December 18, 2004

Hook

Ads were posted looking for individuals to retrieve a stolen item. Respondents were asked to make a personal appointment at the Stopover Inn.

Plot Synopsis

Their appointments were with a woman named Hester, who described herself as a broker for mission specialists on behalf of the owner of the artifact. Interviews were held to describe the mission to describe the mission, answer any questions about the mission, and to discuss compensation. Agreements were made and the embarkation time was set for 8:00pm that evening.

The item to be retrieved is a chalice, which was described as having a dark purpose. Hester relayed that a ritual could be performed with the ritual that would activate its power. Once activated, it would begin producing a liquid that would start a plague in the land. She told the applicants that the item was stolen from the art collection of a wealthy man in Province Landing, and that the thieves had taken the chalice off world to a sparsely populated place only recently opened up for logging. She feared that the priests of that world were corrupted, and had planned to activate the chalice and spread the plague using the local citizens as carriers.

The characters embarked to the logging camp, where they found buildings and logging implements, but no people. The driving mechanism for the saw mill was removed, and the tool shed was locked by some guy named OSHA. The characters left the camp largely untouched.

They traveled to the small town where the chalice was supposedly taken, where they found a small farm community. The group decided that Cypress should stay behind in the trees for a while, given her obvious in-human appearance, until the townsfolk could be determined as 'cool'. The remaining travelers entered the town.

Immediately, a general excitement spread through the town as they had few visitors. The three local priests were summoned from the temple as the group impressed the crowd. In trying to communicate, the group inspired awe and respect by making paper figurines, distributing wealth and creating magical lights. The three priests took the lead on the part of the townsfolk, and agreed to give a brief tour of the temple. (they were, after all, the only people in town with a Pendic-to-Paroli phrase book.) The priests were only too-happy to share their faith with the newcomers to their town, and they gave small narrations with the beautiful triptych murals they had on the walls. Upon the dais was a chalice, which was said to have been created by the Great Lady Herself when She created the world and all its people, and was given to the townspeople to keep forever. The candle, which is always kept lit in her honor, was reverently displayed in front of the chalice. This display had been kept in Her honor for generations.

After a while, when it seemed that the meeting was going well and the people had accepted the group as peaceful, Karl gave the thumbs-up to Cypress. When she walked into town, there was an immediate change in the crowd - they panicked.

Hearing a commotion outside, the lead priest rushed out of the temple to see what was happening. When he laid eyes upon Cypress, he immediately began casting at her. His spell was interrupted by one of the group, but he quickly cast another and encased Cypress in some sort of bubble. Within moments, the entire group was encased, and the lead priest was grabbed and coshed. The group, as a whole, seemed a bit put out.

By this time, the frightened townsfolk had left the area, and the local constabulary was summoned. The sheriff of the town arrived, and politely asked the group to leave, since the army was on the way. A good bit of discussion occurred, and Tanis was able to slip away for a while. The group was understandably miffed at being asked to leave. While they were talking, Tanis was able to check out the sheriff's manse, in hopes of finding the right chalice, since the one in the temple seems to be different. Also during discussions, Karl slipped quietly inside the temple to grab the chalice. When Tanis returned, the rest of the group agreed to leave, and they returned to Terminal 3.

The agreed-upon compensation had not yet arrived. When asked, Hester told the group that they had only been gone twenty minutes. The group determined among themselves that this must be caused by some kind of time disparity between home and the world to which they traveled. So Hester offered the party a meal why they waited. Once the packages arrived, they were distributed and explained, and the group dispersed.

Noteworthy Postgame Events