Friday, November 6, 2020

Howl of Oblivion: The Crossroads / Ancient & Wicked

Howl of Oblivion, an AD&D 2e Campaign
** Howl of Oblivion Campaign Page **

The Crossroads

The party decides to press on to Yecha in the vain hope of catching El-Bakir.  The journey takes eleven days, and they run out of food not far from their destination.  During the journey, the party begins to have even more respect for the Tevarsi hunters.

Along the way, they encounter an old medicine man known throughout the Tevarsi and Zyrjan Roams.  His name is Dar Dagbat, and he happened to have a Tevarsi apprentice named Keshik who knew Jaan Dhar.  The party easily hunted down a gazelle to trade Dar Dagbat for his healing potions.  While the party was camping there, Dar Dagbat had a vision of unclear import, only stating 'they are coming'.  As a result, Keshik joined the party.

A little worse for wear, they eventually arrive at the city of the Tiger Nomads.


Ancient & Wicked

...is what most nomads think of civilization.  The players have arrived in Yecha.  However, they will find their long absence from the Tevarsi Roam has had some unintended consequences.

Fantasy Grounds:  AD&D 2e Ancient & Wicked - Walkul's Cart

Yecha is not a big city, nor is it what you'd call modern.  It does have the amenities of a larger city than what the players may be used to in the setting so far.  However, it is sinister in many ways.

Unable to find any leads on either El-Bakir or followers of Iuz, the party befriends Fasha Daouda'shi at the night market.  He is a caravaner who regularly visits Yecha, and Khaine begins to feel out a possible business relationship involving freight hauling toward Greyhawk.  Saffron would likely make a good export, as well as wild rennet and other Baklunish spices.

As Borz and Walkul explore the city, they become aware of a seedy underbelly to Yecha but cannot find the fulcrum for the 'night life'.  Initially stumped, Keshik has heard stories of Yecha's 'House of Night'. After he relates much of what he had heard involving the den of iniquity, the party renews the search for it.  After Borz speaks with Fasha the next day, he spots someone watching them intently from the periphery of the bazaar.

The watcher beckons the rogues over, and lets them know her master summons them to the House of Night.  The party gathers and follows the agent, a young girl named Khai Djin, to the house of ill-repute in the center of the city.

The House of Night is a larger building in Yecha, a fabled House of Ill-Repute.  It is part opium den, part brothel, part gambling hall.  It is ran by one Rai Suli, a immigrant to Yecha from Ket, who came to the city of the Tiger Nomads eager to use his fortune and strike out on his own.  However, he is well known in Yecha and considered an upstanding citizen.  He informally operates a sort of 'thieves' guild' and has several informants all throughout the city, but the Ilkhan gives him little issue.  Rai Suli has grown quite comfortable on his k'tallah crops and in the decades he has been in the city his power and influence have quietly grown.  

Rai Suli welcomes the party to the House of Night, and begins to speak of Tep El-Bakir.  The party mentions the letter from El-Bakir to Iuz, and Suli is very interested and asks to take the letter away.  He is gone for some time, bidding the party to enjoy the amenities of the House of Night.


Fantasy Grounds:  AD&D 2e Ancient & Wicked - House of Night

In that time, Bari Bur, the Tevarsi Captain, enters the House of Night.  He is surprised to see the party and fills them in on what happened after they struck for Yecha.  The Tevarsi thought them dead, and the party's long absence from the roam has had some unintended consequences.

Fantasy Grounds: Ancient & Wicked - Rai Suli as Sean Connery

Unchallenged, Amir Bahra of the Wolf Nomads took command of the 200+ strong army on the Tevarsi Roam.  Unable to counter the force, the Zyrjans and Tevarsi withdraw and allow the army to move south into a pass in the Yatils.  The Zyrjans, eager to attack and unknowing of the size of the enemy force, prematurely attacked their gathering at the crossroads of Nu'Rek.  This results in the solid defeat of the Zyrjans, and the Tevarsi decide to move the entire encampment away from the army ahead of season.  

The players are assumed dead by Amir Iruz, who sends Bari to Yecha to speak of this account to the Chakyik Viziers.

Soon after this, Rai Suli emerges from his chambers and declares he has arranged a meeting with the Ilkhan's prime vizier, Ekbiya-Baklun Lyzandhan.  The party meets the vizier at his villa the next day, and are surprised to learn their services are no longer needed.  The army must be met with an army, and if the so-called 'enemy' move too far into the Yatils they will not be pursued.  The party is given a chance to join the provisional army to scout enemy movements to the Tiger border, but decline.

Fasha Daouda'shi offers the characters a chance to adventure, listing some tall tales and implying the existence of treasure maps, however some of the party are unsure how (or even if) they should continue.  Many feel the call to return home to the Tevarsi, rather than seek adventure with Fasha or pursue whatever vengeance Rai Suli had in mind.

Fantasy Grounds: Ancient & Wicked - Fasha's Tall Tales
The date is Moonday, 3rd Planting, 585 C.Y.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Star Wars Portal

Iron Seer's Star Wars
Despite everything you may think to the contrary, Star Wars is still the most consistently popular tag on any of Iron Seer's sites.  I know, right?  I still dig Star Wars even if I got more Imperial than First Order on my table.  So, as we move into 2021 it's probably a good idea to get all this sorted, especially if we want to reference it later.

Speaking of references, this post will be updated as new Star Wars posts hit.  I still have so many unopened ships I want to devalue by opening.  I also plan to make a great many more 'pew-pew' noises.


Last Entry: 05/16/21




More to come!

Reverse Format 5/16/21

Friday, October 30, 2020

Traveller: Research and Rescue [Part 3]

The following are GameDoc's session notes for the last session of our exploration of the ziggurats...

Fantasy Grounds Traveller - No Smash Mouth
** Welcome, Traveller... **

After stuffing another shootout with the strange humanoid soldiers, the Travellers continue their exploration of the alien ruin and discover one last survivor of the previous scientific exposition, a man named Aldred Giles.

Giles tells them that they were ambushed while unloading their equipment. Half the team were killed. He and the research assistant that the Travellers previously encountered were held here while the other survivors were taken away (where he doesn’t know). 

Giles and his colleague were made to attempt to sort out the dormant computer banks but all they managed to to was turn the power on by randomly pushing buttons. He really has no idea how anything works. At some point, they did “something” that caused the lights to go out for a moment. The Travellers deduce it was the gravitic pulse that downed their transport. 

He was also able to deduce that his captors were some sort of organic automaton with only rudimentary intelligence. They could only seem to operate within a narrow range of operating parameters.
Fantasy Grounds Traveller - Ziggurat Underground
This looks like a good spot to leave.

Using the Artefact Module, Hernando learns that this facility is powered by tapping the planet core but that the exact science behind this is unclear. It served as a defense station for the now long-extinct civilization that one inhabited the planet.

Having explored the ruins and discovered the fate of the missing research team, the Travellers decide its time to head home. Giles directs them to a working lift that emerges at the top of the second ziggurat, directly across from the one they entered through. Unfortunately, the plaza between them is patrolled by more of the automatons. 

Fantasy Grounds Traveller - Exfiltration
Protip:  Always know where the proverbial back door is.

J.C., having repaired their vehicle, slowly circles around through the forest and hovers at the back of the ziggurat. But with an injured Giles in tow, they Travellers aren’t able to be stealth enough to avoid notice. Amadeus drops a pair of frag greases on the advancing automatons to cover their escape and they all safely board the transport.

Back in the city of Serson, the Kingfisher is within a few days of full repair. Baroness Edda is grateful for the return of the surviving researcher and curious to know the nature of the automatons who assaulted the expedition. Hernando performs a study on the creatures DNA only to make a horrific discovery - it’s genetic code has been derived from human DNA. Once again, the Travellers are confronted with a type of unknown, advanced science.

More questions remain: If their enemies are barely-intelligent automatons, who created them and sent them to the ruins? What were they after? Where did the human DNA come from? Who will ultimately control the gravitic alien tech?

Fantasy Grounds Traveller - Real Doctor
Of course I can provide credentials.

Meanwhile, J.C. remains highly suspicious of the Baroness and wants to steer clear of getting drawn back into the politics of the nobility. When the Kingfisher is repaired, he and Riley are determined to head back to space.