CSR Dark Sun Play Report # 2 - Prep Work

Overview:

• Planning of the second session
• Rules: Cypher System
• Setting: Dark Sun - Burnt World of Athas
• Number of players: 3
• GM: Clay

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Now that I've told you what happened during the Dangerous Mystery Items session (including the plot twist), I'd like to describe Clay's prep work.

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Objectives:

• To introduce the overarching campaign goal - with hooks: Cryo-Phoeix egg or Veiled Alliance.

Plot Points:

• Party deposits (previous payment), shops, exchanges, etc.
• Encounter Tarez and his goons in marketplace. Party confronted about stealing the wooden box. Potential fight. Tarez hints at value and significance of box and its contents.
• Goron cooks meal with blood spice (Ngaire declared this as her session goal a few days before we sat down to play).
• Cryo-Phoenix egg found in wooden box.
• Tarez or Veiled Alliance are sources of additional information on the egg (remember the Veiled Alliance wooden coin that Gator got in the first session?).

NPCs:

• Rufus - Ironworks (lock box dealer) - Lv 1
• Iggy - merchant (elf) - Lv 2
• Tarez - merchant (spices) - Lv 3
• Goons - Lv 2
• Groog - half-giant - Lv 4
• Cryo-Phoenix - egg - Lv 5

Resources / Bookmarks:

• Description of Balic (including the Dictator Andropinis and the Templars)
• Map - City of Balic
• Description of the Grey
• Cypher Deck

Available Items:

• Random cyphers - Iggy's shop - available to buy or through trade
• Reasonable common items, armour, weapons, and supplies - available at marketplace.

Cryo-Phoenix Egg:

• An egg that could hatch a baby ice phoenix (inhabitant of the Grey).
• Potentially a powerful weapon or artifact.
• Not intended to hatch this session. Intended to further interactions with Tarez and the Veiled Alliance.

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So, obviously, the session didn't play out as expected. It is a perfect example of the "creative and unpredictable players" that seriously derail all the GM's planning.

Most of Clay's ideas for future sessions were effectively destroyed, and the session quickly dissolved into improvised story-telling.

Some notes on the in-game fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants decisions:

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Tarez:

• So, the party sort of disengaged from the encounter without gathering much information. Clay decided to just wait to see what they'd do next.

Cryo-Phoenix:

• It wasn't suppose to hatch. But the party showed little interest in engaging Tarez or other parties for information (they were more interested in robbing the merchant). Then the mage started throwing spells at the egg - so why not hatch the thing? A baby ice phoenix could be hilarious, right?

Doomsday Device (cypher)

• Random cyphers can be disruptive.
• Clay quickly decided that total party death (and the destruction of a city-state) was not desirable.
• The baby Cryo-Phoenix was used to absorb most of the destructive power of the Doomsday Device. But as a result, the phoenix grew big and strong, into an adult, in a matter of minutes.
• The party was not ready to face an adult Cryo-Phoenix (much stronger than Lv 5), so Clay decided to have it fly away before the party had a chance to react.
• The lesson: think carefully before using cyphers that you don't understand. As the commercial say, "If you don't know just what it is, don't put it in your mouth."

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The session lasted about three hours. Even if we hadn't run out of time, Clay needed time to reconsider where the plot could go next.

By the way, Clay is reading over my shoulder, making sure that he agrees with my memories and explanations.

CSR Dark Sun Play Report # 2 - Dangerous Mystery Items (P2)

Overview:

• Play report 
• Second session - Part 2 of 2
• Rules: Cypher System
• Setting: Dark Sun - Burnt World of Athas 
• Number of players: 3 

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This is the continuation of our Dark Sun campaign. I will describe what happened in the second half of our second session.

This is one of the most memorable sessions I have ever witnessed.

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     It is mid-afternoon by the time the group returns to the inn. Goron heads straight into the kitchen to begin cooking. He barely fits in the small room, but he happily makes do.

     Nameless attempts to sneak off to the room. Gator, suspicious since the encounter with Tarez, notices the man's departure from the common room and follows. He catches up with the man as he enters their room.

     Nameless goes directly to the storage locker, unlocks it and pulls out the small, black box. 

     When he sees the box, Gator immediately recognizes it as the item Tarez was searching for. Gator simply says, "Oh," and nods his head slowly.

     The container looks like a normal box. It is of a simple design. But as he is holding it, Nameless starts to feel a sense of apprehension and unease. He is reminded of the times he experimented with magic from the Grey. Images of ghouls, shadows and the dead flood his memory - unpleasant images that he would rather forget.

The Grey

The Grey is a dreary, endless space - the place Athasians go when they die. This infinite expanse of ashen haze attracts the spirits of the dead, where they exist in a sort of limbo, floating aimlessly in the ether or assuming the forms they held in life. Eventually the souls dissolve. Few living people have been able to penetrate through to this plane of existence. There is a rumor that a group of powerful mages managed to pierce the Grey only to find death and destruction on the other side.  Gith legend states that there were once a great race living on the other side of the Grey that flew on giant astral ships through it. The act of penetrating the Grey caused their ships to crash and stranded them on Athas, where they mutated into the creatures they have become today.

 Excerpts from dloa.obsidianportal.com/wikis/the-gray and darksun.wikia.com/wiki/Gray

     His impatience taking over, Nameless opens the box. The inside is lined with plush, red leather. In the middle of the cushion, there is a single 2-inch tall egg. It is black, like obsidian.

     Gator leans over Nameless's shoulder to get a better look. He says, "I don't get it. It's a rock." The Mul reaches out and gently touches the egg. As soon as he does, his fingers go numb. He immediately flinches and withdraws his hand. His whole hand tingles with pins-and-needles as feeling starts to return to it. "Okay. I get it. Don't touch."

     Nameless mutters, "And don't let the half-giant eat it." He positions his hand tentatively above the egg and begins to cast a low-level spell.

     Gator watches him apprehensively. "I don't think that's a…"

     There is a small sound of air being sucked into a vacuum. The energy from the spell disappears immediately upon being cast, presumably absorbed by the egg. From its position above the egg, Nameless's hand can feel a slight amount of heat radiating off the egg. It only lasts for a few seconds and then everything seemingly returns to the way it was.

     "Strange."

     As it is getting close to meal time, Nameless closes the box and locks it back in the storage locker. He has to think about this. Perhaps there is somewhere he can obtain information that will shed light on the mystery.

     The regular patrons have already eaten dinner. Goron is almost finished cooking. Amalia has set up a separate, special table for the meal. Her two guests have already arrived, and are making small talk near the table. Gator recognizes them as local politicians - senators, if he remembers correctly.

     Goron serves up a blood spice lizard curry. The meal is a great success.

     The smell of the meal seems to attract more patrons to the inn than normal and the common room is bustling that evening.

     Gator offers to buy a round of drink for a group of Silt Sea sailors, who are laughing loudly over their cups of fermented sugar cane. He sits with them and asks, "Heard anything about a merchant named Tarez?"

     One of the sailors nods enthusiastically. He is on a crew that ferries shipments for Tarez. He describes the man as "strictly business". He owns a rather sizable business, including a few warehouses, down by the docks. Makes a small fortune off of imports and exports, but he pays his people well. The worst the sailor says about Tarez is that the man's security is a bunch of goons. He even hired a particularly nasty half-giant named Groog.

     Goron is still at the dinner table, half passed out. He is in a happy food stupor.

     Immediately after the meal, Nameless returns to his room. He spends the evening sitting in a chair, staring at the storage locker.

     That night, Nameless sleeps a lot better. His dreams are filled with blackness. After a long time, a small light appears in the distance. And then the silence and tranquility of the dream is shattered by a loud "crack". This causes him to jolt awake.

     As he sits in the darkness of the inn room, reorienting himself, he hears another crack. The noise wakes Gator, who immediately jumps from his bed, grabs his axe, and checks the lock on the room's door.

     The cracking noise continues. The sound is coming from the storage locker.

    Gator stands by, gripping his axe, as Nameless slowly and cautiously opens the locker. Inside, the little black box is shaking and jumping about.

     Nameless reaches into the storage locker and slowly undoes the latch on the box. He carefully lifts the lid. Inside, the egg still lies on its red cushion, but now there is a noticeable crack in its side. Unnatural blue light is seeping out through the crack. The egg rattles around in the box. Another crack appears. There are a few seconds of stillness and then the egg shatters. 

     A little black phoenix bursts out of the box and flies chaotically around the room. In a panic, it searches for a way out. It leaves scorch marks of black energy whenever it touches a surface.

     Nameless and Gator watch the small bird fly around the room.

     "Should we catch it?"

     "I might be able to erase its memory. Maybe it would calm down."

     The bird knocks over a lamp, and lets out a shrill shriek.

     "Well, we’ve got to do something before the whole inn wakes up." 

      Gator pulls out the orb that he got from Iggy earlier that day. "Maybe this will help." He turns it over in his hands a few times, and then pushes the large, obvious button on its side. The crystal ball glows brightly and a panel slides back to reveal another button. An unknown symbol appears in the orb. The new button lights up and then begins to pulse, and the orb symbol changes with each pulse.

     By this time, the phoenix has wrecked the room. The curtains are torn and scorched. The bedding is smoldering. There is more the one hole in wall.

     Gator shrugs and presses the second button.

     (Note: Clay rolls a dice and grimaces.)

     The button dims, and the symbols in the orb begin the change in a rhythmic pattern. The phoenix reacts immediately. It slowly, but surely gets larger. And its cries become more frequent, more frantic, and louder.

     It becomes obvious that the other residents of the inn are beginning to gather in the hall. Outside the door, someone calls out, "Do you know what's going on?"

     The bird is obviously reacting to the cypher, but not in the way Gator had intended. In frustration, Gator throws the orb at the bird. He misses, and the device hits the wall with the thud, then lands on the bed.

     (Clay [GM]: "Ngaire [not involved in this scene], do you want to look at the card to see what the cypher does? It is ...pretty messed up.")

     (Ngaire: "No. I think I'd rather not know.")

     The orb's symbols start changing faster. Originally green in colour, they progressively turn yellowish, and then continue toward a reddish hue.

     Gator picks up the orb off the bed and strides to the window. He opens the window, flings the shutters wide, and throws the device out toward a fountain in the town square below. The phoenix immediately follows the cypher through the open window, shattering the pane glass as it passes. The room is a smoldering, smoking mess. Half of its contents have been destroyed.

     The bird flies straight to the fountain where the cypher landed and circles above it. A few seconds later, the device goes off.

Cypher

Doomsday Device

Level 10 (automatic)

When activated, the user sets a timer for up to one year. When the time runs out, the device explodes out to a range of 1 miles (2 km). The explosion inflicts 20 points of damage to everything in the area and saturates the air and ground with radiation that lasts for 5d20 years. Until the radiation dissipates, it inflicts 1 point of ambient damage for each minute a creature remains in the area.

(Note: Goron, the half-giant, is the most resilient of the party members, with 40 points in his combined pools. ...This cypher is likely to kill most everyone in the city of Balic).

(Additional note: Clay [GM] did not plan for this). 

     The fountain erupts in a volcano of fire and molten rock. A rift is torn between dimensions and a three-story-tall elemental demon materializes in the middle of Balic.

     The phoenix wheels in the air above the elemental, shrieking. Tendrils of energy rise from the fire demon to the bird, which slowly grows larger and larger and begins to crackle with blue lightning. The elemental focuses on the phoenix and attempts to swat it from the sky. Around the town square, fire steadily spreads away from the fountain, and chunk of molten rock soar through the air and crash into nearby buildings. The closest walls to the square turn red with the heat and begin to melt.

 

     When the fountain exploded, Nameless dives for cover behind one of the beds.

     Gator (rolls 1) stands in the window, staring as Armageddon unfolds. The side of inn is ripped off in the shockwave, and Gator is thrown into the air. He watches as a building, below him, explodes. As he hurtles through the air, the glass pendant he got from Iggy begins to hum. 

Cypher

Gravity Dampener

Level 4

The device automatically activates whenever its user falls 10 feet (3 m) or more. The user floats down until he lands safely, taking no damage from the fall.

      Gator's decent slows and he floats down to an alleyway below. When his feet touch the ground, the little pendant shatters into dust.

     (Clay [GM]: "Lucky.")

     (Matt: "Lucky? We just unleashed Armageddon. …by accident.")

     The demon elemental starts to hurl lava at the phoenix, which remains just out of its reach. The missing projectiles rain down from the sky. The city is filled with people's screaming. Fires rage for blocks in every direction.

     Embers rain down on Gator and a small chunk of molten rock crashes into the wall a few feet from his head. He runs down the alleyway, away from the impending doom, and takes cover behind a fallen chunk of building.

     The lava demon goes back to swatting at the phoenix, but he is too slow and the bird dodges nimbly. But every time the elemental's arm makes a pass at the phoenix, the bird visibly grows larger. At the same time, the lava demon is becoming visibly weaker. It over-extends on its final swing and collapses onto the ground. A wave of molten rock washes over the nearby buildings as the elemental loses all cohesion.

     (Ngaire: "And the half-giant sleeps through the whole incident.")

     (Clay [GM]: "Oh, yeah.") 

     Goron wakes up to explosions, screaming, and flashing lights. He jumps out of the cot and looks around to see the stables on fire.

     (Ngaire: "Save the horses!")

     (Clay [GM]: "There are no horses in the Dark Sun setting.")

     (Ngaire: "What's in the stables, then?")

     (Clay [GM]: "Large beetle-like creatures.")

     (Ngaire: "Save the beetles!")

     Goron leaps into action, letting loose a battle cry of "Save the beetles!" Within a few minutes, he has lead all the creatures out into the inn's courtyard, where they are safe from the fire but still contained. The mounts are panicked and frantic, but there isn't much around for them to hurt, so Goron leaves them there.

     High above the city, a giant black and blue phoenix cries out a victorious shriek. It now has a wingspan greater than 10 feet. The creature does one last pass over its fallen foe and then flies off to the South, out of view. 

     Balic is in a state of panic. It is not long before the Templars arrive. With no enemy to fight, they turn their attention to putting out the fires and saving the citizens.

     Gator wanders back into the inn. The front wall is missing, exposing the common room, and many of the bedrooms above. Amalia is on her hands and knees in common room. She is crying over the ashes of the former hardwood tables.

     Gator drops heavily into an undamaged chair.

     With the beetles safe and secured, Goron rushes out of the inn's courtyard, into the street. He joins a group of Templars and is quickly put to work moving rubble to rescue people trapped inside buildings.

     Nameless, still in their room in the inn, hides the broken eggshell and the wooden box in the bottom of his pack. He packs up his belongings and prepares for a hasty getaway.

     By morning, the fires are under control, and most of the collapsed buildings have been searched for survivors.

     At dawn, something unprecedented happens - it snows in Balic. Although there are legends of snow falling on the city, no one has ever witnessed it in person.

     The King's Pig Inn is severely damaged. Gator and Nameless discuss their course of action. They realize that many of the rooms were damaged - not just theirs. There are no witnesses to their part in the incident. Sure, there was a lot of noise coming from their room before the explosion, but that could be explained …if anyone remembers it to mention it. There is really no indication as to who was responsible for the disaster. They relax a bit and decide to play things cool and remain in the city.

     (Matt: "Are we going to tell Goron?")

     (Chris: "No. No. Hell, no.")

     Goron continues to help people by moving rubble to un-bury bits of their broken lives.

     As the day progresses, the temperature doesn’t warm up much. This is almost as distressing to the townsfolk as the attack last night. There is a lot of speculation about the crops and olive trees dying.

     Gator wanders around the city to collect gossip.

     He overhears that the Templars have begun an investigation, into both the attack on the city and the odd weather. There are a lot of rumours that the disaster was intentionally caused by a group of Defilers (magicians).

     After a while, news is spread that the Templars have determined that the attack was actually a summons from the elemental plane. 

      The townspeople often look up anxiously at the towers and ask each other if there have been any answers from the scryers who are testing the skies for weather patterns. People start to expressed great concern over why there is no news about the weather. Someone says that they overheard one of the Templars say that there is no indication of a cause or a weather pattern, and that they have no idea when it will improve. From then on, most people discuss the crops and what they will do if there's a famine.

    When possible, Gator encourages and adds to the rumours about the disaster. He suggests slightly more outrageous versions of the details being told and he mentions that he overheard that it was a wizard duel.

     Nameless heads to the docks and quickly locates Tarez's business. It is on the other side of the city from the explosion, which remained untouched by the disaster. There is an "open" sign in the window and the door is open. Nameless walks in to find a skinny teenager sitting at the clerk's desk and an otherwise empty shop.

     "Where's Tarez?"

      The youth stumbles over his words a bit, but then informs him that Mr. Tarez left on last-minute business early that morning.

     "When is he expected to return?"

     He was in a bit of a hurry when he left, probably concerned about the explosion that happened on the other side of town. He didn't mention exactly when he'd return - he just left instructions on what to do if he were delayed for more than a few days. The young clerk gives Nameless the name of the fellow who was left in charge of the business operations, and Nameless leaves the shop.

(End of session).

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So, in Part 1 of this session, the party avoided the planned fight scene with Tarez and his goons in the market square. This can be frustrating for any GM. Especially if he planned to reveal information about a plot item through the confrontation.

But then the party unleashed Armageddon on the city of Balic, almost killing everyone, including the entire party. The story was almost over before it had really begun. Clay [GM] really had to think on his feet to react to that twist.

I will put together the session planning notes for the next post. But only Clay can comment on his GM in-game decisions and how they affected his overall plan.

  

CSR Dark Sun Play Report # 2 - Dangerous Mystery Items (P1)

Overview:

• Play report 
• Second session - Part 1 of 2
• Rules: Cypher System
• Setting: Dark Sun - Burnt World of Athas 
• Number of players: 3 

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This is the continuation of our Dark Sun campaign. The first session, "Mekillots and Marauders", was described in previous posts.

I was going to outline the prep work for this session before posting the play report, but I decided that it would spoil the surprise.

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     Morning dawns in Balic. This is the city where Gator earned his freedom after years of fighting in the colosseum. It is a rich, beautiful city, known for both its gardens and its trade. The king/dictator, Andropinis, controls the matters he cares about with an iron fist. All other matters he leaves to a Democratically-elected council.

     The adventurers spent the night at the King's Pig Inn. They awake to a hot day, not uncommon in these parts.

     Nameless did not sleep well. He had crazy dreams all night about warring armies, fires, battling giants, and death. He does not remember ever having had dreams like these before. The images were vivid and persistent, repeating themselves many times throughout the night.

     When Nameless arrives in the common room, Goron is speaking with Amalia. He is negotiate with her to use kitchen that evening to prepare a meal  with the blood spice he obtained. Intrigued by the possibility of trying blood spice for the first time, Amalia agrees, on the condition that she and two guests of her choosing get to partake in the meal.

     Goron returns to his room and carefully pours half of one of the bags of blood spice into a new, smaller bag. Then he measures out the spice he will need for tonight's meal into a smaller bag, and places that back in the locker. He picks up the three bags and heads back to the common room.

     The half giant places one and a half bags of blood spice on the table in front of Gator and Nameless. "I'm going to use half a bag to trade for the ingredients that I will need for my meal tonight. The rest is yours."

     The half giant then returns to Amalia to get information about the best vendors from which to purchase ingredients. She gives him names and directions, all of whom do business on the other side of town.

     The three head out from the inn together. They leave their weapons and armour behind, as is the custom. Gator keeps the token of the Veiled Alliance deep in one of his pockets. Nameless leaves the wooden box in the inn. They take their ceramic pieces with them and, as a group, they head toward the guild precinct. They intend to find a safe house where they can deposit their earnings. Gator knows one that has decent rates on the holdings. He has used the same one for years to store his earnings from the arena.

     As they distance themselves from the inn, Nameless begins to feel better, as though he is finally managing to shake off last night's nightmares.

    They soon arrive at the IronWorks Repository. They are greeted by the owner, Rufus, who is a scraggly man with a mustache. He greets Gator warmly, but avoid further pleasantries. He informs the two potential new customers that he charges 2 ceramic pieces per month for a standard storage unit (lock box).

     Gator deposits 250 pieces, keeping 30 on his person.

     Nameless does the same.

     Goron deposits 230 piece, keeping 50.

     With their money safely stored, the group proceeds to the market. Gator intends to sell the blood spice while Goron hunts down his dinner ingredients. The two part parts as they enter the marketplace Nameless follows Gator, but peers at the crowd about them. He hopes to run into Tarez again - he is curious why the merchant would draw them into the Veiled Alliance.

     Gator heads to the shop of a shady elf trader he knows. Iggy (the level 2 shop-keep) is crafty and he will take full advantage of any weakness you betray, but he will also trade in just about anything.

     Iggy remembers Gator, and is quite interested in the blood spice. The two quickly begin to haggle over the price. Gator strikes an okay deal. Iggy agrees to take the one and a half bags for 100 ceramic pieces and two cyphers.

     (Note: Cyphers are randomly selected form a pack of cards and their level is rolled).

     The first cypher is a little glass pendant with feather inside of it. Iggy informs him that the thing is supposed to protect the wearer when he is high above the earth. Nameless glances at the item and identifies it as a device that lessens the impact of falling (Level 5 gravity dampener).

     The second cypher is a crystal ball set into a metallic-looking base. A faint light swirls within the crystal. Iggy states that his sources assure him that it is magical. Nameless looks at the item and shrugs. "It's magical, all right, but who knows what it does."

     Gator decide that both cyphers are more valuable than the ones he is currently carrying (both of which manipulate metal, which is exceedingly rare in this world). He places the new cyphers in his bag. He pulls his old ones out and places them on the counter. "Here. These are useless to me."

     Normally, Nameless would be more interested in a mysterious magical artifact. But just before Iggy produced the crystal ball, Nameless glimpsed Tarez walk by the window of the store. The merchant was walking slowly, turning this way and that, as if looking for someone. He was followed by several men who could only be described as "goons", including a half-giant.

     Not far away, Goron is negotiating with a root vendor for the final ingredients he needed. He had obtained everything he wanted with ease, as most vendors were anxious to trade for the spice. Now, he is completely focused on picking out the best tubers from the lot.

     Nameless emerges from Iggy's shop into street. He quickly spots Tarez and his followers. At the same moment, Tarez freezes and points to something further down the street. Looking in the direction he pointed,  fifty paces away, Goron towers over the crowd. The merchant beckons his gang and heads toward half-giant.

     "You there! There he is!"

     Goron turns around when he hears the shouting. Spotting Tarez, he smiles and calls, "Hello, friend."

     "Don't "friend" me! I know you took it! Give it back!"

     Goron looks down at the sack in his hand. "What? The tubers?"

     "No. My little wooden box. It was in my wagon. I know the elves didn't get it."

     Goron stares at the man blankly. He honestly does not know what Tarez is talking about.

     "I do not remember any little boxes. You had many big boxes. And some jars. And sacks…"

     Nameless moves close enough to overhear the exchange, but stays out of sight. Tarez continues to accuse Goron of theft, but the half-giant just stares back at the merchant in confusion.

     Exasperated, Tarez tries a new tactic. "Where are your friends?"

     Goron looks around. His height allows him to scan the crowd with ease. He can see Gator and Nameless approaching from across the marketplace. 

     "Nearby." Then he adds, "They will be here soon."

     Tarez looks around wildly. He spots the Mul warrior in the crowd. He points and yells, "There!" And he and the goons hurry toward Gator.

     Goron shakes his head at the merchant's antics and then tags along behind the small mob.

     Due to his long legs, Tarez's half-giant gets to Gator first. He glares down menacingly and growls, "Stop."

     Gator calmly looks about him for someone else who could have angered the half-giant, and then points to himself and asks, "Me?"

     Gator and Nameless wait patiently until the others approach.

     Tarez stomps in close to the two men and yells the same questions and accusations he previously fired at Goron. He is surprisingly energetic for a man who took a spear through the shoulder yesterday. As he gets close, Gator can see the blood stain on his jacket that indicates that the man is currently bleeding through his bandages.

     Gator bluntly states that he did not see the box Tarez is searching for. Nameless, who knows the exact whereabouts of the item in question, bluffs. "Frankly, I don't know what it is you are talking about."

     After more than an hour of questioning, accusations, swearing, and threats, Tarez finally clams down and accepts the possibility that these men did not take his belongings. He withdraws a bit, thinking and muttering to himself. Then he declares, "It must have fallen out of the wagon and got covered in the sand in the skirmish. Come on, boys! Back to the desert!"

     The whole group turns and hurries off the way they came. Goron calls after them, "What's in the box you're looking for? Something so small cannot be worth so much trouble."

     Tarez half turns to look at the half-giant over his shoulder and snorts. He storms off without properly answering Goron's question.

     Gator leans in close to Nameless and whispers, "What the hell was that all about?"

     Nameless stares at Tarez's retreating back and replies, "Tell you later.""

     (Chris: "Now I'm really curious about what is in this box.")

     (Matt: "Why didn't you open it earlier?")

     (Chris: "Forgot I had it.")

---

To be continued...

 

CSR Dark Sun Play Report # 1 - Mekillots and Marauders (P2)

Hello.

I'm Clay's other half. 
I'm the one who takes notes on his campaigns, puts his books back on the shelf so they don't get damaged, and prompts (occasionally nags) him to get his ideas down on paper.

I noticed he hasn't posted in a while, so I asked him to add me as an author. Perhaps I can inspire him to write again with a few play reports.

Continuing where he left off...

---

     Goron pulls a small runestone out of his belt pack. He holds it up for the elves to see.

     "You shouldn't have attacked him. Now I'm angry. I'm going to call my friend from the elemental plane to teach you a lesson." He hold the rune up in the air. "Come forth, fire elemental! Heed my words and burn my enemies!"

  

Cypher

Mental Imager

Level 4 (handheld)

When activated, the user can project a single moving image into the cypher. The scene can be up to one minute long, but it has no sound. It lasts forever if put in a globe, and it goes into memory if phased into an eye.

      (Note: Upon review, we think we used this cypher incorrectly. The scene should have been inside the globe, not projected into the air.)

     The runestone glows and a swirl of flame emerges from it. The flame rises into the sky and grows into a large mass, with twists and writhes. It forms into a huge fire elemental, suspended above Goron's head. It glares at the elves before it as it materializes.

     The two elves closest to the illusion panic and run.

     The two elves closest to Nameless are too distracted to notice the noiseless image behind them. They attack Nameless, rushing at him with swords. The wizard manages to use his whip to disarm the first attacker. As the second is attacking, he catches a glimpse of the fire elemental out of his eye, and stumbles a little, resulting in a sloppy attack that is easily defended.

     The elf that just spotted the fire elemental considers fleeing. Before it decides, Gator attacks. He swings his axe and severs its head cleanly from its body.

     The last elf turns to flee.

     Nameless faces the elf in front of him - the one he recently disarmed. He crackles with energy as he strikes the elf with his whip. The elf convulses and flails in a cartoony manner and smoke begins to poor out of its ears. There is a prolonged electric "Buzzt!" noise.

     (Side note: Chris rolls a 20).

     The battle is over. Three elf marauders escape into the distance. Two lay dead.

     Goron walks around to the other side of the wagon and nudges the merchant's prone form.

     "Hey. You alive?"

     (Chris: "If you're not, can we have your stuff?")

     The man groans and then slowly, and with great difficulty, sits up. He stares at the javelin that is still sticking out of his shoulder. After a moment, he tries to pull the javelin out with no success.

     Gator walks over and asks, "You need some help with that?"

     The man nods. Gator gets a good grip on the javelin and the merchant braces himself. With a sharp pull, the javelin is removed.

     There is an awkward moment as no one really knows to do next. The merchant goes about treating his own wound.

     (Matt: "No one has any healing? Great.")

     Once bandaged, the merchant introduces himself as Tarez. He explains that he was on his way back to Balic, delivering a cargo of spice to the city. He figures that all his cargo is still salvageable, but he is distressed by the logistics of getting it back to the city without his pack animal.

     Gator inquires "What is the retrieval of your pack animal worth to you?"

     Tarez stares at Gator suspiciously for a few seconds and then he answers, "I don't know ...perhaps double the reward for saving my caravan."

     Gator asks Goron if he'd kindly go retrieve the mekillot. The half giant lumbers away, humming off-key.

     (Ngaire: "He hasn't told us what the reward is yet. Double of what?")

     (Clay: "Does he seem the sort to try to cheat you?")

     Tarez begins to gather his scattered goods up from the ground and reload them into the wagon. He stops occasionally to assess the condition of an item or container.

     At one point, when Tarez is inside the wagon securing a carton or jars, Nameless spots something laying on the ground near him. On closer inspection, it is a black wooden box about the size of a book. He glances at the wagon to confirm that the merchant is out of sight, and then picks up the box and stashes it in the pocket of his coat.

     In the meantime, Gator checks bodies of the dead elf marauders. They carry the spears and daggers they fought with, which aren't worth much. But one of the elves has a cypher in its pouch. It is an old, worn contraction that appears to be designed to be worn on the wrist. The device is covered in runic inscription and contains one oddly shaped dart.

     Gator passes the device to Nameless for him to look at. He spends a moment reading the runes and inspects the dart. He hands it back to Gator and declares that it is an enchanted projectile meant to penetrate metal objects (Level 2 magnetic attack drill).

      Gator huffs, "Not very useful, then." But he stows it in his bag anyway.

     A few minutes pass, and Goron returns with the mekillot. He ties the creature off to the wagon and turns to Tarez with a wide-toothed smile. The merchant reaches into the wagon and pulls out two large sacks and hands them to Goron.

     "As promised, your reward. Blood spice. I doubt I have to tell you, but it's quite rare and valuable in these parts. Worth the dangers of transporting such long distances."

      Goron cracks open one of the bags and sniffs the contents. He sighs contentedly and then carefully places the bags into his larger carrying sack, double-checking that the bags are securely closed.

     The half-giant points at the broken wagon. "Even with the mekillot, you're going to have a hard time pulling a wagon with a broken axle and a missing wheel."

     Tarez grimaces. "I will think of something."

     "Would you like some help?"

     (Clay: "There is very little wood around, but you may be able to find a smallish tree with some time. What kind of repair or handyman skills do you have?")

     (Ngaire: "Oh. I was just intending to lift things, hold things, and hammer things for the guy. I wasn't planning on thinking here.")

     (Goron gets +1 experience).

     As Goron and the merchant are jury-rigging the wheel back onto the axle, Gator points out that some of the elf marauders escaped and they may return with reinforcements.  He offer to escort the wagon back to Balic ...for a small fee - 50 ceramic piece each, paid upon arrival in the city.

     Tarek agrees.

     The journey takes twice as long as it would have without the wagon. The group arrives at Balic just as dusk is falling and just before the gate closes. Goron is carrying one of the wagon's wheel hubs, as wheel fell off some time ago. The wheel was haphazardly thrown on top of the wagon.

     (Clay gives us a summary of Balic: its political system, its exports, the weather, etc.).

From the Dark Sun Wiki (darksun.wikia.com/wiki/Balic)

     As the wagon pulls into the stables, inside the city, Goron sets down the wagon. It groans, a few boards crack and splinter, and the whole things leans to one side. One of its doors falls off and lands on the ground with a thud.

     Gator turns to Tarez and declares that they have fulfilled their half of the contact. Tarez produces a coin purse and counts out the ceramic pieces. He says that he is quite grateful for their service. He would take them out for a drink, but he must fetch his comrades to unload the cargo before night falls.

     After handing Gator the money, Tarez edges in close to the Mul warrior. He presses a wooden coin into Gator's hand. The coin has an eye craved into its surface, which is not the normal design in these parts. "If you present this to my friends in the Merchant District, they will help you when you need it."

     Tarez  takes a step back and says more loudly, "If you are looking for an inn, I suggest heading to the Merchant's District. I have several friends who deal in spice, vegetables, and food in those parts. They speak highly of the King's Pig. But don't try the hummus (an ongoing joke in our campaigns)." He then hurries away to give orders to some of the stable hands.

     Gator hands the coin to Nameless. He takes a quick glance at it and hands it back to Gator. "You might want to keep that out of sight."

     Nameless recognized the coin as a political symbol. It is the sign of the Veiled Alliance, which is a rebel group that plots to overthrow dictators. Considering the political state in Balic, it would be very troublesome if the Templars were to see the coin.

      Although this is Gator's hometown, he has not been free long enough to have secured any residence. With no better plan, the group decides to head toward the King's Pig. They ask directions from one of the stable hands. Apparently, it's easy to find.

     On the way, Goron sniffs at the entrance to many doors they pass. He does not intend to stay at the inn if the cooking is sub-par.

     The city is huge and after a decent walk they finally arrive at the inn. It's made entirely of stone, perhaps granite, and is noticeably nicer and cleaner than the buildings that surround it.

     Upon entering (Goron has to duck through the door, but he makes it), they are quickly greeted by the innkeeper - a chubby woman who introduces herself as Amalia. She takes one look at the half giant and informed them that her inn is one of the few in the city outfitted for folk of his stature. The main room has ceiling that are high enough that he should be able to stand (but watch the joists and the fixtures). There's a table and a bench that'll accommodate him for meals. And there's a room off the stables that may not look like much, but at least the cot is big enough for him to lay proper. She then turns to Gator and Nameless and adds "And, of course, we can accommodate you gentlefolk as well."

     (Clay: "Do you want to negotiate the price?")

     (Matt "I don't really have any skills for that.")

     (Chris: "Me, either")

     (Clay: "Well, you happen to have a half giant on your party who is very good at positive social interactions.")

     (Ngaire: "I look at Amalia and state "I like food.".")

     (Clay: "Roll for it.")

     The half giant beams at the inn keeper and loudly declares "I like food!"

     Amalia stares at Goron for a few seconds and then chuckles. "I imagine you do. Listen, I'd be willing to offer you lot a good discount, if you are planning to stay a week or more and are willing to pay in advance. For the half-giant's quarters and a two bed room, including secure storage locker and two meals a day, I'll charge you 20 ceramic pieces each."

     This is a sizable discount. The party readily agrees and pays the innkeeper. They head to their rooms to settle in. They lock up their valuables in the in the provided storage locker, eat a hearty (if quaint) meal, and turn in for a good night's rest.

    (End of session).