![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Bridge and Swordsmaster
Saturday morning saw ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
frax and cardinalsin arrive for some Bridge.
bateleur did most of the teaching. We played systemless all day whilst talking about bidding, play and defense. This included whether to finesse or drop, what to lead, why aces were worth more in a suit contract and the points systems (HCP, length and shortage points).
Half way through the afternoon a Gibbon arrived on his banana.chrestomancy had popped in 'cos he was in the area. He stayed for a while to eat strudel and talk BadgerCon. He also returned Mourn's Gift (upside-down-bound copy) which has now gone to Tao for Frances. The Gibbon had trouble leaving when his banana failed to start but, after ringing for roadside assistance, he eventually got it going.
It was a good afternoon. Ryan and Bea were (reasonably) well behaved; not too shouty and not too grabby.frax relieved me of feeding duty - which was a wonderful thing. chrestomancy pointed out his banana to the twins, but they are still too young to be particularly interested.
The following morning, the Athory players arrived, surprisingly punctual, for Swordsmaster.
The session started with the characters having a week of "free" time before Leonides was to teleport the group to the Dry Duchy. Heleth spent this doing jobs for Leonides and spending time helping the Ordiriss (lead by Ral and Chath) establish themselves upon the island. Danaeus, on the other hand, wandered the island alone for the days.
Roland, Taronus and Bryanna spent most of their time in the library. Taronus read the history of the Empire, Roland read about the path of infinity and Bryanna spent some time on each topic. Bryanna also cast two auguries with some unexpected results. The first vision was short - showing only a morrow in a cavern bathed in green light. The second was more mystifying, showing a combat between two Duke Lawrences.
When the week was over and Leonides began his teleport spell, a terrible thing happened. The elderly Duke suffered a heart attack, and the other mages (particularly Taronus and Roland) needed to add their powers to his to avoid leaving some of the party in the Duchy of the Snake. The group arrived, shaken, in the ruins of Chir Shrine. Taronus, still recovering from his own magical efforts, needed to act immediately to save the life of the Duke-Mage.
Consequently the group arrived at the Palace with one member unconscious and another barely standing. They were immediately housed and a healer was sent to them. When Leonides and Taronus were settled comfortably, Lady Bryanna and Lord Roland spoke with the Duchess.
Duchess Louise took the ambassadors to the throne room and showed them her discovery. The throne of the royal line had been shifted to reveal a portal, set in Letizia, below. The party, being PCs, immediately set out to investigate. After some initial exploration, this meant that Danaeus, Bryanna, Roland and Heleth went through the portal along with Duchess Louise, Lord Ordacorey of the Blades and six guards.
The portal and the tunnels beneath were trapped against mages. Consequently Bryanna, Roland and Ordacorey suffered physical and mental shocks whilst they followed the exploration. There were still morrow golems in the lake, one of which broke Oracorey's arm, but the party reached the main cave to discover that a group had been there before them and several dead bodies surrounding the shattered remains of the giant morrow golem.
Beyond the final, giant, guardian was a cave network representing the empire including a number of portals. These portals, or so the party believed, went out to the former lands of the Empire; Athory (of course), Lathany, Zair, Kerris Isles, Floating Sands and the Kry Lands. Also they discovered, in the "Athory" room, a casket emptied of all but a single flamestrike ring.
The ring was engraved, in the language of the ancient empire, with the words "High Blade Thorusane". Bryanna cast another augury and believed that this ring had been stored with the royal jewels. She visited the grave of Thorusane in the Courtyard of Blades and asked to hear stories of the former warrior.
The party were now certain that the Royal Jewels had been taken, recently, from that cave complex. Ordacorey has said that there were already rumours amongst the Rogue Stones that this was the case. This left by whom, and why. Additionally, the party had yet to see much of the palace or Chir Shrine itself. Out somewhere in the city was Emeril, Taronus' grandfather. Whilst in the palace was the girl Ethael and her child Jason. Plenty of people still to meet...
Back in the worlds of Stark and Arcadia, The Longest Journey continues. When I finally complete it, I will write up a review of the game.
frax and cardinalsin arrive for some Bridge.bateleur did most of the teaching. We played systemless all day whilst talking about bidding, play and defense. This included whether to finesse or drop, what to lead, why aces were worth more in a suit contract and the points systems (HCP, length and shortage points). Half way through the afternoon a Gibbon arrived on his banana.
chrestomancy had popped in 'cos he was in the area. He stayed for a while to eat strudel and talk BadgerCon. He also returned Mourn's Gift (upside-down-bound copy) which has now gone to Tao for Frances. The Gibbon had trouble leaving when his banana failed to start but, after ringing for roadside assistance, he eventually got it going.It was a good afternoon. Ryan and Bea were (reasonably) well behaved; not too shouty and not too grabby.
frax relieved me of feeding duty - which was a wonderful thing. chrestomancy pointed out his banana to the twins, but they are still too young to be particularly interested.The following morning, the Athory players arrived, surprisingly punctual, for Swordsmaster.
The session started with the characters having a week of "free" time before Leonides was to teleport the group to the Dry Duchy. Heleth spent this doing jobs for Leonides and spending time helping the Ordiriss (lead by Ral and Chath) establish themselves upon the island. Danaeus, on the other hand, wandered the island alone for the days.
Roland, Taronus and Bryanna spent most of their time in the library. Taronus read the history of the Empire, Roland read about the path of infinity and Bryanna spent some time on each topic. Bryanna also cast two auguries with some unexpected results. The first vision was short - showing only a morrow in a cavern bathed in green light. The second was more mystifying, showing a combat between two Duke Lawrences.
When the week was over and Leonides began his teleport spell, a terrible thing happened. The elderly Duke suffered a heart attack, and the other mages (particularly Taronus and Roland) needed to add their powers to his to avoid leaving some of the party in the Duchy of the Snake. The group arrived, shaken, in the ruins of Chir Shrine. Taronus, still recovering from his own magical efforts, needed to act immediately to save the life of the Duke-Mage.
Consequently the group arrived at the Palace with one member unconscious and another barely standing. They were immediately housed and a healer was sent to them. When Leonides and Taronus were settled comfortably, Lady Bryanna and Lord Roland spoke with the Duchess.
Duchess Louise took the ambassadors to the throne room and showed them her discovery. The throne of the royal line had been shifted to reveal a portal, set in Letizia, below. The party, being PCs, immediately set out to investigate. After some initial exploration, this meant that Danaeus, Bryanna, Roland and Heleth went through the portal along with Duchess Louise, Lord Ordacorey of the Blades and six guards.
The portal and the tunnels beneath were trapped against mages. Consequently Bryanna, Roland and Ordacorey suffered physical and mental shocks whilst they followed the exploration. There were still morrow golems in the lake, one of which broke Oracorey's arm, but the party reached the main cave to discover that a group had been there before them and several dead bodies surrounding the shattered remains of the giant morrow golem.
Beyond the final, giant, guardian was a cave network representing the empire including a number of portals. These portals, or so the party believed, went out to the former lands of the Empire; Athory (of course), Lathany, Zair, Kerris Isles, Floating Sands and the Kry Lands. Also they discovered, in the "Athory" room, a casket emptied of all but a single flamestrike ring.
The ring was engraved, in the language of the ancient empire, with the words "High Blade Thorusane". Bryanna cast another augury and believed that this ring had been stored with the royal jewels. She visited the grave of Thorusane in the Courtyard of Blades and asked to hear stories of the former warrior.
The party were now certain that the Royal Jewels had been taken, recently, from that cave complex. Ordacorey has said that there were already rumours amongst the Rogue Stones that this was the case. This left by whom, and why. Additionally, the party had yet to see much of the palace or Chir Shrine itself. Out somewhere in the city was Emeril, Taronus' grandfather. Whilst in the palace was the girl Ethael and her child Jason. Plenty of people still to meet...
Back in the worlds of Stark and Arcadia, The Longest Journey continues. When I finally complete it, I will write up a review of the game.