing him.  It was a long, hard swim back to the surface, but he somehow was able to succeed.  He happened to notice a boat lurking in the shadows some distance from him before swimming for the village.

- As she recovered Naran was briefly visited by a boy in some sort of swimming gear.  They had a brief "conversation" in which little was communicated (due to the language barrier) before he left again.  A couple of hours later he returned, however, this time with an additional breathing apparatus.  As the two of them made the long swim for the surface, the octopoidal creature found them...

- Having taken Piper, the cylindrical craft lifted slightly before de-materializing.  As the panic in the village began to calm and Ganthet regained consciousness, Seluxxi approached he and Ronin, demanding they leave the village - declaring to those around her that these outsiders would not help their village as some had hoped, and that they cared only for what they could take...

- +3xp

- Helios became disoriented in his dive and surfaced, but found himself in a dark cave. Using an electricity artifact for light, he found his way into a chamber where some sort of robotic automaton was apparently "feeding" human blood to a massive machine.  He spoke for a while with the robot .

- Naran chose not to struggle against the man who was threatening her, and instead watched the faces of the growing crowd he was addressing - their expressions seemed to vary between fear, anger, and uncertainy.  As his address resolved, someone else grabbed her and put something over her face.  She had the vague sensation of splashing into water before she lost consciousness.  She later awoke in some sort of air pocket within a small room in a ruined building surrounded by water.  After some time, she was visited by a large octopus-like creature that produced another of the strange books - this one overlooking golden spires piercing upward above a sea of clouds - offering her a means of escape for a vague "price".

- Piper and Ganthet spoke some more with Seluxii, though her suspicion continued to increase.  A few of the townspeople seemed convinced that these outsiders might be able to help their dying village and, on their behalf, Seluxii somewhat-disingenuously asked them if this was so.

- Ronin finally arrived in the village and was greeted with obvious fear by the villagers - parly due to recent events, and partly due to his now-more-monstrous visage.  The presence in his mind urged him to react violently, but he fought to refrain.  Ronin was able to calm the villagers somewhat and ultimately rejoined his companions - who were shocked to see him alive, and moreso at his somewhat-disturbing change of appearance.

- It was at this moment that a massive, cylindrical craft appeared in the sky above the village projecting a column of bright blue light downward into the streets.  Several of the villagers - ones with orange tags like the one on Piper's arm - seemed to think heading toward this light would be a good idea...

- +3xp

- Having successfully captured assets for NAR, Aralakh was finally released on so-so terms.  Their most pressing concern was treating Drevan's injuries, so they took their chances staying in-system and going to the hospital.  The company repaired what they could, but were short on supplies.

- A few months later, they jumped back into Free Worlds space to a more populous planet where they were hoping to repair and resupply.  On their way in-system, however, they picked up a distress call from a merc dropship in orbit around one of the system's planet's moons.  

- In exchange for the distressed company's remaining liquid assets, Aralakh agreed to get the company's surviving units out of trouble on the planet.  They made a few low-passes in the target area before directing the survivors to a promising LZ northwest of their position.

- While the survivors continued to fight off the pursuit mechs that had been hunting them for the past few days, Aralakh attempted to clear the landing site - which, unfortunately, contained a hostile presence formidable in the face of Aralakh's severely-damaged condition...

- Dee Dee, Lexi, Sheri, Mandy (and her little brother Mace) made a new friend on their neighborhood playground - a boy about their age who was new in their part of town.  

- While playing tag, they realized too late that this boy didn't know something: you do NOT go down the old, metal, spiral slide on the edge of the playground unless someone is waiting for you at the bottom - if you do, you don't come out.  The slide takes you to the Bogeyman's dungeon - where you stay until he eats you.

- As the new kid dove into the slide while running from Mace, they saw dozens of gnarled claws reach out and snatch him out of this reality.

- Mandy's mother took the children back to her house for their sleepover, but something dark was following them, and stephen seemed to be calling to them from wherever he was taken.  Shadows of goblins harassed and grabbed at them in the basement, and the girls ended up huddled in Mandy's room - slowly falling asleep.

- They found themselves next in a shared dream, at the base of the slide, before a yawning maw of a hole with a rickety wooden stairway.  From its depths, they heard a muffled cry and a malicious laugh...

Adam is joining our game, and we spent this evening making two PCs for him to add to Tim's company: an experienced former House Regular who pilots a 45-ton Assassin, and a newbie Noble who has a 65-ton Crusader.

These characters will a fragment of a decimated merc unit looking to join up with someone else - and Aralakh will be the convenient choice.  They will be bringing their 'mechs as well as a beat-up Union dropship into the company's assets.

- Drevan's strike team invaded the dropship.  They sustained some casualties, but were ultimately successful in capturing the ship, as well as the damaged Hatchetman in contained, and the two incapacitated Jenners outside - making for a pretty respectable salvage haul.

Continued playtesting on personal scale combat this session.  How I ran the session aside, the system behaved well and played out the way I would want.  That said, it's a little bit too clunky and I think I'm going to make a few more tweaks to it.

- Piper and Ganthet found themselves amidst a murden raid on the village of Urnmoll, also involving a large, crab-like, mechanical contraption smashing its way through the village.  The murden were eventually driven off, and the robot, after sustaining some damage, folded itself into a small sphere.  The two considered making a break out of town, but decided to stay to see what they could learn.

- Ronin found his way out of the cave he and his friends had originally entered and decided to continue through the mountains toward the village.  On his way, he began to perceive a beckoning presence which led him to a small, glowing cave.  Upon seeing his reflection in a pool, he became aware that he was no longer alone in his head.

- Helios and Naran fought with the aquatic predators, attempting to drive them off.  Naran found her way into one of the boats and was brought back to the town built on the ruins protruding from the lake, but Helios had dived back into the water in an attempt to find one of the missing villagers.  About the time Naran realized Helios had not come back, she was grabbed from behind - and found a knife at her throat...

- +3xp

- NAR continued the defense of their compound, eventually destroying 3 out of 4 of the attacking units - unfortunately causing two of them to catastrophically explode, leaving no usable salvage for the Resistance.  Hopefully Aralakh's attempts to capture the attackers' drop ship produces a more tangible gain...

Adam continued this encounter with us, and will likely be joining this game on an ongoing basis.

- Ronin awoke, alive but debilitated and surrounded by silver insectoid creatures.  Over the next day or so, he made his way back out of the ruin, slowly recovering strength.  During this time, he noticed that patches of his skin all over his body had been replaced by red scales.

- Ganthet spoke with the apparent leader of the village of Urnmoll, a woman Seluxii.  Her suspicion of his activities in the region seemed to increase as he answered her questions with partial-truths.

- Piper spoke with the old woman for a while, learning that the town's water-producing artifact had recently ceased functioning, and that many in town were worried.

- Naran and Helios toppled from their perch above the rushing river when the bird-man from the previous world followed them through into this one, sending all three of them into the river and over a tremendous waterfall.

- Ronin reached the cave in which the group took shelter from the glass storm, and found himself attacked by a black puddle - apparently the remnants of the tentacled creature that had previously harassed them.

- The relative peace of Urnmoll was suddenly disturbed by shouts, screams, and mechanical pounding and whirring coming from one corner.  Piper was ambushed by some form of avian humanoid, and Seluxii left Ganthet apparently trapped in a room with a vanishing doorway.

- Naran and Helios found what appeared to be a fishing town built on partiall-submerged ruins in the valley into which they'd been deposited.  As they swam for the approaching boats, they were attacked by some sort of aquatic reptile...

- +2xp

- Using assets "borrowed" from Aralakh, NAR attempts to fight off the mercenary lance sent to destroy them while Aralakh furthers its efforts to capture the merc's Union.  The Resistance managed to take out the crippled mercenary Clint and the enemy Whitworth has virtually no armor remaining, but Aralakh's Warhammer is severely battered and the Trebuchet is now out of missles...

Adam joined us for this session, so we decided to play out the latter half of the previously "off-camera" engagement of mercs vs. NAR in order to introduce him to the defining mech combat aspect of our Battletech campaign.  After this encounter resolves, we will return to Aralakh's attempts to capture the dropship, which have now moved into the personal-scale boarding of the vessel.

- Naran and Helios continued fractured communication with the birdman, who seemed intent upon fixing some part of the inner workings of the tower and/or island, and reacted negatively toward any action they took that might even superficially damage it.  Deciding there was nothing remaining for them in that place, they made their way back to the book Naran had previously found, using its viewport to travel to the world on the other side.

- Ganthet and Piper made their way through the ruin to the lowest exit they could find.  Waiting till dark, they lowered the power core before descending themselves.  Concerned over what the townfolk might say if they were found with the artifact, the two hid it in a cleft of rock nearby.  As they approached the only way out of the rocky depression, Ganthet was spotted by the two guardsmen and taken down to the village - Piper followed along behind.

- +2xp

- Aralakh neutralized the mech defenses of the merc dropship and blew open one of the loading doors.  The lance then called in their strike team, led by the temporarily dispossessed Drevan, who proceeded to board the vessel for capture.

- After Naran and Helios finished their rest, Helios suggested they investigate the bubbling pool which he found to be breathable while Naran did not.  While Naran spent some more time investigating the machinery in the hollow of the island, Helios ventured down into the water-filled chambers below where he found what appeared to be a city populated by enormous frog-people.  He also met up with the bird-man they'd first encountered, who returned to the chamber with him.

- Ronin, Ganthet, and Piper, meanwhile, attempted to cross the gravity-less chasm with their power-core while avoiding harassment and attack by the vanishing and re-appearing serpent.  Unfortunately, their counter-attacks eventually agitated the creature to the point that it disrupted the null gravity field, sending objects plummeting into the chasm.  Noticing the signs, Ronin managed to push Piper and the power core to the relative safety of the far wall, but in so doing failed to reach it himself - and fell into the darkness below...

- +3xp

- As NAR began engaging the mercenary force sent to take them out, Aralakh's partial lance emerged from their concealed location, making their way to the merc's LZ in an attempt to capture their Union-class dropship...

- Naran and Helios investigated the top of the tower, where they found an hive of bugs averse to bright lights and some control panels that seemed designed to operate the tower's machinery.

- Piper, Ganthet, and Ronin escaped from several pursuing monstrous centipedes and found some time to rest.  Attempting to find their way back out of the ruin, they happened upon a vast chasm which seemed devoid of gravity - and also contained some form of ephemeral, shape-shifting serpent...

- +3xp

- NAR prompted Aralakh to go raid a Capellan noble's compound for much needed hardware and supplies.  The group was only able to send a few mostly-repaired light mechs as the others were still in bad shape, but their target was not believed to possess mech forces.  They engaged a trio of tanks, a pair of helicopers, and some turrets.  As they finished loading up their plunder, however, they were pressed by a pair of aerotech fighters and a pair of approaching mechs.  In the end, Aralalkh took significant damage but managed to escape with most of the desired equipment.

This session was the first to use my simplified Battletech vehicle rules mods.  Tim and I both thought it went very well. 

- Ronin, Piper, and Ganthet found their way up into a chamber containing what they believed to be the complex's power core - the device they had come to retrieve.  As they approached it, however, they found themselves confronted by a monstrous, transdimensional, crustacean-like entity guarding and feeding off the power source.

- After Naran's discovery of the portal book, she and Helios decided they should find their way to the top of the tower to try to reactivate the dormant machinery.  The managed to open the iris at the top of the underground chamber, granting them access to the tower once more.  What they did not notice, however, were the two bird-men lying in wait.  The ambush jolted them both with electricity, and caused Helios to fall back onto the platform at the top of the chamber, which began wrenching free of its supports due to the impact.

- The monstrous creature the group had found by the power core began attacking the intruders with its massive claws and spewing a burning, plasma-like substance from its dozen or so eyes.  The group used several artifacts and cyphers they'd acquired since entering the complex to fight back, shattering bits of its thick armor and occassionally punching through.  Ganthet decided to use the green detonation artifact Polious had given him, which caused a thick and animated forest to suddenly spring up in the area.  The aggressive plant growth slowed the creature down, but proved to be more dangerous to the adventurers - especially to Ronin who was moving amongst them - as the group had to contend both with the hostile plants and with the fires set by the crustacean's dripping red-hot plasma.

- While Helios attempted (with some difficulty) to climb back into the tower from the failing support, Naran did her best to fight off the bird-men, trading bright blasts of forceful light with the electrical arcs firing from the avian's energized spears.  After Helios managed to re-enter the tower and Naran had incinerated the last of their foes, they looked up at the large vine/tree structure and the crystals growing from it, suspecting that it could be used to gather energy from the world's hot suns if they could figure out how to reactivate it.

- Just as Ronin was stabbed by some sort of poisonous plant which rendered him unconscious, Ganthet's final shots against the monster managed to penetrate the armor under its head.  Shrieking, the beast collapsed to the ground, spewing plasma from its eyes - which in turn further ignited the plant matter beneath it.  

- Ganthet and Piper darted past the growing flames into the area beneath the power core.  Ganthet made some efforts to revive Ronin, but seemed only to make his fallen friend's condition worsen.  Acting quickly, Piper successfully connected a power regulator she had constructed to the conduits feeding the power core, and then began the delicate operation of detaching the core from the surrounding eqipment.  Unfortunately, the group didn't have time for "delicate".  Piper did what she could to prevent any instability due to the disconnect before slicing through the adjoining cables.  She held her breath for several moments before the dim blue glow returned and stabilized in the core's interior.

- +2xp

- The group entered Under The Bed and met Lady Von Snoot, an old ghost who asked for their help entering her home (the cemetery called Dead Center).  They also heard some strange, distant voices that turned out to be the mountains they were on asking for help finding their third twin.

- Upon arriving at the cemetery, the group found it to be the site of an ongoing investigation.  Inspector Grumbles told(?) them that all the flowers had been stolen from the graves (this had upset Ms Schnauser horribly).

- When they looked around, they found some paperclips, thumbtacks, bent stables, and a post-it note that read: "Bob - Bob bob bobob bob bobobobob bob bob. - Bob"  

- The inspector recognized this as the work of Bobgoblins.  He asked(?) them to go to the goblins' corporate HQ to talk to Big Wig and get the flowers back.

- Then things turned ugly.  An LRM volley from Riley's Trebuchet destroyed the Hunchback completely, but Steiner's Blackjack was too close to avoid damage from the reactor explosion it triggered and it fell when it lost its gyro.  Aralakh then attempted to negotiate a mutual withdraw, but were unable to convince their attackers.  The Banshee's continued press on the damaged Trebuchet took down the smaller mech with a kick that obliterated one of its legs and then charged over to finally incapacitate the fallen Warhammer - which was still firing PPC blasts - with a kick to the head.

- Seeing little alternative, Aralakh surrendered.  It turns out that their attackers were self-described freedom-fighters attempting to liberate the planet and remove the nobles' predation on the world's resources at the expense of its atmosphere.  

- The New Andrin Resistance press-ganged Aralakh into their service - promising that if they helped the rebels kick the Capellan nobles off-world, they would return them their mechs and the two could part ways.

- As the exchange continues, it becomes clear that neither side can keep this up for long - but neither side has a clear advantage either.  The battle has moved away from the Warhammer such that it has some difficulty engaging, and the Blackjack is greviously wounded.  On the other side, the Banshee is pretty beat up, but its toughness is keeping it at the top of the threat list.  The Hunchback now has only a small laser, but the relatively-untouched Wolfhound has started to have an impact on the fight.

- The company continued to trade blows with their assailants.  The Banshee's luck improved only briefly, and Aralakh's opponents may have been considering retreat before the Hunchback, its AC/20 now destroyed, got a lucky laser shot against the Warhammer's already badly-injured leg, taking it down.  The Cicada has already met a similar fate, and the Hunchback and Banshee both have significant injuries that have greatly reduced their damage output.  Unfortunately, Steiner's Blackjack isn't looking much better, Riley is only just starting to land some hits with her LRMs, and Jyun's injuries have made him less effective.

- Naran and Helios attempted to communicate with the earnest-seeming bird-man, but were ultimately less than successful.  He did lead them to a hidden chamber full of devices he'd gathered but, apparently, had no particular knowledge of.  He left by way of a bubbling pool, and the two decided to get some rest.

- Ronin, Piper, and Ganthet continued into the ruin they'd found, soon encountering a vast area overgrown with blue plant growth.  The sweet smell of the plants seemed to affect the minds of the party, causing Piper and Ganthet to seek out and activate machinery with visible but indecipherable results.  They also encountered several giant centipede-like creatures.  

- The bird entities apparently gone, Naran and Helios spent some time exploring the interior of the island and its machinery, eventually finding that some of it seemed to "connect" to a 'portal book'.

- Attempting to outrun their insectoid pursuers, Ronin, Piper, and Ganthet ended up at the top of a large cylindrical vault, where they found another portal book, some arms and armor, and a room that simpily glowed for no obvious reason.  At the bottom of the chamber, they found a passage leading deeper into the complex from which they could hear a dull hum, as well as one final vault door smeared with some kind black, pitch-like substance...

- +2xp

- After some brief discussion, it was decided that Helios would follow Naran into the book and the others would continue into the ruin to locate the power core.

- Naran and Helios found themselves on top of a small island about 400 feet above the surface of an unknown ocean.  Two suns blazed overhead, making it difficult to see through the brightness.  The island contained a tower full of machinery and a strange vine-like plant growing crystals.  As they investigated, they were attacked by some group of bird-people with spear-like weapons that projected arcs of electricity.  They fled up the tower, but found themselves trapped until another one of the bird-people "flew" them to a large cave-like entrance at the base of the island where they discovered it to be mostly hollow and full of ancient non-functioning machinery.

- Ganthet, Ronin, and Piper continued up into the ruin above the overgrown library.  As they made their way through its interior, they encountered some sort of automaton guarding a sealed doorway.  Apparently they triggered some condition in its programming, and the machine attacked.  The resulting battle battered, burned, and froze the three, but they were ultimately victorious.

- +3xp

- Aralakh engaged in combat with their assailants.  Steiner in particular has been extremely fortunate that the Banshee's pilot is having a run of bad luck.  He was less fortunate with regards to the Hunchback's AC/20.  Riley has yet to prove herself, and Jyun is hurting enough from his near-death experience that it is severely hampering his performance.  Still, the group has given at least as good as they've gotten thus far...

- Discerning that the tunnel of ferns proceeded in the direction they were attempting to travel before the glass storm hit, and believing that the ferns themselves may indicate the presence of a ruin similar to the one at their home, the group decided to leave the aneen in the cave and follow it.

- The picked their way through the winding tunnel for almost 9 miles, encountering a few caverns (including a large one with a tree and clouds) and several other passages.  There was a faint, warm breeze blowing through the tunnel - all the tunnels proceeding southwest toward its source were overgrown with purple ferns whereas other passages were not.

- Having pursued these phenomena all the way to its source, the group found part of some kind of buried building, broken and overgrown with the purple ferns itself.  One of the chambers had a large hole in the corner of the ceiling, through which various wires and conduits hung loosely which opened into a set over chambers and corridors reminiscent of the "B Dome" they'd explored.  

The room they were in seemed to Piper to be some sort of library.  Beneath the ferns were shelves containing the remains of many strange, rectangular books.  She couldn't read them, but her ability to decipher suggested they described locations in great detail.  A few of those in the best shape had window-like screens on their first pages, showing a specific, unfamiliar location.  The glowing panels gave odd sensations when you touched them.  While attempting to discern some sort of use or a way to "activate" the one of the books, Naran placed her palm over the glowing panel and suddenly vanished.  Looking down at where the book fell, Ronin could see his friend standing in the scene depicted through the window...

- +3xp

- A few weeks after the processing plant sabotage, a group calling itself the "New Andrid Resistance" attempted to assassinate a couple of the members of Aralakh company.  While the overall attempt failed, it was a miracle that Jyun survived.

- About two months later, the company gets an alert while on patrol: a lance of 'mechs is approaching the compound.  They load up and head out, facing a Wolfhound, a Cicada, a Hunchback, and a Banshee...

This was the first session to feature my Mechwarrior Basic rules for personal-scale combat.  It is very lethal (as I wanted it to), but it played very well.

- The group ran south behind the herd of aneen, fighting their way through the fleeing beasts and the larval worms pursuing them.  When the adult worm caught up with them, Piper scarred it with a plasma cypher, but the monster killed one of their pack animals as they attempted to flee.  It was Ganthet's "liquid air" artifact that enabled them to finally escape.

- Once in the mountains, the group was beset by a violent storm of glass.  The group took shelter in a shallow cave, along with several dozen dog-sized beetles apparently native to the area.  During this time, Ganthet fell deeper into the cave, where he found an underground stream, a tentacled monster, and a tunnel lined with the same purple ferns that grow around their home of Arable.

- +2xp

- Aralakh arrived on the mining planet and took up their garrison duty.

- One night about 5 months into the job, a few of the small security team Aralakh had subcontracted witnessed an odd exchange between one of the compound locals and some outsiders.  Following them, one of the men saw the outsiders give the local a large backpack.  The man then proceeded to his job in a refinery.  About 20 minutes later, alarms sounded and the place was evacuated.  While authorities were attempting to determine what had caused the alarm, there was a tremendous explosion and the building collapsed.

- The Baron who'd hired Aralakh was furious at the sabotage, but the company was able to maneuver around his accusations.

- With the help of the subcontracted team, Aralakh was able to track down and capture the saboteur, who had apparently been paid to place the explosives but knew little of his benefactors.

- Aralakh stepped up internal security in response to the incident.

- After treating their wounded aneen as best they could, the group gathered the remainder of thier possessions and set out again.  The animal slowed their progress significantly, however, and it was after dark before they reached their destination: the on oasis on their route through the desert.

- As they approached, they noticed two things.  The first was a brilliantly-glowing, blue-purple, diamond-shaped object floating above the oasis.  The second was the fact that the oasis was occupied by several different groups of people.

- As they refreshed their animals and made their camp for the evening, the group spoke with several of the others there and learned that each of them had a wildly disparate understanding of the surrounding world - to the extent that Naran and Ronin suspected that perhaps the area occupied some confluence of time and/or reality.

- Just before dawn, the diamond-shaped object began to pulse and vibrate.  After a few minutes, the object collapsed in on itself - seeming to draw everyone and everything else occupying the oasis into itself before vanishing.

- Observing how much their wounded aneen had slowed their progress and believing speed to be essential, the group voted to use Helious' healing artifact on their injured animal.

- Packed up again, the group continued their westward journey for the next couple of days - approaching the gathering clouds near the looming black mountain range and fighting the oppressive heat.

- As they neared the foothills in the shadow of the jagged mountains of the Black Riage, they happened upon a sizable herd of wild aneen making its way north along the edge of the hills.  The clouds above were beginning to arc with purple lightening.  The group was still approaching, intending to pass the herd to the south, when an enourmous cragworm erupted from the earth ahead of them, bellowing its hunger...

- +3xp

- The group set out to the west, crossing the northwestern region of the Gathmund Scrublands before exiting them into the wide, flat expanse of the desert flat that lie between them and their destination.

- On the second night, the group awoke to suddenly find themselves in a dense forest.  Margr fled through their camp and something large was approaching from the north.  As they attempted to calm the aneen, a massive bison-like creature emerged from the surrounding trees.  It was gushing blood from a wound in its side, making thick red pools wherever it stepped, and the creature held a miniature-sun-like fireball in its mouth which licked flames out toward anything living.

- The group grabbed what supplies they could and attempted to flee, but the aneen Piper and Ronin were riding was panicked and uncooperative.  It fell on its side, throwing Ronin off before bolting the opposite direction.  Unfortunately, this took it right past one of the lingering margr, which put a nasty slice in its right leg - causing it to fall again and Piper to lose her tenuous grasp on the animal.  The giant buffalo plodded onward, seemingly unaware of them.

- Piper and Ronin were able to make short work of the lingering margr still prowling the area, while the others rejoined when the beast had passed.  As they gathered their now-blood-covered supplies, the group discussed what should be done with their injured animal.

- +2xp

- Aralakh took their payment and left world, deciding to jump into Capellan space to avoid potential political issues selling "acquired" Free Worlds' military hardware.

- A baron met with them under false pretenses - not interested in buying their mechandise, but wanted to hire them on retainer for guard duty on a secondary planet in-system.  

- The group negotiated up to 500k for the year, plus the baron will cover all repairs and normal expenses.  Additionally, the baron agreed to hire a broker to aid them in the sale of their unneeded merchandise.  The group also has 50% salvage rights, but as there are no other mechs on their world, it seems unlikely they'll get much.

- Aralakh took the opportunity of having a benefactor to bring on a new mechwarrior: a woman called Riley who pilots a Trebuchet.

- Overall, while not especially lucrative (or exciting), it seems like a nice, easy contract...

- The group continued their discussion with Polious about their upcoming journey and some of the potential difficulties they may encounter.

- The following day was the third day of the yearly Eves festival - the evening of the big feast and a time for making important announcements about the upcoming year.  Among others of various kinds, Polious announced his assistants' journey to a far-away place in order to recover desperately-needed components for the town's faltering artifact.  The group enjoyed the feast and spent some time talking to various townsfolk about their upcoming quest.

- After the Eves, the group spent a few days preparing for their journey before heading out.  As they left the town, accompanied to its edge by various family, friends, and well-wishers, they noticed that the farmland looked noticeably parched...

- +1xp

- Both sides continued to pound each other for several rounds, severely damaging multiple units.

- Ultimately, the pirate leader proposed a deal: they would leave the system and not return - and would leave the merc a prize of valuable military equipment - in exchange for an end to hostilities.

- After considering the situation carefully, Aralakh agreed to their terms.  The pirates proved true enough to their word.

- The company's employer was not completely satisfied with their results, though they had technically fulfilled the contract and the pirate threat was gone (at least for the time being).  Compensation was renegotiated for half.

- After taking the contract, Aralakh headed out to the mine abandoned moon where the pirates were said to be hiding out.  Not liking the hemmed-in approach from the main road to the south, they decided to put their dropship down on the plain to the north even though it meant more rugged terrain between them and their target.

- As they approached the mine from above, first contact was made with the Jagermech perched atop a hill.  The Commando entered as the mercs engaged, with the Dervish and Stinger arriving after a couple of exchanges.

- Aralakh took some hard hits early in the confrontation, but have so far managed to avoid being crippled.  The destruction of the Commando has evened the playing field somewhat, but they still have an uphill battle.  If they don't get a break soon, they may need to pull out or risk more than their contract...

- Piper, Naran, and Ronin headed down into the guts of the Weathervane while Ganthet and Helios remained with Polious in the control room, attempting to keep things from getting out of hand.

- The three descended into the structure, noting more and more of a strange, acrid-smelling black oil as they made their way toward the inward.  Outside the vault itself, a large stream of the stuff poured down the wall over wires and conduits - among which were dozens of eyeless rat-like creatures.

- A couple of townsfolk approached the Weathervane, looking for Polious to address an issue in town involving a strange device, and hostile spreading plant growth.  As he was still unable to see and Helios had been more weakened by the day's events, Ganthet was sent to address the problem.  He found some sort of artifact producing a thick fog and causing shrub-like plants to grow.  When he activated it, the ground began to vibrate violently.  He found himself outside of the town by several miles, and watched as large sections of earth some distance to the north rose out of the ground and floated above it.

- Once inside the vault, Piper found the Weathervane's power core and attempted to disconnect it.  Unfortunately, this seemed to cause a runaway reaction resulting in the core's explosion.  Piper somehow managed to escape the brunt of the blast.

- The explosion of the power core radiated energy throughout the town, instantly burned away the stormclouds, and ultimately resulted in a total blackout as all power drained from the ruin.

- Over the course of the next few weeks, Polious, the others, and the rest of the town attempted to pick up the pieces.  Polious managed to cobble together a replacement power source for the Weathervane and once the rain cycle resumed - even though it was irregular and somewhat less than sufficient - the townsfolk began to relax.  Polious and the others, however, know that the current arrangement is underpowered and anything but stable.

- A few days later, the Eves festival begins.  This is marks the new year in Arable, as well as the first few days of the planting season.  The group spends the first day of the celebration with their individual families, spending time together and exchanging gifts.  Polious also visits each, giving them gifts of his own.

- The second day of the Eves is a time of planning for the new year.  For most, that means talking about what crops to plant in which fields, which animals to breed, and other such things.  For Polious and his associates, however, this conversation looks very different.  Polious tells them he's learned of yet another ruin similar to Arable and the "B Dome" (which is now known to be a sphere, and is floating about a hundred feed above the ground along with some chunks of nearby landscape).  This one is about 10 miles into the mountains of the Black Riage, near a village called Urnmoll.  It, reportedly, even shows signs of continuing power.  Arable needs a new power core.  The Weathervane will not survive without one, and if the Weathervane doesn't survive, the town is doomed.  Further, Polious is unable to leave the town - the artifact is too unstable.  The others are going to have to do this on their own...

- +3xp

- The group hurried toward town, only to find the north gate held closed by a massive mutated plant.  When the group attempted to cut the struggling gate mechanism free, they found that deformed plant also possessed bladed tendrils and often emitted psychic shriek when injured.  As the group fought with the plant creature, an errant shot from Ronin deactivated the gate completely and a massive tendril grappled with and ultimately once-more panicked Naran's aneen.

- As the others hacked and burned away at the plant, Helios worked on phasing through the door to assist from the other side.  He successfully reached the other side, but not before sustaining further injury to his already battered body and mind.  Though significantly debilitated and possessed of only a rudimentary knowledge of the Numenera, he somehow managed to reconfigure the gate's controls to bypass the circuit destroyed by Ronin's arrow and opened the gate.

- The group reunited and reached the malfunctioning Weathervane, but the situation was quickly worsening.  Even with help, Polious was unable to stabilize the artifact.  His blindness preventing him from doing himself what was quickly becoming obviously necessary, he handed Ronin the key to "the Vault" and sent the group into the guts of Weathervane to shut it down...

- +1xp

- Though their new recruit gave them an in-system raid target with a decent opportunity to steal a solid battlemech, the company commander decided the timing was wrong and instead ordered repairs to begin on their damaged mechs as they made their way back to the jump point to head out of system.

- Upon returning to their employer, they collected the rest of their pay, finished their repairs, and received two offers for new contracts from others: one involving eliminating a pirate lance in a nearby system, and another recruiting merc units for a larger campaign offensive assaulting an undisclosed Capellan world.

- After some discussion and weighing options, the company decided to go pirate hunting...

- The group decided it would be best to recover the panicked aneen before heading back, but Polious and Helios were in no condition to assist.  Being somewhat beat up himself, Ronin volunteered to stay with them while Ganthet, Naran, and Piper pursued the animal.

- The chase led them back up into the forested hills a couple of miles away, where they encountered a giant, fin-shaped ruin and some hostile, hovering automatons n addition to the few hounds pursuing their pack animal.

- Meanwhile, Polious, Helios, and Ronin encountered a strange being completely covered by thick robes except for its large, mechanical eye.  The entity babbled in several different languages in addition to the Truth, and spoke seemingly random bits of information or observations before disintegrating before their eyes.

- Naran manged to grab the harness of the panicked aneen, climbed up onto it, and managed to calm it down while Piper and Ganthet fought off the remaining hounds - the automatons having apparently disengaged.

- The group rejoined at their camp - now with all of their animals - and made their way back to town.  They were approaching the edge of Arable's farmland when the storm that had been gathering finally unleashed...

- +2 xp

- Seeing the growing agitation in the chance moths, the group began attempting to scramble up the rope.  Outside they were confronted by a pack of broken hounds - one of which was massive and seemed to twist and distort as it growled.

- The moths triggered something in the chamber which began causing strange environmental effects.  While Ronin climbed the rope, Piper investigated the surrounding machinery and found that shorts in the controls seemed to result in her ability to terraform the immediate area.

- As the group fought off the smaller hounds, the huge one closed and happened to pick out Polious as its first target, grabbing and flinging him aside.

- As the situation with the hounds outside worsened, Polious called for withdrawl.  Piper had a more difficult time escaping the ruin as the rope which had been worn on the jagged edge of the hole finally snapped.  Ronin threw a rope down to her but wasn't able to tie it off quickly enough and Piper would likely have pulled him in if Ganthet and Naran hadn't come to his aid.

- Polious recovered from his tumble and, seeing the severity of the situation and the massive hound threatening his companions, raised his damaged rifle.  The weapon discharged but seemed to overload, radiating explosive energe outward.  The great hound was severely burned, but so was Polious - badly enough on his face that he was blinded.

- The group left the site as the hounds fled.  They returned to their camp to find that one of their aneen was about half a mile across the plain, being harrassed by a few other broken hounds.

- +2 xp

- After a few intense exchanges and significant damage to both sides, Aralakh succeeded in bringing down the Awesome.  The pilot of the mech survived and turned out to be an exiled noble of some sort.  He offered them information that would aid them in exchange for a place among their company.  Aralakh agreed to this on a "trial basis".

- The company bribed and called in the strike team that had been sent with them to round of the remaining personnel at the base.  The noble had warned them of fanaticism, but the team still took some losses while performing the task.  The group stripped some supplies and equipment from the base and then returned to the primary objective at the R&D facility.

- The strike team recovered 3 experimental/prototype "pulse lasers" from the facility.  The leader of the strike team, having been bribed already, offered to sell Aralakh up to two of the lasers recovered for the Duke.

- The company used its Warhammer to carefully (if inelegantly) salvage the fallen Panther for rebuild & refit.

- As they were preparing to leave the system, their new "recruit" informed them that there was another ripe target in-system...

- Polious activated his transmitter artifact, sending a message to Piper and her companions to join he, Ronin, Naran.

- On their way, Piper, Ganthet, and Helios were ambushed at the top of the descending shaft by abhumans of some sort, apparently living in the bowels of the structure.  The creatures were savage, gaunt, and where their faces should have been was only the base of a writhing tentacle.

- While Polious began examining the glowing power-artifact, another trio of the abhumans attacked him, Naran, and Ronin.

- The insuing battles were chaotic, as their assailants attacked in an uncoordinated, frenzied fashion.  One of the abhumans attacking Ganthet and his companions activated some sort of gravity cypher, which caused anyone and anything within the shaft itself to become weightless.  Another assaulting Naran and the others in the room below activated a cobbled artifact which missed her, sending a bright, white beam into the surrounding structure, exploding several metallic "pods" the group assumed were capacitors of some sort.  This seemed to adversely affect the power-artifact, increasing the instability of its already dangerously-overloaded state.  

- At Ronin's insistence, Polious set to work attempting to stabilize the pulsing blue power source while the others fought off the remaining attackers.  Just as the battle concluded, Polious released the power build-up in the device, sending power out into the ruin.  To his dismay, however, the core itself burned out - the pulsing, blue-sun-like glow collapsing in on itself, leaving the cylinder an empty, glass shell.

- The group spent some time gathering components from this room, as they had specifically come for power-distribution parts.  When they were finished, they made their way back toward the "entrance" area, noticing that many of the rooms and passages were now lit and active with various buttons, screens, panels, and other, more incomprehensible controls or interfaces.  They noted much that could be salvaged and investigated, but time was against them as they suspected more abhumans may be emerging from the depths of the complex.

- At the entrance, they noticed the Chance Moth hive was now very active - flying around the room, feasting on the enegies provided by the newly-supplied power.  As they made ready to ascend the rope back out of the complex, they heard the unfortunately-familiar keening of a pack of Broken Hounds from outside - and something very, very large slam into the top of the structure...

- +2 xp

- Aralakh pursued the fleeing light mechs back to the mostly-decommissioned military base.  After a few brief exchanges, they managed to take out the Locust and the Hermes - but about that time, they detected an engine power-up in one of the hangers.  After a few moments, sensors were able to determine it was an assault mech - an 80-ton Awesome.  Despite - or maybe because of - the fact that they couldn't get much salvage from the Hermes after its ammo explosion, they decided to stay and see what they could do against this new foe, particularly when they noticed it didn't seem to be operating at peak performance...

- The group journeyed with Polious to the "B Dome" - a secondary site which seems to be very similar to the structure around which their town of Arable is built.  As such, it is a trove of spare parts.  They were looking for "crystal fuze couplings" to replace some key components relating to the Weathervane's power distribution, but are always on the lookout for anything else that might either be of use or able to be made into something useful.

- Upon descending into the ruin, Ronin encountered a rather large hive of Chance Moths, attracted to a numenous light Naran had created.  At Polious' instruction, the lights were put out and the group carefully moved away from the entrance further into the dark while Naran distracted the hive by illuminating a large metal panel in the opposite direction.

- After a brief discussion in the corridor, the group decided to split up to cover more ground: Helios, Piper, and Ganthet continued down in that direction, while Polious, Naran, and Ronin went back through entrance area and through a partially-open doorway.

- Helios, Piper, and Ganthet found a grassy area in the metal ruin which also contained a large tree with glowing geometric designs on its leaves.  It seemed to interact with nearby machinery in some way - affecting the immediately-local plant life and/or weather/environment when they interacted with it.  In addition, they discovered a stone chamber full of shelves and charred, rectangular books.  Piper found 4 seemingly untouched and took them with her, and discovered at least one of the mostly-burned volumes seemed to have some kind of static charge within it.  After investigating the area, Piper set to work disassembling sections of the machinery, salvaging several promising objects before she began inadvertently triggering it.

- Polious, Naran, and Ronin found a large laboratory area.  Polious set to work scavenging the equipment for useable parts while Ronin and Naran looked around the room.  Ronin found a bank of large, cylindrical, glass tanks (only one of which was still intact) and Naran soon discovered pools of liquid on the floor and ceiling which were dripping into each other.  While she marveled over this, a pseudopod from the lower pool grabbed her, and pulled her up off the ground.  Ronin worked to free her and Polious shot the creature with his powerful rifle-like Numenera weapon - which, instead of evaporating it, caused it to harden into a pink-white crystalline material (from which Ronin cut a section to take with them).  From there, the three proceeded deeper into the complex.  At the bottom of a 170ft shaft, they found a black door behind which hummed some sort of impressive, glowing artifact...

- +3xp

- Tim's company was hired by a Free Worlds League duke to hit a small Capellan military R&D facility on an otherwise-insignificant border world.  Intelligence indicated the nearby military base was all but decommissioned and they expect no more than a few light mechs and a pair of turrets as in terms of resistance.  Aralakh is to neutralize defenses and allow a strike team (they're transporting) to enter the facility and extract technology.

- Tim rolled rather poorly during contract negotiations and is only being compensated with a forward of 45,000 for operating costs, 25,000 for mission success, a potential 50,000 bounty on significant tech recovered - BUT, they do have full rights to any salvage they have time to pull out, which could pay off nicely.

- The jumpship transporting them says they will remain in-system for 17 days.  At the standard jump points, the target world is about 8 days travel at 1G.  Aralakh pays the captain an extra 5,000 to jump just a little closer to the ecliptic, shaving a day off the interplanetary travel.  They should have up to 3 days on-world.  Extra time comes at 10,000/day.

- Upon reaching the site, they found it defended by a Locust, a Panther, and a Hermes II - which is actually a medium mech.  After a brief skirmish, they took the Panther down and the two remaining units retreated.  Seeing no evidence of additional resistance, the unit held off on calling in the strike team and instead decided to pursue the fleeing units for more potential salvage.

System: Numenera

Setting: The Ninth World, The Beyond, Arable

Players: Sheri, Tony, Adam, Tim, Keara

Schedule: Near-weekly

Finally starting a Numenera campaign!  Been waiting for this for two years!  Very excited!

The party is a group of young adults from a small town in the Beyond called Arable - a wasteland farming community based around a weather-control artifact.  They will begin as assistants to an Aeon Priest called Polious, and tasked with assisting in the maintenance of the Weathervane, scavenging for parts, and generally discovering the Numenera.

Characters:

- Narangerel "Naran" [Sheri] is an Inquisitive Nano who Possesses a Shard of the Sun

- Helios [Tony] is a Stubborn Jack who Exists Partially out of Phase

- Piper [Keara] is a Manipulative Delve (Seeker) who Makes Something out of Nothing

- Ronin [Tim] is a Wasteland Jack who Explores Dark Places

- Ganthet [Adam] is a Weird Glaive who Rides the Lightening

System: Battletech / Mechwarrior Basic

Setting: The Inner Sphere

Players: Tim

Schedule: Occasional Weeknights

Aralakh Company will be a strategic-level Battletech RPG/playtest that Tim is helping me with.  I loves me some Battletech and I haven't been able to get a full group together to start a game (not for lack of trying) - so, instead, Tim and I are playtesting a "Mechwarrior Basic" RPG companion ruleset I've developed as well as feeling out the logistics of a Succession Wars era mercenaries campaign.  Since it's just me and Tim, it will be light on the RP and mostly focused on game mechanics, battletech map combat, and strategic level decision-making.

My version of the Battletech universe is about .5-1 steps removed from canon.  I leave most things as-is, but there are a few minor alterations to "the way things are" that improve the setting in my view.  In addition to using my own Mechwarrior ruleset, I've made a few minor mods to the tabletop wargame and have come up with my own simplified versions of some other game-relevant areas.

"Aralakh" was the name Tim gave his merc company, having stolen it from a video game.

Characters:

- "Steiner", a guy born into a merc family who inherited and/or split off to form his own company;  Pilots a Blackjack.

- "Drevan", a friend of Steiner's who comes from the family of a house regular; Pilots a Warhammer.

Additional:

In addition to the two "PCs" and their mechs, Aralakh also has a leopard-class dropship owned by the hired captain, a few techs for upkeep on the mechs & vehicles, and some light support equipment.  They're also starting with a small supply stockpile for repairs and reloading, but it won't last them forever.

Notes:

Character creation rules seemed to work reasonably well, especially the random aspects.  The "average" starting character might be *bit* too skilled out of the box, but we'll see how this develops.

There's a time to pray / and there's a time to fight / anything can be a weapon / if you're holding it right

- Emory, Carter, and Sara began heading north - back to the marina to get their cars and hurry to the train station Aaron had described.  On their way, they encountered a deformed Leon Catch, obviously corrupted by some dark influence.  Not wasting words, he immediately attacked them, proclaiming they must die.  He had a fairly strong upper hand until Sara was able to find some manifestation of his corruptor lurking in the Twilight.  That connection disrupted, Catch burst into flames and burned to ash in seconds.

- As Jordan hurried through the woods, he found himself running with deformed, ghostly wolves.  Slowly converging on him, they somehow warped space around themselves, leaving Jordan in front of the train station.

- Aaron had a brief run-in with "Jason" - the supernaturally-influenced many Carter, Emory, and Sara had spoken with before.  He criticized the groups interference in things over their heads and eventually headed off to the north as Aaron continued south to the nearest bridge over the river.

- Aaron and Jordan met up at the train station and sneaked inside.  They spied several gang members hanging out - and one that had, apparently, been shot by the others on the platform.  They found the main hall of the station covered in webs, and 11 skeletons suspended in them.

- When Aaron, Emory, and Sara arrived, the 3 gang members present became aware of the group's presence and a brief firefight insued.  One gang member was gunned down, and the other two fled in short order.

- The group converged on the main chamber, where the massive, distorted spider appeared - clearly agitated.  Some of the group engaged it with gunfire - Jordan's "blessed" bullets offering some aid - while others attempted to dislodge the skeletons.  The spider's attentions seemed clearly divided.  The group eventually killed it, but Sara warned them that it was only its physical form that was destroyed.  To keep it dead, they would need to recover and bury the skeletons as they had done the other two.

- By this time, the police were arriving.  Sgt Bryonson seemed interested on keeping most of them out of the way, however.  The group was escorted to the station, where questions were asked and answered.  After a long night, they were released, and they set about making sure the spider demon did not return.

- 10xp

Epilogue:

Having rid the city of the beast at the heart of the drug problem and the spider transformations, they were, perhaps, surprised that their lives did not significantly improve.  Most lost their jobs over the next few weeks or months, always on shaky reasoning, and they continued to observe hints of the supernatural haunting them.  Also, the Man in the Pin-Striped Suit was still out there somewhere, with his inscrutable motives.  

Eventually, they all received a letter:

"We have been observing your activities for some time, and you show some promise.  Welcome.  Stand by for further instructions."

The letter was "signed" only with the logo of a black bird with one, large, human-like eye - overlayed with the single word: SCARECROW

End Chapter 1

- As the black clouds above began to pour cold rain on them, the group set to work attempting to quickly dig some sort of grave in which to bury the bones they'd recovered, believing the lack of a proper burial for them is contributing to the spiritual unrest in town.

- As they made progress, the storm picked up and 4 wolves emerged from the forest.  Believing the wolves to be connected to other events, the group attempted to avoid fighting them even though they displayed hostile behavior. Aaron got some sort of message from the wolves suggesting that something the group was doing was weakening them.  When he petitioned for more information, something in the wolves changed - three of them ran off to the northeast, the other turned and retreated to the south.

- While Aaron and Jordan pursued the wolves, Carter, Emory, and Sara buried the bones.  The Man in the Pin-Striped Suit appeared again, asking if they were sure that's what they wanted to do.  He told them their actions would make them powerful enemies.  The group largely ignored him, but he didn't interfere - disappearing after giving a final warning that there was no "going back".

- Jordan pursued the wolf to the south and encountered the ghost native the group had seen several times previously.  Attempting to commune with the spirit, he began to meditate.  The action seemed to engage the ghost, who passed on several impressions of the past.

- Aaron followed the other three wolves north to a place in the most run-down area of town at the heart of the storm which had moved over New Auburn, watching the shadow in the clouds above descend into an abandoned train station.

- +3xp

- The group met at the marina the next morning with the intention of locating and recovering bones/skeletons that believe have some connection to past events.  Jordan had rented a pontoon boat for the day, and had brought a number of "supplies" designed to combat or subdue any supernatural dangers that might present themselves.  Once the others arrived, they set out onto the lake in their boat.  They quickly found themselves driving in and out of thick pockets of fog being driven by the wind.

- Near one of the deepest parts of the lake, they found a mostly-whole skeleton floating on the surface.  It began to break apart as they gathered the bones into the boat.  As they attempted to maneuver the boat to gather the remainder of the small bones, they noticed they were drifting toward a patch of lake water deep in the fog that seemed to be bubbling.

- As they drifted into the bubbling water, the boat's engine died and bone fragments began to fall from the sky like rain, gradually increasing in side.  As Emory and Aaron worked to get the boat running and others attempted to gather more bones they found floating in the water and scattered around the deck, shadows began to appear in the distance around them and overhead.  The boat began to corrode and fall apart around them.  The depth-finder read 9999.

- Emory managed to get the boat running as the indistinct form of a massive, spider-like creature emerged from the fog above them.  Its carapace writhed and dripped with some dark liquid.  It's round maw shrieked behind monstrous fangs and the eight, translucent yellow eyes that hovered in a ring above its head seemed to burn with yellow flame.

- Aaron managed to force the boat backward out of the bubbling water and away from the creature even as it tore the canopy from the craft.  More concerned with escape than direction, he ran the boat all the way up onto the shore - the same place Carter had found himself after his hospital blackout.

- +2xp

- After taking a couple of weeks to recover, the group once more began investigations.  Carter, Emory, and Sara went to the run-down lower-east side of town to ask questions of the guy that found Carter in the lakeside park and took him back to the hospital.

- Locating the man took some time and "negotiation".  When they did found him, he at first seemed unimpressed and uniterested in the their conversation.  After moving to a somewhat more isolated location, he began to talk to them a bit more openly.  

- The group learned little from the man regarding the questions they had - they did learn, however, that he himself had something of a supernatural nature.  He told them that he had laid low for decades, doing his best to avoid the supernatural darkness that seeped into various corners of the world.  In his experience, engaging that sort of evil only made things worse - and he strongly advised the others to follow his lead.

- Meanwhile, Jordan did his best to obtain any useful objects or materials that research and folklore suggested might be helpful in confronting the perils of the supernatural - and rented a boat in preparation to attempt to recover the floating bones Carter had seen on the lake...

- +2xp

- Whle Sara, Jordan, Emory, and Carter were all receiving treatment, Aaron decided to go back to the West Tenements to speak with Bethany about buying some of her charms.

- Bethany was quite intoxicated and seemed to have been crying.  She became fixated on Sara and the watch and pleaded with Aaron to convince Sara to give her the watch.  While they were still talking, Aaron heard gunshots.  He arrived outside in time to see a man hurled through a glass tile wall by a massive, glowing humanoid wolf.  The creature did not give chase, but Aaron and the man - who turned out to be the fugitive Elijah Sims - decided to leave the area anyway.

- Back at Sims' hideout, they talked over the things that had been going on.  Sims knew nothing about "spiders" or "Niatha", but did know the local gangs were up to something bad.  He had been hunting a small werewolf pack in the city for some time - his success in killing three of them so far had earned him a reputation as a serial killer.  Sims agreed to offer whatever help he could as long as Aaron didn't tip off the department as to his whereabouts and activities.  He did stress, however, that he had his own problems.

- Aaron returned to the hospital and told the others about his early-morning adventure.  The group took the next week or two to fully recover.  Nothing major happened while they laid low, but small incidents which they felt were related to the "problem" continued to bubble to the surface.  They needed to form a plan.  They would have to act on something - anything - and soon...

- +2xp

- Carter dragged Emory back into the room and pulled out the gun she still had on her as the man burst in.  As the nurses and doctors followed him in, Carter decided to engage the massive guy in hand-to-hand instead of shooting.  They traded a couple of blows before Carter tossed the gun on the bed where Emory picked it up and shot the man and he collapsed.

- Things weren't going much better back in the alleyway where the giant spider had attacked Jordan, Sara, Aaron and the injured man.  The group strugged to get away, and were cut off from the injured man in the alleyway.  They had mixed results fending off the persistent spider, but eventually made it back to Aaron's patrol car - though Jordan had to be carried.  The creature attempted to stop the car from driving off and nearly succeeded in prying the roof off the vehicle before Aaron was able to drive them all to safety.

- Back at the hospital, the group reunited - several of them in pretty rough shape.  After some treatment, Sara got a phone call around 4am.  It was Owen.  He told her he'd found something - some clue about their situation.  He told her the only way to free an individual or environment from a demon's influence - short of somehow destroying it - was to close the door it came through...

- +1xp

- Sara, Jordan, and Emory had an interesting conversation with the priest Owen and his sister Crista.  They had experienced some odd things themselves, and Owen showed them some photocopied pages of some old, partiall-burned documents that his predecessor had left him - documents that seemed similar to the occultic 'book of prophesy' Sara had found references to.

- Meanwhile Carter was visited again by the man who'd given him a ride back to the hospital.  He said he'd gone back to the shore where he thought Carter had come from - and he saw some of the same disturbing things.  He cautioned Carter not to pursue any of that too far, only saying that it was 'bad stuff'.

- Aaron went to meet his mysterious caller later that night.  He was picked up in a limo and driven around a bit while "Sam" talked to him.  Apparently, this man was a rival of Leon Catch, and wanted the police to know whatever was going on with the new drug Leon had been selling, they weren't involved and wanted the cops concentrating on Catch's territory (the East side).

- When he returned, he re-joined Sara and Jordan who'd been watching from nearby.  Sara had heard something in an alley and was making her way to investigate.  She found an injured man who seemed strange in some way.  As they approached asking if them man needed help, the group of them were ambushed from above by a large, spider-like creature.

- Carter and Emory were awakened at the hospital by some commotion in the hallway.  Emory stepped outside and saw a crazed and massive man pushing his way down the hallway against the efforst of nurses, aids, and doctors to restrain him.  When the man saw Emory, he became enrage, grabbing a nearby metal cart and hurling it at her.

- +3xp

- Jordan, Emory, and Sara made their way to the St Monessa Catholic Church at 8550 Newfield.  After entering and looking around, Jordan and Emory decided to go up and talk with the priest while Sara hung back to observe.  Jordan had been experiencing minor but worrying "reactions" since they entered, but these drastically intensified when he caught sight of a girl sweeping up in a corner of the sanctuary.  At that moment, something seemed to trigger in the building resulting in the sound of a high-pitched, howling blowing through the building and the numerous candle flames becoming much taller and agitated.  The young priest was momentarily shocked by this, exchanging a looking with the janitor, before pulling a gun on Jordan and demanding to know what he was.  The two tried, now much more urgently, to explain some of what had been going on.  The priest directed them out of the sanctuary, through the building, and into the crypt beneath it.

- Deep in the crypt, the priest was accompanied by two faintly-glowing men in white robes - one of whom was sent for the janitor.  The other pushed Jordan into a small circular room and bound him to a worn wooden board with silver manicles.  The janitor returned with two of the men in white robes and took up a position in the room, pulled out a small book from her clothing, and began singing.  Emory demanded answers, eventually pulling her own gun on the priest who was now standing behind a sort of podium.  When he began reading aloud in a strange language, Emory fired over his head.  The priest remained focused on his task, but the shot did startle janitor who briefly faultered in her song.  It was then that Sara, who had been stealthily observing from the shadows, emerged to place a hand on Emories arm.  "It's an exorcism..."

- +2xp

- Jordan's call to Sara telling her he's on his way woke her from unconsciousness.  She was soaked with lake water, but the building appeared intact.  Sara took another look around the now-peaceful house.  She didn't find the book she was looking for, but did locate some volumes on the Arapaho containing burial practices, and a scrap of paper mentioning Father Brogan at St Monessa Catholic Church.

- After Emory got off work, the group met at the hospital in Carter's room.  They had a lengthy discussion on what to do next, during which Aaron received another call from the dispatch telling him that somone had just called from the same payphone.  Aaron called the number back and, after identifying himself, was told "here, 2am".  Jordan, Sara, and Emory decided to go to the Catholic Church, leaving Carter alone in his room to recover.

- As Carter slipped into sleep, some part of his subconscious nearly panicked, recalling that sleep in this hospital has rarely been peaceful.  He woke up to find himself in a log cabin with an elderly native woman who asked if he would listen to her when his grandfather had not.  She told him that the "demon" must be stopped; banished; destroyed.  It had preyed upon the community for too long, and many of them could not rest peacefully in their deaths.  He saw a brief glimpse of what must have been the past from his window before his hospital room light came on and the vision faded.

- +3xp

[new players Ken, Terri, Erica and Zach]

- Angel and some *other* new friends were summoned to Princess Strike's Castle Alley on account of a horrible noise keeping everyone awake.  The terrible moaning sounds was coming from somewhere in the junkyard behind the castle.

- While investigating, some of them encountered large bug-like creatures that tried to steal things from them - one of them made off with Terri the robot's arm!

- The group followed the sound to a little cave house in one of the piles of junk, where they found an old, broken robot called Rus Tee sobbing and crying loudly.  He told them that he was upset because one of his eyes was missing.