Ephemera Session 9: Space, Time, and Death

Cast of Characters
Conner, Mage +Tim Shorts
Egbert, Mage +Rob Conley
Alfred, Human Torchbearer (NPC hireling)
Tub, Frost Goblin (Charmed NPC ally)
Bob, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Rundt, Hunchback Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Belzar, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Ruger, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Dink, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Gar, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)

The PCs explored the giant hollow tree they had entered at the end of the previous session, slaying eight giant bats, nine woodrot tendrils and two centipedes in the process. They successfully acquired the centipede venom asked for by Cosmo. Returning to Cosmo's tower, they exchanged the venom for the location of the next Star Stone, in a village called Fargus, far to the north. During the course of their conversation, the PCs learned from Cosmo that the world they know is part of a larger multiverse.

Each hex is a day's march.

The party retraced their steps toward the village of Tarn on the way to Fargus. En route, they stopped at the cabin where they had met Mariana, the keeper of the Obelisk, in the previous session. The cabin, which only a fortnight before had been clean, well-kept and cozy, now appeared in a completely different state. In disrepair, dust-covered and cobweb-ridden, it looked as if no one had lived there for centuries. The obelisk remained, overgrown with moss, but Mariana, the Keeper of the Obelisk was nowhere to be seen.

The next morning, the PCs awoke to a cold snap and the first frost of the season,* and continued on their way.

Arriving in Tarn, the PCs re-equipped and spoke to the new village leader, Helen, a young cleric met in the previous session. Conner inquired as to whether Helen had ever heard of any phenomenon like the one they had just experienced with Mariana's cabin. Helen replied that she was not as knowledgeable as her late mentor, Regina,** but that Regina used to think that time did not necessarily flow like a river, in one direction only. Helen, however, admitted she did not fully understand what Regina meant by that.

The party left Tarn the next day, and made their way to Fargus, which (now 16 days after the information they received from Cosmo), was completely destroyed. The village had recently been raided and burned to the ground. Hacked up bodies were strewn everywhere, nearly everything of value taken, houses in smoldering ruins. The party looked around for the Star Stone Cosmo had told them of. On the ground, trampled into the dirt, the party found an open, empty box with a small brass plate on it reading "The Star of the Warrior."

A path trampled by many booted feet led northward out of Fargus. The party followed this until they came to a wooded hill, just north of a stagnant pond. The trail wound round to the north side of the hill, where it led into a cave.

And here we ended the session.

*Footnote: The campaign began on September 1, in game. The current in-game date is October 24.

**Footnote: Regina, the Cleric of Tarn, was killed by King Gor when he invaded, prior to the PCs first arrival there.

Ephemera Session 8: The King is Dead, The Keeper of the Obelisk, Cosmo the Curious

Cast of Characters
Egbert, Mage +Rob Conley
Conner, Mage +Tim Shorts
Darius, Mage +Ken H
Alfred, Human Torchbearer (NPC hireling)
Tub, Frost Goblin (Charmed NPC ally)
Bob, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Rundt, Hunchback Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Belzar, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Ruger, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Dink, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Gar, Swarthy Dwarf (NPC ally, newly charmed this session, just for good measure)

In the preceding session the party charmed the Minotaur "King" Gor who had taken over the village of Tarn. The Minotaur was now their best friend, but, as king, insisted they swear fealty to him. Egbert said, "Well let's do this ceremoniously – go get into your best finery, and we'll await you down the street in front of the main hall."

Meanwhile other party members had the villagers scrape up what weapons they had available to them, and set them up as a "reception line" leading to the hall, which was in reality to be a gauntlet where King Gor would meet his doom. Heartened by the fact that Gor no longer had 20 some odd dark dwarves protecting him (the party saw to that in the preceding session), the villagers set themselves up as directed.

Long story short: Gor returned in all his regal splendor, walked down the gauntlet and, with a loss of only one of their own, the villagers swarmed on him and beat him to death. Villagers in Ephemera are a tough and very unforgiving lot.*

The villagers nearly went after the party's own charmed dark dwarves. But as a favor to the Cindarrin, to whom they felt they owed their liberation, the Tarnsters agreed to leave the party's dwarves unharmed.

The party then looted Gor's "keep" and found a locked chest amid the filth. Conner opened the chest with a key taken from around Gor's neck, and as he did so felt a needle prick his finger (fortunately making his save). Inside was a bucket load of loot, including some religious items revered by the villagers whose gratitude overflowed when the items were returned to them.

After a feast and a good night's rest, the party planned to set out westward in search of the sage Cosmo the Curious, who might help them find the remaining Star Stones. Tarn's new leader Helen, confirmed what little the party knew of Cosmo's location, and gave them slightly more precise directions she had gleaned from a wanderer who passed through Tarn before the occupation. It would be about a 10-day journey.

The party headed off and, on their way, came upon a log cabin inhabited by an old woman, Mariana, "Keeper of the Obelisk." She took them behind the cabin and showed them a stone obelisk, explaining that she had been here for the 230 years since Armageddon, and that her job was to reveal the obelisk to any Cindarrin who might pass by, and to aid them with food and lodging as well as she could. The sides of the Obelisk were carved with additional cryptic messages about the Cindarrin's nature and their role in Ephemera.

One side of the obelisk.

A second side.

A third side.

Mariana also informed the party that she had encountered one other Cindarrin apart from them – named Rukkus – who some weeks earlier arrived from the west and then departed toward the east.

Another good meal and good night's sleep later the party continued west, and a few days later they found Cosmo's Tower. They were greeted outside by Cosmo's familiar "The Hand" who was, effectively, a pair of gloved hands (and a mouth), that appeared out of nowhere and floated in mid-air to speak with them and open doors along their way into the tower.

Cosmo knew who the Cindarrin were. He explained that he was an information broker, trading information for services. His particular interest in life being the acquisition of magical knowledge, he was always in need of materials for experiments. Having spoken with another Cindarrin some weeks earlier, Cosmo was already aware of what the party was seeking. He presented them with a price list of information he had in stock.

The party perused the list of items and agreed they would attempt to acquire the venom of a man-sized centipede. Cosmo explained that the centipedes made lairs burrowed into the giant trees of a forest near his tower.

The party entered the forest and found a likely burrow in the trunk of a 100' diameter tree. They lit torches and entered it.

And that's where we called it a night. Again, little danger, but a lot of marching, talking, and information-gathering by the party. In the dark confines of what is likely to be a giant centipede burrow, I'm guessing the next session will be rather more hazardous and see some significant dice-slinging.

*Footnote: Regarding the ferocity of villagers in Ephemera, session 3 saw the inhabitants of Alden summarily execute their mayor, of whose betrayal they had just learned.

Ephemera Session 7: Stirges Suck, Blud Brothers, The King and We

Not a lot of fighting last night, but lots of talking, with some charm and sleep spells thrown in for good measure.

Cast of Characters
Sandy, Dwarf Fighter +Daniel McEntee
Egbert, Mage +Rob Conley
Conner, Mage +Tim Shorts
Darius, Mage +Ken H
Alfred, Human Torchbearer (NPC hireling)
Tub, Frost Goblin (Charmed NPC ally)
Bob, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Rundt, Hunchback Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Belzar, Swarthy Dwarf (New Charmed NPC ally)
Ruger, Swarthy Dwarf (New Charmed NPC ally)
Dink, Swarthy Dwarf (New Charmed NPC ally)
Gar, Swarthy Dwarf (New NPC ally)

Following the destruction of the minor demon Vagroth in the preceding session, the party took one last look around Vagroth's poison-producing complex, killing some stirges, picking up loot, and discovering, with the help of Rundt – the hunchback dwarf they charmed earlier – that Vagroth was creating an extremely corrosive acid in order to destroy at least one of the "Seven Stars" spoken of earlier in the Prophecies of Millenia and Galen.

   

They learned from Rundt that Vagroth had evidently engaged Gor – whom the party had already heard of – to find a star and bring it to him. Vagroth's hope was that in doing this he could gain favor with his own master, Anorax, Lord of the Abominari, whom he believed was returning from the oblivion into which he was cast at Armageddon.

Gor or "King" Gor as he was wont to have himself called, was a known threat, as the party was already aware that he had taken over the village of Tarn with a band of swarthy dwarves, and had  been sending young people of the village up to the abandoned Temple of Balus to find one of the "Stars." The party had explored the Temple in an earlier session, recovered the "Star of the Maiden" and found that the reason the young folk never came back to Tarn was because they were being turned into undead. Now the party left the Vaporous Vaults of Vagroth and headed to Tarn to deal with "King" Gor.

One night during their journey, just before dawn, a vampire named Vladimir Bludstok entered the party's camp. Vladimir wished to talk rather than fight. He knew the Cindarrin had been destroying the resurgent demons that seemed to indicate Anorax's return. He also knew that the Cindarrin had been recovering the "Stars" necessary to stop Anorax. Vladimir claimed to be the leader of a group of rebel vampires who were part of Anorax's army but turned against him just before Armageddon (since Anorax was not fulfilling his promises to them). Vladimir explained that he wanted to make an agreement with the Cindarrin to work together against Anorax. If the Cindarrin continued to collect the Stars, Vladimir and his rebels would work against Anorax from within and without. Once Anorax was defeated, the rebel vampires promised to set up their own realm outside the lands of Ephemera, if left alone and allowed to do so. The party basically said "that seems reasonable (if fishy) but let's wait and see." Vladimir said "very well, I will return later."

The party moved on toward Tarn where they encountered four of Gor's dwarves patrolling the woods outside the village. The party put them to sleep, then woke them one by one and charmed them.

(GM Note: The band of charmed NPCs had now grown to the size of a small army. Someone's  unfortunate comment that the PCs were now leading a charmy led to howls of pain and disgust. The maker of that comment wishes to remain anonymous. Despite the fact that the punster deserves the deepest derision the RPG-playing public can muster, we shall nonetheless respect his wishes, since even the worst criminal has rights). 

Unfortunately, the party had only three charm spells. There were four dwarves. Sandy, the party's fighter, took the last dwarf out of sight of the others and charmed him in his own fashion. He banged the scoundrel's head against a tree trunk and threatened to kill him unless he agreed to join the party. Eventually the grumpy dwarf gave in to the force of Sandy's violent charisma, and the implacable logic of blunt force trauma.

With their ever growing band of charmed muscle, the PCs exited the woods west of town. They marched straight down the main road into Tarn, stepping confidently forward in the morning sunlight. The few villagers who were out dashed back into their homes. Frightened people peeked out of windows and dark doorways. Not a sound was heard but the tramp of the party's feet on the dusty street.

GM Note: I wanted Ennio Morricone to write theme music for the session,

but he was unavailable.

As the party approached the hill where Gor resided in a badly ruined keep overlooking the town, the villain stepped forth and demanded the party account for themselves. The dwarf minotaur and self-styled "king" of Tarn, stood defiantly before them. His 20 dwarves came out of the keep ruins as well.

A sleep spell put half the enemy to sleep. Egbert charmed Gor himself, then convinced the so-called king that his own band of dwarves was trying to depose him and put their own man in his place. Gor got enraged and attacked his own henchmen, decapitating one and putting the others to flight.

King Gor, the terror of Tarn, was now the party's new best friend and he agreed at Egbert's suggestion to personally accompany the party to find the "star" he sought (which unbenknownst to him the party had already acquired) to bring to his master Vagroth (who, also unbeknownst to him, was now dead). He promised to make Egbert his new first minister. But friends though they now might be...

...the party would have to swear fealty to him.

And there we ended the session.

Ephemera Session 6: Pants on Fire, Smelly Vapor, and Rundt

Cast of Characters
Sandy, Dwarf Fighter +Daniel McEntee
Egbert, Mage +Rob Conley
Conner, Mage +Tim Shorts
Darius, Mage +Ken H
Alfred, Torchbearer (NPC hireling)
Tub, Frost Goblin (Charmed NPC ally)
Bob, Swarthy Dwarf (Charmed NPC ally)
Rundt, Hunchback Swarthy Dwarf (New Charmed NPC ally)

GM Note: Despite the dice being exceptionally unkind, nobody died. There were several near misses, as almost every damage roll against the PCs was for max damage or very nearly. All night long, the PCs' luck stayed just one pip shy of the worst luck they could have.

The valiant Cindarrin ended the last session in the Temple of Balus. They had just lost John the Rotund, their hireling.

The Cindarrin explore the last remaining room – in which resides the zombified remnants of Abbot Dietrich, of the Temple of Balus. Needless to say, he is serving a different deity now. The abbot is accompanied by two skeletons.

In their pre-battle banter, the PCs discover that Dietrich is the one responsible for the deaths of the adolescents sent from Tarn to the Temple – each batch sent by King Gor into the Temple is converted into a new set of skeletal minions. The PCs quickly kill the zombie abbot, though not before taking damage themselves.

The heroes do, however, uncover a scroll containing a new prophecy, the Prophecy of Galen:

After quick trip back to the Prayer Hall and a bath in its healing column of light, the PCs return to the Relic Room which they had previously examined and then abandoned, smelling the scent of oil and sulphur coming from pipes (some 22 of them) in the walls.

The Cindarrin decide to cut up a coil of rope and stuff the rope into the pipes in an effort to block the flow of oil and sulphur they anticipate will spew out of the pipes if they disturb the relics.

This done, they attempt to remove the globe covering the finger bone of some forgotten servant of Balus. Darius, Sandy and Conner do this together. As soon as the glass over the finger bone is lifted, the pressure of flaming fluid bursts through the rope-plugs of one of the pipes, severely burning all three adventurers, and rendering Darius unconscious.

GM Note: I don't even try to anticipate how PCs will attempt to get around hazards any more. So I ruled on the spot that there was a 1/6 chance of the blockage failing on the first turn, a 2/6 on the second turn, 3/6 on the third turn, etc. as pressure mounted. An unlucky die roll of 1 on the first turn blew one of the rope segments out of its pipe right away and burned the party members. 

Darius is dragged back to the Prayer Hall with the mural and the column of healing light. Sandy grabs the finger bone and brings it out of the Relic Room.

The light in the healing column has changed color to a blue-green (from its previous sunshine yellow) and the satyrs and satyresses in the murals have changed expression from frolicking to serious. The head satyr frowns. The light no longer heals the party members.

Offerings of wine are made to the head satyr in the mural, and apologies are made. The image in the mural indicates with his eyes that the bone should be returned to the Relic Room. Sandy does this. The color of the healing light returns to normal, and the expression on the old satyr's face returns to one of satisfaction.

The party heals up in the light (though the healing energy is less powerful now) and prepares to return to Tarn to deal with King Gor and his small army of swarthy dwarves.

Once outside the temple, however, the party are witness to a stampede of woodland creatures running through the forest, chased by a large, sickly grey-green cloud rolling through the trees. Animals that straggle behind are caught in the cloud and killed.

The party decide that this represents a more grievous threat than the actions of King Gor in Tarn, and they elect to back-track the trail of dead animals to the source of the killer fog. This they do and after two days of marching arrive at a large dome in a forest clearing.

The dome is of rust-streaked iron, with two smoke stacks emitting occasional wisps of grey-green steam. A door is found and, though locked, the hinges are rusty and easily broken. Entering the structure the party is confronted with riveted arched corridors made of iron, and ghastly green chemical lamps illuminating the structure.

The party advances toward a clanking and hissing noise and soon find themselves face to face with a giant clockwork mechanical pumping station of some sort. Sandy, the dwarf, examines the enormous device, figures out what connects to what, and throws a lever that shuts down the machine. The party decides whoever operates the machine will obviously come to check out the malfunction, at which point they can ambush him.

While waiting, Conner peeks into a room just to the east, and spots a copper plaque on a far wall. Advancing toward it, he is attacked by two Stirges swooping down from the ceiling, but Sandy skewers one with an arrow and the other one flutters off.

Conner reads the plaque. "Armageddon Outpost 12."

Then Rundt appears. Rundt is a hunchback swarthy dwarf, in a vomit-orange cloak and hood, who carries a big heavy wrench nearly half as long as he is tall. Conner quickly charms him. The dwarf explains he was sent by "the master" to see why the machine stopped. If the party wants, he will take them to the master. The Cindarrin agree. Rundt leads the party through several rooms – a library, a laboratory – explaining that just he and the master live here, the master is performing experiments with a rolling, foggy cloud that kills, and that the master hates pretty much every species the old Lords of Ephemera favored back in the Time that Was – essentially men, elves, (lawful) dwarves, and halflings.

Rundt brings the adventurers to the chamber of his master, Vagroth, a Vapor Demon, with a grey-green, fog-like humanoid body that tapers off into a tail and floats just above the floor. In contrast with the iron-riveted decor of the rest of the complex, this room contains only the Vapor Demon and three urns. Rundt quickly explains that the master lives in one and keeps his treasures in the other two.

Vagroth threatens the party with a hissing voice. Darius tries a charm spell. "Fool," spits Vagroth. Egbert tries one as well. Vagroth sneers at the second attempt and sprays Egbert with an acid blast from his hand. Combat ensues.

Sandy tries to strike Vagroth but his weapon passes through the demon's fog-like body. The party's charmed allies miss as well. Only Darius has better luck, peppering the demon with darts.

It occurs to the party that perhaps they should break the urns, as this might kill the demon. Tub and Bob break the urns to the right and left of Vagroth. Treasure spills out of them.  Everyone then concentrates on the center urn. But the center urn turns out to be difficult to break.

GM note: here began a kind of Keystone-Cops-in-the-Dungeon scene. The difficulty in breaking the urn was not by design. I told the players to break the urn they just needed to make a roll to hit AC 10 – a 55% chance of breaking the urn with any one attack. With two to three PCs and two allies attacking the urn each round, nobody managed to roll a 10 or better on a d20 for over two whole rounds. That's right. Something like ten or eleven straight attack rolls – each with a 55% chance to hit – missed. There was nothing special about the urn. The players just could not roll a 10 or better on d20.

Party members strike the urn repeatedly. It bobbles. It wobbles. It falls on the floor and rolls around. But it doesn't break. Sandy the dwarf, in his frustration, lifts the urn over his head and tries to smash it on the floor. Thunk. Bounce. Roll. Not a crack.

Meanwhile Darius is fighting the Vapor Demon single-handedly. Again he peppers it with darts. The demon ripostes with a poisoned dagger. Darius is cut badly, and weakened by the toxin.

Finally Egbert makes one last deperate attempt to break the urn, picking it up as Sandy had done in a bid to smash it on the floor. Finally, it breaks. The demon hisses and howls in pain, curses the Cindarrin, and dissipates into oblivion.

GM Note: Breaking the urn wasn't an auto-kill, but it did about twice the damage any normal attack could have done. Which was ironic, since Darius had already, by this stage, single-handedly dropped the demon to a mere 2 hp.

The party pick up the treasure, and are informed by Rundt of a secret door leading to rooms with Vagroth's chemical vats. The party open the door to the first vat room, and there we called it an evening.

Guest Post: From the Journal of Sandy the Dwarf

The first guest post here at the Clash of Spear on Shield. This is from +Daniel McEntee  who plays the Dwarven Fighter, Sandy, in Ephemera.

**********

So's I hung back for a day. I had plenty of their guff, and 'cept for the fact that their magic is real, ida gone another way. But them star stones, well they're a sight to see. And supposedly ther'ins more of em – 7 or 8 – so I had to catch up tonight.

Them magisters, well they're a houghty up 'n up full of themselves, but they keep me from hav'n to take the wurst of it. One poor fool called John the Rotund is a volunteer, but two others are charmies: a goblin – Tub (like a container of butter, definitely mush between then pointy green ears), and new to me one of the dwarve's dark kin goin' by the strangest name yet – Bob.

So's I find 'em hunkered down in some ole kitchen, complainin' agin bout how they runt outta spells and jokin' about ground poundin' and some other sort a poundin'. Seems they found an ole bunkroom within a few skels. Spindly things all dried up. So I rouse the group up and head for the door. Can't believe the cowardice. Pull out a couple iron bits holdin' another door to th' north and lead the way in.

Sure enough, them mages got nothin' but hidin' in the back. So's I say just chuck stuff that burns at 'em and I go to work tryin' out this new axe with a purty sharp edge and seein' about getting the timing down with my bastage sword. A couple misses on my part and I get whomped once, heh – jest a tickle.  John and me toe the line with Bob an' Tub. One o' the mages throws all his oil at a pair, crisps one and lights the other (they wuz nothin but walkin' tindling wood). John takes one skel, Bob gets a shot in an' I finish 'em off. Okay room – one of the rooms long gone inhabitants (one of the skels?) left a nice silver chain an' locket with an inscription (May Balus bless you my dearest brother) an' a picture of some scrawny human lass (them humans yre so naked an' hopeless without a good dwarven beard).

Nothin' more there, we head on into one of the best rooms yet. All around, lookin' like painted murals, is a good view of the trees outside the dungeon's entrance – 'cept there's Satyrs and Satyresses (that's what the mages called 'em) including one guy that must be the group's elder or some sorta God. Centered in the room is a carven crystal skylight looking like a sun and shinin' down on a pedestal. I gets an idea and grabs our star stone, puts in on the pedestal and everything gets all shimmery.  Boy'o that light was nice an warm 'n comfy. I look over at the elder sat' and give him a thanks an' a wave, and sure 'nuf, I'm pretty sure he winked at me outta the picture.

Now the mage, the real snotty one called Conner, gets in his head to check a hunch and pulls out a dagger. Gettin' his meanin' I offer to give Bob a Dwarven head butt'n greetin', but noooo, Connert "asks" Bob to cut himself, an' only a tiny bit. Bob does (lapdog) and heals up in that light. So'kay we're off again.

Round a corner we come to another room, fight over door openin' procedures (yes human sized doors might allow for higher shootin' traps, but if ye were to trap a door, it'd be dumb not to take the trespasser in the low center). Anywho, we go in to a little bedroom with a wardrobe and chest. I open the wardrobe first – lookin for a secret back or floor – and sure enough, one of the ROBES attacks me. Nice of them to tell me about this thing after it's almost got me. I shrug it off, cut it in half, and go help with the chest (who ever heard of a linen golem?). A key under the matress unlocks the chest and I open it. We find a silver statuette, some gold, and, paydirt, the next starstone. Purty.

Yay – time to celebrate. Into the next room to fight some more skels. Again I lead (you know why right – dwarves would rather be in front than starin' at a human ass). John fights valiantly (yes I'm exaggerating, but he was half dead to start carrying all that weight of his) but not successfully – down he goes – after a good shot on a first skel he'd drawn too much attention. So – more practice time for me next time! A lot of smart mouthin' from one mage, and Bob and I finish off the last three skels. I've taken another shot, but I wrap it up. Turns out we're in some kinda library. Egbert, in a characteristic fit of passion, looks at his torchbearer who is lamenting the loss of his friend, and says "Don't worry there's more where he came from." Poor dudes – yes, he does not care about you.

So we find a hidden panel with a scroll of protection from magic 10' in the skel's library, and an attached laboratory with a potion bottle – looks like healin'. That first one was good after the first fight. Since I'm up front, the "meat shield" gets first dibs on the best drinks, an' well it help'd remove a big ole skel splinter.

We're about to camp out an I suggest we head back for some more sun rays (healed me up). The pillows look a bit used, but despite the jokes about stains, this is a pretty cool room. I like this Satyr dude. He's a better companion than the arrogant mules I've got for a party. At least they're sincere.

From the journal of Sandy, dwarven bucketeer and noble buckethead.

Ephemera Mausoleum

I have erected a virtual monument to PCs and NPCs who have perished in Ephemera. It's best viewed with your computer's sound on. You can click on the tab above or just click here.

Ephemera Session 5: Light, Loss and the Star of the Maiden

Cast of Characters

Conner, Magic-User ( +Tim Shorts )
Egbert, Magic-User ( +Rob Conley  )
Sandy, Dwarven Fighter ( +Daniel McEntee  )
John the Rotund, NPC Hireling Fighter (KIA)
Alfred, NPC Torchbearer
Tub, NPC Charmed Frost-Goblin Guard
Bob, NPC Charmed Swarthy Dwarf

After exploring the refectory in the abandoned Temple of Balus at the end of the last session, the party returns to the room they had spiked shut previously and take down the four skeletons they had seen there.

Moving on, they enter a Prayer Hall, containing murals of satyrs and satyresses, dancing in the woods. One older, larger satyr seems to preside over the frolic. In the center of the ceiling, some 50' up, is a skylight carved in the shape of the sun, through which daylight filters down in a 10' diameter column. In the center of the column of light is a pedestal on which nothing sits.

Sandy reaches his hand into the light and finds that it feels "healthy and wholesome" and senses there is something magical about it. When he casts a glance at the older satyr in the mural, he could swear its eyes twinkle.

Curious about the light, Conner asks Bob, the swarthy dwarf (charmed NPC), to give himself a minor cut on the hand and then extend his hand into the light. Some grumbling, coaxing, and a reaction roll later, and Bob complies. The tiny wound heals immediately.

Continuing onward, the party enter what was, apparently, the high priest's chamber, and therein are attacked by another Phantom Cloak. Sandy reacts very quickly to this one and dispatches it before it can do any harm. A search of the room yields several objects of interest including a silver statue in the form of the sun atop columns of light extending downward, and small box with a brass plaque labeled "The Star of the Maiden." The box contains a brilliant pink gem, similar to the one previously discovered on the Frost Demon's Island, which bore the legend "Star of the Courtier."

Pleased with this discovery the party move on to the next room which turns out to be a library. Another four skeletons are encountered, and though they are destroyed, it is not without loss. Egbert's hireling fighter, John the Rotund is slain by the undead fiends.

However, the party discover a secret compartment in the wall, in which they find a Scroll of Protection from Magic (10' radius).

The party advance into the next room, an alchemical laboratory, where they find a potion in a bottle with a sun symbol on it, whose color and consistency resembles that of a Potion of Cure Light Wounds they had found earlier.

In a bid to revive the deceased John the Rotund, the party return him to the Prayer Hall. They lay his body within the column of light, hoping it will bring him back. The light seems to form a sparkling aura around him, as if magic were at play that was trying to work, but nothing happens.

And with that, we ended the session.

Ephemera Session #4: Phantom Cloaks, Bones, and Sulphur

After taking down Ellis, the man-eating dwarf minotaur, the Cindarrin rest up for a couple of days in Alden village, allowing their stalwart hireling fighter, John the Rotund, to heal up.

Conversing with the new village leader, Lana, the heroes learn of three possible leads that might get them more information about the prophecy and gem – "The Star of the Courtier" – which they acquired on the Frost Demon's Island.

1. They might head to the woods to the southeast, where there is a statue Lana once saw inscribed with the name "Millenia" deep in kobold territory.

2. They might head west to the tower of an old sage of whom Lana's grandmother sometimes spoke.

3 They might head north to the village of Tarn, which, according to Wanderers Lana has spoken to, is a somewhat larger village where the Cindarrin could possibly find individuals who know something of the prophecy and the Star.

The party decided to adopt the latter course of action. After four days' marching, the heroes approach the village which, from a hilltop, they can see off toward the north horizon as they make camp for the night.

In the pre-dawn darkness, they hear footsteps running toward them from the direction of the village. A figure approaches out of the shadows sprinting hard, and Darius casts a charm spell on the runner before the latter knows what hits him.

Between Darius' high charisma and his spell-casting, 

he could charm the pants off even the surliest villain.

It is a young man named Sam – perhaps 16 or 17 years old – who is fleeing Tarn village. A certain "King Gor" has taken over the village with his dwarven minions. He and his henchmen killed the high priestess, Regina, defiled the shrine to Flora, and has been sending small parties of young people Sam's age north under escort of his swarthy dwarves.

Each time, the dwarves return several days after they depart, without the young folk who left with them. Each time, King Gor is frustrated and furious, and takes it out on the population of Tarn.

Sam was to depart with the next batch in the following couple of days and, rather than await his doom, he managed to escape in the night, running until the party stopped him.

The party ask Sam to take them north, around the town of Tarn to see where the dwarves are taking the young adults of the village. A day later, the Cindarrin wait hidden, and spy the dwarves marching a new group of four teenagers north across the plains. The Cindarrin let them pass, then follow their tracks through the tall grass.

On the third day following the dwarves and their captives, a rain begins to fall, and the heroes decide to pick up the pace and catch up with the dwarves before the trail is lost as the rain gets heavier and starts to flatten out the grass.

The rain and dusk mask the Cindarrin's approach from behind as the dwarves make camp. One sleep spell from Egbert and the foes are subdued. The prisoners are set free and sent into hiding. One dwarf is wakened and charmed. A quick lie explains the absence of the prisoners and convinces the dwarf – named Bob – that the Cindarrin were sent to him by King Gor because the other dwarves in his band were traitors. The sleeping "traitors" are quickly executed, and the party convince Bob to take them to the place he normally delivers the young people of Tarn.

Bob takes the party one more day's march north into a pine forest, and shows the group a temple where he has been bringing the prisoners. The party decide to explore.

Conner very cleverly discovers a hidden "light switch" in the entry hall to the temple which illuminates torches throughout the structure. After a battle with a phantom cloak that very nearly kills Conner (down to 1 hp), the group then discover a former dormitory inhabited by four skeletons. The skeletons are wearing not-so-old clothing that is very similar in style to that worn by Sam and the other young Tarnsters.

The Cindarrin quickly slam the door and spike it, and move on to explore another path.

Their exploration takes them through an old kitchen to a storage room, again with a band of skeletons similar to the first. Once more, the door is quickly re-shut. Conner however, did not fail to note that the old crates, boxes and barrels in the storage room were piled quite high. The party opens the door again, and this time John (the hireling), Tub (the charmed Goblin from the Frost Demon's Island), and Bob (the newly charmed dwarf), push over top-heavy piles of containers onto the skeletons, smashing them to bits.

Passing through the storage room, the party finally come to a room containing four pedestals in a line, each with a glass dome containing a pillow on which sits a different human(oid) bone fragment. Before touching anything, Darius scans the walls of the room and notes several small pipes set in the stonework. Getting closer to the pipes he notes the faint scent of oil and sulphur.

The party decide not to touch anything, and backtrack to the entry hall.

They opt to examine one more room nearby which turns out to be an old refectory, before returning to the room with the fours skeletons that they had previously spiked shut.

After the Cindarrin searched the refectory for anything of use or value we ended for the night.

Ephemera Session 3: A Prophecy, an Execution, and a Minotaur Hunt

The Party:

Conner, Mage (Tim, Gothridge Manor)
Egbert, Mage (Rob, Bat in the Attic)
Darius, Handsome Mage (Ken, Rusty Battleaxe)
Sandy, Dwarven Fighter (Dan)
John the Rotund, Man-at-Arms (NPC)
Alfred, Porter/Torchbearer (NPC)
Tub, Frost Goblin Guard (NPC, Charmed by Darius)

In the preceding session, the party had found Ryan, the peg-legged fisherman, and had hidden him in the rocks outside the stronghold of the Frost Demon, before going back inside to kill the Demon and his priest, Agoth. This session picked up where we had left off in Agoth's chamber, the party standing over his dead body.

With Grix the Frost Demon dead, the temperature of the dungeon began to rise noticeably, the ice coating the ceiling and walls began to melt, and the sound of large icicles crashing down from the ceiling could be heard, some nearer, some farther away.

The party chose to quickly move north in a dash toward a library they had been told of. They discovered a few useful spell scrolls and a parchment with a barely legible prophecy on it.

The party also found a locked box which they could not open. It was small enough they picked it up and took it with them.

With the mages out of spells from the previous session's encounters, and with parts of the ice from the ceiling crashing down, the group decided it was time to leave the dungeon, especially since they had found Ryan already, which was what they had come for in the first place.

They made their way back to the boats, and returned to Alden village.

As the party came ashore at dusk, Ryan recovered from his shock and urged the party not to take him to the village leader, Brill, reiterating that it was Brill that had attacked him several nights earlier, leading to his flight onto his boat and across the lake.

So the party sneaked to Ryan's house and waited until morning to confront the village leader. Before going to bed, they managed to open the box they had brought back with them from the Frost Demon's lair. It held a gem called the "Star of the Courtier." The party agreed that this gem might be one of the stars referenced in the prophecy.

The next morning, the party headed across the village and pushed their way into Brill's home. He didn't have long to dispute the intrusion, as Conner quickly hit him with a Charm spell. The village leader promptly spilled his guts, confessing all.

Ellis, a dwarf minotaur, had accosted Brill outside the village one night a couple weeks earlier. Ellis wanted to butcher, cook and eat him, but Brill negotiated for his life. He would hand over the weak and infirm of the village if Ellis would let him live. Ellis agreed.

Old man Holt was the first one Brill led into the hands of Ellis and his minions. Ryan was supposed to be the second – but he managed to get away. A few days later, two other Cindarrin came through the village, then headed north to find the old man. But they never returned. Brill heard nothing more from Ellis after that.

[The two Cindarrin were Bo and Sidwin, killed fighting Ellis in session one. Though they died, they effectively put Ellis out of business by burning down his "restaurant." This is why Ellis had not come back to the village since. Players knew this but of course none of their characters did.]

After Brill's confession, the Cindarrin awaited the return of Lana, the huntress, from her morning foray into the nearby woods. When she heard Brill repeat his confession, she went ballistic and nearly killed him on the spot.

Two of the Cindarrin, Darius and Sandy, were more than happy to let her do so. Conner argued that Brill was just a coward and that he could be useful in tracking down the dwarf minotaur, Ellis. Conner and Darius debated the point. Lana dragged Brill outside and called the villagers round.

There was a quick trial. Brill's misdeeds were recounted. Conner and Darius each reiterated their arguments. The GM rolled a die. The people of Alden village demanded Brill's death for what he had done. Lana put an arrow through his throat. That was that.

The people seem to have decided that Lana is their new leader.

It was decided that the party would set out that very afternoon with Lana and three other young archers from the village to try and track down Ellis and his dwarf minions, and hopefully the two Cindarrin who had passed through the village a few days earlier and who had not been seen since.

They did so. Their tracking became easier when they began to see sign posts pointing to "Ellis' Restaurant." They arrived in the afternoon at a burned down building, in front of which were two dead bodies, recognizable as Cindarrin, obviously killed in a fight. Chunks of muscled flesh had also been cut away as if they'd been butchered. All their gear was gone as well.

Egbert had the hirelings dig graves and bury the two dead Cindarrin. They finished at dusk, and from just beyond a rise in the distance to the east, the party spied the glimmer of firelight.

Sneaking up, they spotted the dwarf minotaur and his two swarthy dwarf minions, cooking meat on spits around a fire.

The anthropophages never knew what hit them. Egbert cast a Sleep spell on the trio, rendering them helpless. The party finished them effortlessly. The dead Cindarrins' gear was recovered along with Ellis' own loot.

The group made the march back to the village of Alden in the wee hours of the morning.

And so ended the session.

Outsiders

There is no place for them in the villages of Ephemera. They live in huts and hovels, cabins and caves. They may live under bridges, or amid the rubble of some ancient building.

They generally live alone, or at most in small family groups. Some have chosen of their own volition to leave the company of men. Others have been cast out for some unspeakable act – or perhaps simply for being different. Unlike the Wanderers, they don't move around, and they won't be joining the Cindarrin on their adventures. But the world flows past their front door, and they see much over the years. The outsiders – when they are not dangerous homicidal psychopaths – can provide a wealth of information, and possibly some desperately needed tools or supplies. Whether criminal or victim, they can be deeply untrusting of strangers that arrive upon their doorstep. They're as like as not to shoot first and ask questions only when recovering arrows from the body, if at all. One thing is certain. If they have survived on their own as long as they have, they are absolutely not to be trifled with. And whatever you do, it is probably better not to ask them about their past.

Ephemera Session 2 (Saving Master Ryan)

Last night the intrepid party of Cindarrin made their way further into the frozen dungeons beneath the keep on Alden Lake, in search of Ryan, the peg-legged fisherman who had disappeared. The party consisted of three human magic-users – Egbert (Rob), Conner (Tim) and Darius (Ken) – and two fighters Sandy (Dan), a dwarf, and John the Rotund (NPC Hireling in Egbert's employ).

The party pick up off where they left off previously, in a room that looks like a shrine. In the center of the space is a large stone statue, about 12' high. On the statue's base is engraved the name GLACIA. The statue is carved of pale white stone and represents a beautiful, majestic woman with a large butterfly fluttering on her outstretched finger, and corpses in grotesque death-poses at her feet.

The statue, her pose, the butterfly and the corpses all resemble the mural the party had seen previously beneath which had been inscribed: "Behold the beauty of Glacia, and despair."

The heroes pass into a room whose shelves are lined with jars and bottles of various powders and chemicals, which Conner identifies as being substances used in death magic. There are also eight jars containing large black butterflies, and one final jar filled with a powdered blue dye.

On approach to the next room, the adventurers spy an inscribed plaque on the closed door that reads "Before you sink into the big sleep, you shall hear the scream of the butterfly" (Aside: thank you, Jim Morrison). Tacked to the door is a scrap of parchment that reads, in crude scrawl, "Keap owt er dye."

The party rig up a long line attached to the door handle, move all the way back into the last room and around the corner and pull it open. When nothing happens, they cautiously move up and enter the room.

Inside is a stone altar upon which rest a scroll and a large glass bell jar. The scroll relates, in ominous, biblical language, the story of a deity named Glacia, goddess of winter and death. The scripture tells of her pet butterflies, whose screaming cries bring death with them when released upon the world. Within the bell jar next to the scroll is a beautiful butterfly with ice-blue wings, matching the color of the dye in the alchemical store room, opened in a 12-inch span. The butterfly does not move, but rests suspended, hovering somehow, inside the bell jar.

After some discussion, the group decides to not tamper with the jar, but to seek more info, and maybe find a way to take it or use it later.

Leaving the butterfly room behind, the party makes its way to the barracks room of the Frost Goblin Guard (an elite squad of last session's Frost Goblins), and encounter three of them there. Darius successfully charms one, leading him out into the hallway, while the other party members made easy work of the remaining two who are quite confused. The party concocts a story of the dead goblins' infidelity to Glacia to feed to Tub, the charmed Goblin, when he reenters the room with Darius. Tub understands that the infidels had to be punished. He tells the party more about Glacia, about Grix, who commands this place, and of the high priest Agoth. He also mentions that nasty "spy from the village" who is being held for questioning in a cell north of the Frost Goblin Guard barracks.

The party move north, led by Tub and, after passing through a torture chamber, find a bloody, beaten and battered Ryan, sans peg-leg, and concoct another story, telling Tub that the spy needs to be taken outside the complex to be "sacrificed properly." Tub is convinced, and the adventurers make their way out the way they came in, with the torchbearer helping Ryan to hobble along.

Once outside Egbert turns to Tub: "So, did you bring the ceremonial knife?" Tub has no idea what Egbert is talking about. So Egbert continues the ruse: "We'll have to go back in and get it from Grix and Agoth."

The party takes Tub back into the complex, leaving Ryan to hide in the rocks outside (also having picked up and put on his peg leg at the entrance where they had found it previously).

The group encounters Grix – a minor frost demon – in his throne room, who is furious that a member of his Frost Goblin Guard has brought a band of Cindarrin into his chamber. A sleep spell from Egbert takes down Grix (and Tub, too). Grix's throne is intensely cold – it's almost painful even to approach it.

Sandy takes out a crowbar, carefully wraps his hands to shield them from the cold, and give the throne a whack with it. The bar is instantly frozen to the throne, stuck hard there, and ice quickly begins to coat it running up toward Sandy's hands. Sandy lets go in time, and the ice soon covers the bar, which then shatters and falls to the floor in frozen chunks.

Sandy takes out a blade he picked up in the torture chamber and hacks at Grix's neck. The Frost Demon's head comes off, but only just as the blade is frozen, like the crowbar, and it too breaks at the end of the cut.

Sandy runs through a couple more spare knives taking off Grix's horns and claws, which Egbert successfully identified as being usable as magic components, noting that the body is starting to warm up, as the last blade doesn't break. The party carefully wrap the hands and horns in thick cloth which initially frosts up, but gradually just gets wet as the dead Demon parts get warmer.

The party dispose of Grix's body by pushing it onto the throne. Now that he is dead, his corpse is no longer in sympathy with the chill of the throne and the corpse too freezes and shatters. Darius wakes Tub the Goblin – again with a story of Grix's infidelity to the goddess Glacia, resulting in the Frost Demon's destruction – and the party move on to "ask Agoth the High Priest if he has the ceremonial dagger for Ryan's sacrifice."

Tub leads on to Agoth's room, where Conner quickly charms the surprised High Priest of Glacia. Agoth quickly and eagerly explains to his new best friend his and Grix's plan to bring back the butterflies and summon Glacia into the world.

Having heard enough, Conner slowly and carefully pulls out his dagger, intending to stab the charmed High Priest in the back.

Pause. Time for game mechanics. Agoth is charmed. Conner is standing behind him. So I tell Tim to roll a d20, and anything other than a "1" will hit. Tim throws the (virtual) die. The result: Natural 1! And there was much howling and laughter to be had by all. Happens to all of us.

So, Conner misses his surprise back stab attack against a charmed guy who thinks Conner is his best friend. The High Priest leaps away and bobs and weaves as the rest of the party now jumps to the attack, nearly everyone missing (except Darius who does 1 point of damage).

Next round, everyone misses, Agoth hits John the Rotund (Fighter Hireling) with Cause Light Wounds, dropping him unconscious. Alfred the torchbearer manages to get to him before he dies and stops the bleeding. Finally, the party takes Agoth down.

A search of Agoth's chamber yields, apart from some mundane loot, one item that may well prove invaluable to the party – a recent, post-Armageddon, survey map composed by one Brom the Traveller, which roughs out the basic terrain and major inhabitants of the various parts of post-apocalypse Ephemera.

And with that, we called it a night.

Ephemera Session 1 (TPK)

I ran a filler session set in Ephemera for the Monday Night Ubergoobers this week, since Ken (Rusty Battleaxe) was unavailable to run his Montporte Megadungeon.  It was a bit nerve-wracking since, although I recently ran a play-by-blog game, I hadn't GM'd a real-time game (virtual or tabletop) in over 20 years. All in all, it went fairly smoothly (I think). At any rate I didn't implode. The only glitch was . . . a TPK.

The fact that were only two PCs (we usually have four in our games), and some really unlucky die rolls combined to make that happen.

*****

Our duo of Cindarrin protagonists were Bo, a human fighter (played by Rob, Bat in the Attic) and Sidwin Butterbottom, a halfling thief (played by Tim, Gothridge Manor).

The heroes entered the village of Alden where they encountered two main inhabitants, Brill, a most welcoming and friendly village chief, and Lana, a huntress with a bad attitude.

Brill and Lana tell Bo and Sidwin of Alden's recent troubles.

1. Unseasonable cold weather, blowing in continually off the adjacent lake, is destroying the village's crops.
2. Two villagers have recently disappeared in the middle of the night.
     A. One, Old Man Holt, vanished one night without anyone seeing what happened. A patch of blood, Holt's walking stick, and some footprints were found on the road northeast of the village.
     B. The second, Ryan, a young peg-legged fisherman, was seen fleeing in terror one night by Lana. He ran off to his boat on the east bank of the lake, set sail and was gone, not to be seen again.

Bo and Sidwin decide to go after Old Man Holt, up the north road. On the way they see crude road signs with rough inscriptions on them such as:

or: "Ellis's restirant, too myles" and so forth. They spot further patches of blood. Bo and Sidwin make their way to an old dilapidated building, bearing a crooked sign saying "Ellis's Restirant."

Peering through the front door and windows, they see a large dining area with place settings and fresh skeletons seated at the tables, many with their faces plopped down in their plates. Blood is splattered all over the walls and furniture.

Against the back wall, they see a large wooden board on which is written:

"This is just not right!" exclaims Bo.

"What? All they could come up with for my kin was hash?" complains Sidwin.

From a back room, beyond the dining area, a deep gruff voice is heard singing off key "Yer kin git anythin' yer wants, at Ellis's restiront..."

The two Cindarrin slip around the back to see if there is a less obvious way in.

They peer into a rear window and see a kitchen, complete with meat grinder – in use – and two ugly looking dwarves and a dwarf minotaur (like a normal minotaur, only smaller) – the latter wearing a chef's hat and singing the song Bo and Sidwin heard earlier.

Bo lifts Sidwin up onto the low dilapidated roof, so that he can peer down into the other rooms without windows. After that recon, they proceed to take a trap door into the basement, and see what's there.

In the basement the heroes find a killing room – with meat hooks, and Old Man Holt's body hanging half butchered from one of them – where they make quick work of two dwarves in blood soaked aprons and wielding meat cleavers.

After exploring the remainder of the basement, and finding a chilling room (filled with sawdust, ice blocks, and various cuts of demi-human meat), Bo and Sidwin concoct a plan to set the back of the building on fire, forcing the bad guys out the front door, where they will wait in ambush.

It starts off well. The back of the restaurant goes up like a tinder box. The dwarf minotaur and his two sous-chefs race out the front door into Bo's and Sidwin's kill zone.

And then the dice start rolling.

In the first round, Bo and Sidwin score two hits on the dwarf minotaur. After that it all goes to hell. The dwarf minotaur attacks Bo, the fighter, while the two dwarves go after Sidwin. Sidwin quickly goes down dead. Bo manages to score one more hit on the dwarf minotaur before the dwarves come over, gang up on him three-to-one with their boss, and drop him as well. OMG. TPK. RIP.

In the end, Ellis the dwarf minotaur is severely wounded, but still alive. However his restaurant burns to the ground.

Two days later, when a new pair of Cindarrin arrive in Alden village, no further villagers will have disappeared.

*******

So. Out come the back-up PCs. Take two.

Egbert and Conner, both Cindarrin magic-users, along with a pair of Wanderers they had picked up as hirelings, stride into Alden.

They too meet with Brill and Lana (the village chief and the huntress), who are surprised to see two more Cindarrin only days after the first two had come and gone. Egbert and Conner engage the services of Ollie, a fisherman and friend of the peg-leg Ryan who had – several days before – disappeared at night onto the lake, fleeing something that chased him out of the village. The same lake that seems to be the source of the unseasonably cold weather and snow squalls destroying the village's crops.

Ollie takes Egbert and Conner out to the snow and ice-covered island in the middle of the lake, where they find Ryan's boat, a cave, and the remains of an old watch-tower on the top of the hill in the center of the island.

After examining Ryan's boat, the two Cindarrin make their way to the cave, where they find signs of a struggle and a peg-leg.

Egbert and Conner enter the tunnel, which they find illuminated at regular intervals. They also find treacherous patches of ice and some very unstable looking, large, sharp icicles hanging from the ceiling.

The Cindarrin have their man-at-arms out in front, tapping icicles with his spear to ensure that any loose ones fall in front of the party and not on anyone's head. A wise precaution as one almost immediately does so.

They avoid one room inhabited by several Frost Goblins (like normal goblins, only cold and with pale blue-white skin), then make their way into a sort of antechamber.

The antechamber contains a mural depicting a beautiful majestic woman, with a butterfly fluttering on her fingertip, and piles of corpses in grotesque death poses at her feet. A legend at the bottom of the mural reads: "Behold the beauty of Glacia, and despair."

In the next room further on, the small party discover a large room with a tall statue of the same woman, with the butterfly and the grotesque corpses at her feet, and the name "GLACIA" carved at the base.

John, the hireling, pries four pale blue gems – that seem to glitter with a snowflake-like reflection of the ambient light – out of the room's walls. And there we suspended further exploration and called it a night.

To be continued...

Making Maps -- 9 Rough Map Sections for Ephemera

I roughed out some maps (too brain-numbed to do anything verbal after grading a stack of papers) beyond my center map for Ephemera. I'm doing these as bite-sized sections for easy use, but I've patched them together to have a rough overview of the lay of the land around my center starting section. No villages or labels on them yet (except the center section).

Before edit

I'll probably tweak the north-center, north-eastern and eastern-center sections, since I find they look distinctly... well... sectional. They were the first sections I did after the center, and I made the mistake of not letting non-clear terrain touch the edges of the map which gives them a very unnatural-looking "border" effect. But just extending a few terrain features to, and/or just over, the edges should help to rectify that a bit.

EDIT: I have tweaked several sections, and I think the terrain overlapping into multiple sections does wonders to get rid of the artificial "boxy" border effect. 

After edit: I think the terrain overlapping into different sections looks better.

All in all though, it gives a rough idea of the main terrain features. At some point, either to the north or to the south, I'll make the coastline take a radical turn inward (eastward) to shake things up a bit. But that's a way's off time-wise. The 24-mile-per-hex map now covers over 600,000 square miles, about the size of Alaska or Mongolia. More than enough to start, and there are far more important things to work on. 

But this was a good, or at least satisfying, exercise for today.

Ephemera – What I've Got, What I Need, What I Want

With some rather chaotic things in my work life going temporarily on hold, I've started working on Ephemera in earnest. I'd really like to have something well enough developed in order to run the occasional "filler" session when the Monday night group's regular GM's need or want a break.

What I've Got

A chosen rule-set: Swords & Wizardry (core).

A one-page list of house-rules, mostly detailing which of the many options presented in S&W will be in play.

A two-page "Player's Guide" giving very rough, broad-brush descriptions of:

• World History
• PCs as Cindarrin
• Wilderness
• Settlements
• Dungeons
• Religions
• Arcane and Religious Magic
• Lore and Ignorance
• Money
• XP
• Lethality
• Alignment Notes

A rough 24-mile-to-the-hex map of a 67,000 square mile section of Ephemera (about the size of Wisconsin)

A map and one-page write-up of the village in the center of that map

Maps of a couple of adventure areas, with basic ideas roughed out but no detailed stocking or keys


What I Really Need Before Running Anything

Detailed stocking and keys for those adventure areas


What I Really Want Before Running Anything

Maps and one-page write-ups for the other villages on the current map

A couple of small, spare "pocket dungeons" I can randomly whip out and plunk down on the map (creating the illusion of preparation) if the PCs go in an unexpected direction

Cindarrin: Wastes of Ephemera Part II

For Part I, click here.

*************************

Why am I what I am? Because it could not be otherwise. Here, or in another place, another time, 
I must be what fate demands.

– From The Song of Ash Awakened

*****

I awoke as in a fog of grey mist and shadow.

Stumbling in what direction I knew not, I came upon the weathered stone of an ancient road.

I set my feet upon it, and marched its course. The murk dissipated as I walked, revealing a stark landscape.

In the distance I saw a village. And the people welcomed me, though I was unknown to them.

"What is your name?" they asked. "From whence come you?"

I could not answer them.

"No matter," they said. "You shall have comfort this night."

I sensed, through their generosity, a fear of which none spoke.

*****

I woke to moon-rise, and a tension in my soul. Something was coming, not for me, but for the villagers.

And suddenly I was on my feet, blade flashing in my hand. I cut into the flesh of the beast. Its claws ripped at my breast. Our blood mingled in the intimacy of killing.

Then it lay silent and still, as I rolled away and gasped for breath, and the cool night air soothed my torn skin.

A glint of gold, a ring upon the fiend's crooked finger.

I knew this glittering thing. Unclearly, as if from a distant dream. But I knew it.

I pulled the ring from the creature's clawed hand. A familiar band. An heirloom. A lost history. A blood right.

*****

Dawn comes. The fear lifts from the village. They asked if I will remain.

But the ancient road does not end in this hamlet. It calls to me, and I will follow, to the horizon and beyond.

They give me food for the journey. They ask the gods to bless me. "Fare you well!" they call as I leave the village. "Fare you well...Cindarrin!"

*************************

It is unknown exactly where the Cindarrin come from. They simply appear one day, in some village or other. In some cases they are fully conscious of being Cindarrin. In other cases they have only a vague sense of it, and sometimes none at all. It is believed that Cindarrin are somehow related to the long-dead Lords of Ephemera, but no one knows how, not even the Cindarrin themselves. Perhaps they are reincarnations. Perhaps some form of descendant. The Cindarrin always have the physical form of one of the four kindred races. They are mortal like any other being of those races. They can be of any class, or alignment (though chaotics are rare, and tend to be "moderate"). All Cindarrin wander the land, driven by at least one of these three basic impulses:

1. Destroying abominari remnants whereever they may be found
2. Recovering lost treasures from the Time that Was
3. Protecting the remnants of the kindred races and helping to rebuild Ephemera

See also: The Wastes of Ephemera

The Wastes of Ephemera

How did they meet? By chance, like anyone else. Where were they from? From the farthest horizon. Where were they headed? Does any man know his destination?

– From The Lay of the Cindarrin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The empire of Ephemera covered the globe. Her kindred races – men, elves, dwarves and halflings – built castles, towns, and roads throughout the known lands. Ruling over everything, the Ephemerans gave their name to the world itself.

When the great chasms opened, the Abominari – "hordes of the Abyss" – came forth to overrun the empire and cloak the world in darkness.

The lords of Ephemera could not stem the evil tide.

In desperation, the empire's most powerful wizards called forth Armageddon to defeat the Abominari, though it would extinguish their reign in the process. Better to destroy nearly all of existence, than to let corruption devour it.

The armies of the Abyss were broken and scattered. The greater part of the kindred were slain. Cities were cast into rubble and ruin. The land, sea, and sky of Ephemera were altered beyond recognition.

Ephemera has become an endless wilderness where life is solitary, brutish, and short. The kindred struggle to rebuild, to repopulate, to recover what was lost, one isolated hamlet at a time.

The Cindarrin – "those who step from the ashes" – are remnants and descendants of the lost lords of Ephemera. In small bands they wander the wastes, extinguishing pockets of Abominari, helping kindred rebuild, and unearthing artifacts and treasures that are the empire's heritage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a thought for a campaign setting. Something flexible, I think, that might lend itself for use as a backdrop for one-shots, a sporadic campaign, or maybe even regular play. With no wide-ranging infrastructure, it'd probably be easy to just plunk a one-shot or short campaign in there practically at a whim, whenever the mood hits. The PC's would be Cindarrin, of course.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notes:

The lines from The Lay of the Cindarrin are adapted from Diderot's Jacques le Fataliste et son maître.

The description of the current state of the Ephemeral Wastes is adapted from Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan.

The image is an edited version of Thomas Cole's "Romantic Landscape with Ruined Tower"(1832–36).