Thursday, September 18, 2008

History Lesson in the Lab

After figuring their way past the locked door, acid pool, gelatinous cube, and water hazard, the heroes descended into a long, somewhat narrow room. The room had 10 small dormitory style rooms. There were bookcases in 2 of the corners and 4 large tables. On one of the tables, the party found a large tome.

This is where we broke last session and it allowed me to send out the Wizard’s journal before the next session. Since it was a 9 page doc, giving them time to read it, out of session, worked well. I will try to attach it to this post.

When we reconvened, the players took a few minutes to discuss the finer points of the book. Obviously the wizards were trying to locate where the evil that was spreading across the land was originating from. Additionally, elementals were involved in the augmentation of a teleportation circle, hopefully providing enough power to open doorways to other planes and dimensions. The book ends with several wizards having lost contact in combat, Steven’s creation of the island and his retirement to his mansion.

Passing down a narrow hallway, the party found themselves in an enormous room with a teleportation circle etched on the floor and additional runes, representing the elements, etched around that. The rolled a sling bolt across, but no one entered the circle.

A quick walk around the room showed the party 4 attached rooms that obviously held elementals at some point in the past. Carefully entering each room, the party found them to be empty.

A little more discussion centered around the teleportation circle and Kuppies’ Arcana check confirmed that while he might be able to make it work, without a destination, it was useless.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

The journal was a great idea. It definitely was good to pick up the game with a discussion on what the hell we thought we were looking at.

Also - props to Leenia for roleplaying concern that perhaps the book should be left alone so that more powerful forces don't get their hands on it. That was something I hadn't considered a lawful good character would think about.

So where the heck was 'Melf' during all this chaos? And what exactly is the mainland like, I wonder. Can't help but wonder whethe rthe entire Oerth is impacted, or just this localized region. Very strange for the kobolds to be the ruling race, and not scurrying in a cave complex somewhere.

jcayer said...

I liked the journal as a way to give a bunch of background material. It gives a little insite into what may be to come, plus adds some depth.

Perhaps Melf was long dead before the war began? Perhaps he fell during the initial strike? Who knows. As for your comment of Oerth, I just borrowed the map, this isn't set on Oerth. And lets not forget, the map is 1000+ years old.

Unknown said...

My bad! That's what comes flooding back with memories when I look at that map! :)