From mike@LAWLIB.WM.EDUWed Feb 21 15:50:06 1996 Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 13:58:21 -0500 From: Mike Phillips Reply to: Mythus Fantasy Roleplaying Game List To: Multiple recipients of list MYTHUS-L Subject: Grandmark: The Saga So Far This is a (brief) synopsis to bring folks up to date on what has happened in my Grandmark campaign so far. Further details on a given piece will be available upon request, but this is just to 'set the stage', so to speak. Two of the adventures put in capsule form below are available from my Mythus web page, where they are written up in some detail. AErth start date: mid-spring AAF 995 Campaign start date: late January, 1995 Setting: Northeast Vargaard, primarily Grandmark Regional History (capsule form): There are several nations involved in the area, none described in any significant detail in Epic of AErth. Grandmark: Ravaged and torn by religious wars after decades of ineffectual leadership, this vibrant nation is on the rise again. The Markthegn Tarrant, who was thought to be an ineffectual fool much like his father and grandfather, turned out to be a strong and charismatic leader. He has given the nation and the people a purpose, and he is forcefully bringing it forward. He has taken to hiring effective agents to pursue his goals (perfect HP lead-ins), and he is beset with problems while trying to reclaim lands that once belonged to Grandmark. Falcondonia: Concerned with the sudden and rising star of Grandmark, the leadership is worriedly glancing north, concerned that Grandmark, long considered a petty nuisance at most, might become very powerful in short order. Falcondonia is currently pursuing local alliances, in particular they are very friendly with Wildedge in the event of Grandmark's aggression. Wildedge: This small nation was once part of Grandmark, until it broke away due to religious persecution. Most of the followers of the Kelltic pantheon left Grandmark to form Wildedge during the reign of Tarrant's grandfather. The strife within Grandmark has prevented any significant repercussions to date, but it is thought that the Markthegn is eyeing the rebellious colony with acquisitive eyes. Jarlesheim: Large, ponderous, and disorganized, this group of independent homesteads and small towns is mostly unaligned. Wildedge has approached several of the southern lords in the hopes of a pact against Grandmark's aggression, but nothing has come of this for certain. Grandmark has warned Jarlesheim away from Wildedge, and things are tense along the border shared by Grandmark and Jarlesheim. Nova Scotia: Separated from the politics by the large buffer known as Jarlesheim, Nova Scotia has some Wildedge leanings (for cultural reasons), but it is mostly unconcerned. Rumor has it that the Markthegn has approached this nation with an agreement in the case of Jarlesheim becoming over-aggressive or attempting to throw its weight around. Iroukia: Very little is known of this native nation, other than it calls itself the 'Six Nations'. It is considered to have very effective warriors, and all the nations are concerned that too much pushing west will wake the sleeping giant, so to speak. =========================================================================== Heroic Personas: Gerard (Forester) Firedancer (FP Elemental Mage) Mahlau Sai (Priest of Kuan Yu) Horatio diPadua (Engineer) Johannes (Witchfinder) Jintari (PP Grey Mage) Santini (Assassin, er, scout) The Markthegn called the group together, to investigate a series of disappearances in the port town of Lisolet. The disappearances were occuring in a seedy section of town, and one of the most powerful madams was threatening to start a major scandal which would have rocked the Markthegn's power if he didn't do something, and soon. The HPs (Gerard, Firedancer, Mahlau, and Horatio) were sent in to deal with the problem. As they investigated, they determined that something sinister was afoot: the girls appeared to be murdered by some ravenous creature. The initial search of the sewers was unproductive and exceedingly dangerous: they were beset by a ghoul which nearly slew them all, and by a pack of Ratties. The destruction of the aforementioned creatures did not stop the attacks, which were increasing in frequency. Clever use of Divination led them throuh the sewers into a section of Subterranean AErth wherein they encountered the creature in its own lair. The force behind the attacks was a former Vestal Virgin who was taking out her defilement on those she blamed: young fops and harlots. In a terrible battle, the HPs managed to overcome her, but fled when the statue she worshipped animated. The dark flame from which she drew much of her power was not recovered. [In the middle of this, when the group couldn't get together in full for a session, I ran a brief dream sequence, an encounter with Coyote, the Native American trickster :-) ] Some time later, after reporting to the Markthegn, the HPs were assigned to recover a very important and powerful personage: Taknari Chang, a particularly skilled Diviner from Ch'in. Johannes and Jintari were added to the group. The party had a premonition before setting out, an omen pointing to the rise of a terrible evil in the area. Taknari, it turns out, was being held on a great carrak called Conquistador, registered to Hispanola. Unbeknownst to the HPs, he was being held by a powerful witch and her consort, the captain of the vessel. In addition to the normal crew complement, there were 20 (or so) mercenaries kept separate in case of emergencies. One of the crew managed to get hired as the cook, and he slipped the crew a massive sleeping potion (all the party members with Herbalism worked together to make a *really* large and effective batch), which took them out of the picture. Then, they slipped aboard to rescue Taknari, setting of alarms and traps left and right (such as the spirits of some warriors guarding the chest with Taknari's belongings). Once back on the open deck, they discovered that there were mercenaries on board, and the witch was cheerfully raining devastation on their heads. While the mercenaries were easily dealt with, the witch proved much more effective (as did the captain, who attacked their rear). The captain escaped out a porthole, although he was still in some fairly heavy armor, and the witch disappeared over the side after a couple of particularly powerful Heka attacks blasted her. The party does not know if they died or not. This brought the game up to late spring AAF 995, and so they retruned to Tremayne with their prize. Taknari became one of the Markthegn's advisors, and most of the HPs were sent on a mission to deliver a treaty to Nova Scotia. The trip was not uneventful and involved guarding a small band of Vargonaesi (Vargaard gypsies) who had been decimated by native tribes, and some minor diplomatic maneuverings. Some short time later, they returned, some two game months passing. They returned to a city in chaos, for, unbeknownst to all, Coyote had returned. He had uncorked a powerful artifact which was thought to be carefully guarded and concealed, an artifact hidden under the largest temple of Venus in Tremayne: the Aphrodisiac of Aphrodite. The citizens were cheerfully [description omitted for the sake of decency]. Utter chaos. The party managed to get some information, and they were able to re-cork the phial. A rollicking end to the semester's gaming :-) (ok, I'm a slow JM) The campaign was suspended for the summer, and things didn't work out right in the fall (we played a modified version of Mythus Prime sort of scatter-shot), but we started up again last month. More later..... Mike Phillips, mike@lawlib.wm.edu | LINUX: The OS that people Mythus: http://skaro.lawlib.wm.edu/~mike/mythus/ | choose without $200 Home page: http://skaro.lawlib.wm.edu/~mike/ | million of marketing