Supp Notes: S3

If Blackfoot eats memory fruits= Permanent increase +3 Wisdom/ +3 Intelligence. +1?Consitution **about 700 years old. **can cast basic illusions about himself for disguise.** Blackfoot/Alfang...// Secret passwords, knowledge of creatures and artifacts. Fusilier's Lance will resist those of evil alignment. Youthful prank gone wrong, unleashes horde, kills his people, destroys outpost, creates automaton battle, causes an earthquake which opens up giant chasm/ canyon in center of island. Canyon populated by rock-hoppers (Xithgri), originally small, mutated by broken lands magic. ********************* **The Volrath..skeletal knights, the shambling ghosts of the old guardians. Falling apart, hardly much of a threat .(Knights of Volrath, part of a magical anti-body infection in the Lands. 5 of the remaining warrior-mages, standing watch over the entry to the crystal ship. Properties of the Lands. Conflicting magical energies on the island ; the unleashed magic power of the horde versus the magical essence of the Mogari..the imprint they left, their remaining psyches. The forces which re-animate the knights act as infection in the lands, a poisoning effect. **** A ragged band of Prowlers lurks nearby..( ragged band of prowlers creeps around the edges of the battle...mutants from the zone who Rob travelers. 'Prowler' stats. A complex playing field. Play order for next S: strange doubling of suns. Eating of corpse fruit is so unpleasant that only one who is driven to discover the mystery would do it. Collapsing skeletons, band of prowlers: all disparate beings who sort of drip, and are a semi-hive. And dazzle-mammoths. Part of data dump is understanding new contexts and connections with characters in town who were influenced. Othon the air elemental once had brothers..xenon and argon. Seems likely that the fusilier's Lance is one of those blow-up-in-your-face weapons.. maybe the control mechanism is missing and it could run unpredictably w max power. Maybe to get Lance to function will require the glowing stone that is in the mysterious lantern. Not so much a power source as a modem, tapping into extra-dimensional energies. Accessing the hardware that is present. Instead of creating a transport tunnel through matter, the Lance vaporizes. So maybe both items are required to finish the quest... It's revealed that the ceremonial dagger and sheath that the druid has actually contains an embryonic creature within it's gem. It is a tracking device of sorts, and eventually the crab like creature in the gem will become too large for it and break it. History/memory: a character who wore the thing on his hand as a weapon..(Live-Claw)

The Burden of Alfang

The awful fruit is dissolved in your mouth like the dessicated husk of a thousand year old mummy. It is absorbed, and takes root. A tracery of veins blossoms and burns the brain hemispheres. Shooting tentacles of deep memory burrow into the fugue. Your entire body feels splayed out, exposed like the raw nerve under a tooth. A whirlwind in your mind unfolds an entire library of compressed memories. A world unknown to you dilates and overlays your own thoughts and senses. It is as if you have turned a corner and are confronted with a vast, complex vista which goes on for miles. A new personality takes root inside you and reveals its secrets and experiences. And above all, it's tragic burden of guilt. *********** My name was Alfang, and all that I was belongs to you. I was the last of my people in this place, the last of those who guarded the Horde. My people, the Mogari, watched over this island for thousands of years. An accident brought us here, and, forced to improvise, we kept dangerous forces in check to protect the life of your world. Our vessel, bound from another plane, suffered damage and was forced down on this island; at the time, a barren, sparsely inhabited place. The cargo of our crystal ship: a fearful arc of living weapons. Creatures gathered from across the planes, tools meant for the conquests of the Mogari. Nearly all escaped when the great ship was shattered and buried itself in the earth of this world. Our leader was killed in this conflagration and only 60 or so of my people remained. They are extremely long-lived, and did what the could to safeguard the dangerous menagerie. The worst of the entire bunch was sealed in the mountain, entombed in rock. All was stable for thousands of years, until my life began. I was the first and only child born to this small colony of my people. As a rebellious youth I unleashed the dreaded powers pent up here and my mistake is one which can never be repaid, for it led to the death of all of my people. Chafing at the life I was born into and all the restrictions which it demanded, I committed a careless act of mischief which had far-reaching consequences. Tinkering with the powerful magic of the spirit-seals which held the Horde vault together, I unwittingly released doom upon the other Mogari. I had only meant to render the beast Hraxen, among the worst we guarded, visible from its spectral form. What I had meant as a harmless prank, thanks to my ignorance and novice skills, unleashed the energies of the vault and freed everything within. The Horde destroyed our colony outpost and were scattered across this island. Containing all of them was no longer possible, even if I was not alone. The others have been gone now for 700 years and I remained, trying to sweep up the destruction I wrought. Some of the beasts I have managed to kill, some, to corner, and others, to subdue and befriend. Yet there is one unspeakable horror, locked away, that even I had no knowledge of. The very worst of this Horde was secreted away in an unbreakable tomb with our most powerful magic. A mind-block was implanted in me regarding this beast, a gap in my knowledge of the Horde. The only way to keep me safe from it. And yet still I can feel the influence of this unknown beast, the tightening and warping of its bonds, how it slumbers restlessly in its cradle of stone. When I broke the Horde vault open, it must have provided a crack in the binding. The box which held it opened a fraction, and its chaos has infected this land ever since. A slow unraveling is taking place, one which will end in either the destruction of this monster or our own. Somehow, the mind-walls put in me prevented me from approaching the cell of this creature, and the other defenses my people left in place keep it well-sealed in. But it calls out through dreams, it twists the fabric of this world. In its torpor it struggles to be free. Over the centuries I shaped this land, enticing the city of Akana to be built, drawing explorers to it, all in the hope that I could redeem myself. The illusion skills I had allowed me to come and go from the port at will, and so kept an ear to the ground. It was a very long chess game. The horror works through rumor and madness to free itself, and adventurers from every continent hear its call. The Hraxen beast remains in a struggle with the 3 remaining automaton guardians of our fallen crystal ship. It is a stalemate which has lasted centuries. It is not strong enough to completely escape this plane, and the automatons were not built to kill it. This spectral battle erupts periodically and wreaks destruction upon the lands. It is clear that the beast in the mountain has used this conflict to try to free itself, as well as influencing the other living things in this region. This unknown creature must be killed; a formidable, dangerous task. Knowing that my wounds would end my life soon, I did what I could to prepare the way for those who would follow, to finish my work. I have hidden powerful tools and items in various places. When it was clear my death was imminent I gathered myself into the boughs of that vile tree, hopeful that brave souls would eventually come to take up this task. The 3 arrowheads I carry are powerful magical tools crafted by the mages of the crystal ship. They can subdue most any creature, but can be dangerous and unpredictable in their effects. They are the key to entering the lands, finding the sunken ship, and retrieving the only weapon which can destroy the unknown beast in the mountain.

Scenes to Come

The Medium-sized staff with the Cracked Crystal Pendant on the top becomes a vital tool. The wizard's staff must be retrieved from a ruptured onion dome in the abandoned wizard city. On the slopes of the mountainside, the jungle overgrowing and encroaching it. A particular wizards tower where Alfang hid the staff in a stasis-lock box. Once pulled out, it has a limited time of usefulness. The air elemental bound inside it (O-Thond) can carry them to the mountain for one trip. ((*Lifting the mammoths across the chasm they must cross, *powering the wind-wagon *powering/lifting the sky sled)) In the ruined city they must play cat and mouse with the faceless shriekers.

Works

***Golden-throated Mammoths: 3 Gold-furred Mammoths with 'Dazzle' breath attack, like a miniature sun in their throats which temporarily incapacitates. ***Phased Guardians Battle: Part of the process which has been playing out for the last 3000 years is the grappling battle between a mysterious dragon-beast and the 3 guardian-golums/automatons (Vis re: figures on gaudi church) across the plain of the valley. Every so often, the spectral display erupts: the beings phase into view throwing energies at each other, heat, lightning, pummeling. An endless stalemate between a creature of the crystal ship and the wardens of it. A battle which destroyed the mage-city/outpost and which the wardens are slowly losing. Knowledge/Data-dump of Bosun (Alfang) Knowledge of his life/story fleshed out: Last of the Mogari? Able to spin rudimentary illusions around himself at will for disguise/concealment. He has been in and out of the port city repeatedly. His advanced race kept the creatures on the Island until they failed to keep them all locked up. Waiting for help which never came? Concealing them in this alternate dimension? Alfang's mistake led to destruction of the others and the mage-outpost. Searing guilt. He has a mental block which prevents him from knowing what it is, a safeguard. He is aware it is something monstrous and powerful though. When he knew he was dying, in order to hopefully leave the arrowheads and knowledge to the right warriors, he deliberately went to the corpse tree to deposit himself. He had left knowledge in the minds of Damiel and Butterscotch about this. He has 3 arrowheads on his person, which can subdue creatures and sedate/tame them.(mammoths) His armor and gear were once very fine. Necklace of medallion bearing two twined snakes. He also has passwords to get past causeway defenses, knowledge of broken domed mage city (faceless shriekers and elemental wizard staff). His knowledge leads to the opening of strategy choices for how to proceed deeper into the island. *Ride/tame mammoths *Use cracked crystal staff to power wind wagon across dangerous large, grassy plain(battle with burrowing lycanthropes) Wind-wagon has wizards platform for distance attack *Archer's sled/sky glider chariot. Also powered by air elemental staff.(Battle with gliding membranous rock-hoppers which use echolocation) Staff has limited power once activated. They must decide the relative pros and cons of each option. A large chasm must be crossed, which land methods would make difficult. Retrieving the Fusilier's Lance.(are they being manipulated into retrieving it so that it can escape?) A key to further actions. MF wants it to escape his rock-crypt. (Lich? Necromancer? Undead Sorcerer King?) Item is described as a weapon which fires lightning of incredible heat. A softly sculpted, molded organic looking object. Like bones. They must retrieve this object to ultimately reach MF and kill it. **Introduction of Gnome-Barbarian and baroque seashell castle on his back. Magic gnats have heal all wounds potion, to be introduced at critical moment. **Other Oddities: Dwarf fused with boulder of precious metal and rock** Large herd of strange beasts crossing their path** Occasional giant butterflies/insects** The sun warping into a 2-orb phenomenon, light bent between.** Colony of the mad** Booby traps** Random magic items** *Make plans for wizard city* Sketch out stats for mammoths and rock-hoppers (snow-ghouls riders?)* More backstory for Alfang*

SO FAR

The heroes have rendezvoused at the major port of the Noortjen Empire, Jun-Ree, and contracted passage to Akan aboard the vessel Kerriak with Captain Slovodon. He is a motley dressed pirate. Something off about him. He keeps a small menagerie. A phased dimensional being called the Mumphorgor: 7 feet tall, two sets of black eyes, white fur; ant-like mouth. To perform a heist stealing an artifact for Slovodon from the military fort of the Noortjens in Akana, he offers help from the Mumphorgor and one of the giant mantis's pulling his ship. Mumphorgor is telepathic and can barely interact with this dimension; at most pick up a small object or key. A mantis beast pulls their skiff to a hidden cliffside where they sneak up and climb the cliff using ancient columns carved into the tall cliff face. Some sneaking around the fort and hiding from guards reveals the object they have come for; a mysterious lantern and a scroll. Druid uses magic to warp the treasure chest and fog to hide their escape. They are paid in gems for this act. De-boarding at the city dock, they are forced to bribe an official. Slovodons info leads them to the underworld business center, a tavern called the Falcons Egg, as well as The Blue Eel, a brothel where they search for a prostitute named Butterscotch, who it is rumored has lived in the Lands. Eventually finding her in the pyramid temple, she is deranged, uttering strange things and crabwalking contortedly across the room. She wears a bone around her neckand has an unhealthy pallor. A visit follows to the local alchemist, Damiel, in his nearby tower. The tower sports a sign with an image of a young boy with lobster claws for hands. He tells heroes about corpse tree and magic arrowheads. He shows them a view of the Lands through his spyglass, which includes 500 foot tall toadstools, mountains, jungle, and the Uber Shambling Mound. Heroes stay the night in temple. *********************Session2*********************** Hoktar the soldier of fortune warrior joins the group at the Falcons Egg. He is from a foreign land and wears fur and partial metal plate armour. He has minions : vagabond(Mardrich), brigand(Jones), and bandit(Coco). Poking around by the city wall and massive gate, they ascertain a way out into the Lands by speaking to a friendly shopkeeper of an establishment called the Three Staffs. They give him 3 gold and he tells them about the smugglers entrance. Druid acquires a cheap ceremonial dagger. A large gem with a dark thorn inside it on its scabbard. Likely the thorn can be used to track them. They locate the smugglers burrow under the north wall, and a minion lights a fire nearby to create a distraction. They travel through the rocky tunnel/crevice, hearing strange animal sounds and dripping water. Likely a chemical or poison has been laced through the tunnel and they all touch it. They arrive at the no-mans-land between the city wall and the ancient broken wall. Regularly spaced warning plinths carved with skulls dot the area. They warily approach the corpse tree and identify the body they need to retrieve. The tree is most strange and unsettling. Small mounds of dirt around the tree indicate bandit tunnels. Through a series of missile shots and a bolo throw, they cut it loose to fall to the ground. Three bandits appear, firing with crossbows. Hoktar smashes one spectacularly (20) with a swing of his war club. The tree sprays spores which stun them and has snaky limbs but they snag the body with a rope and grappling hook, bundle the decaying pieces into a cloak, and make off with it. Druids entangle spell immobilizes the two remaining bandits temporarily with scrub grass around their ankles...