June 20, 2009

Hook

Lady Chelsea invites you to enjoy the festival of the freeze from her box seats.

Plot Synopsis

Various adventurers receive invitations to watch the opening ceremonies of the Festival of the Freeze from Lady Chelsea's box seats. The freeze is well underway and most of the party opts to walk to Is'Damor. At Is'Damor they find that the beach facing Centralia has been covered with bleachers and a couple of higher enclosed rooms. Chelsea's is one of the enclosed (and heated) rooms.

Some adventurers who showed up with undead/zombie attendants note that the undead start acting more lively and look in better repair after stepping foot on the island.

The party is shown to Chelsea's cabin where there is a large open view of the festival area (which is basically every bit of ice between Is'Damor and Centralia). Its still daylight and the ice is covered with skimmers and skaters. Inside the cabin there is beer, fruitjuice, wines and various snack foods.

Chelsea arrives and engages in various chit chat. She assures the adventurers that she wants them for more than company and has a job for them. At dusk she is supposed to make the opening announcemens since she is the only Lord available to do it. The idea clearly doesn't make her happy. She goes onto explain that that is part of the problem. She wants the party to fetch an item and deliver it to "the rotten bastards that abandoned me here to do their jobs while they are off doing who knows what". She verifies for the party that the other Lords are indeed off world and have been since the Depletion. She tells them to enjoy themselves while she goes and makes the opening announcement and then she'll explain the mission, after which they will be free to enjoy the rest of the festival before proceding.

Chelsea goes out, the crowds quiet a bit as the spotlights hit her and she levitates upward. She makes the opening annoucments in a normal volume that seems to carry for miles, expressing what an honor it is to welcome everyone to the festival, its her first time, yada yada yada. When she finishes the crowd roars. Chelsea returns to the cabin just as the first ACL (Aerial Combat League) bout begins. Between bouts Chelsea explains their mission.

She hands the party an envelope. Take this to one of the Lords. Doesn't matter which. Its merely some random updates on local events and such. Then come back through to the alpha site and go to this other world. On that world you will follow the tug of this charm (she hands the party a small black stone). It will lead you to a black gem about the size of a matrix gem. Take the black gem back through to the alpha site and then back to Centralia. Go to Ocean Shore. There is a walking trail on the northside that goes to a waterfall. Behind the waterfall there is a small cave. Place the small stone into a nook you'll find in the wall. A door will open. go through the door, follow the path until you get to a column. The column will have a small door. Open it and insert the black gem. When you do you will be teleported to another location. It'll be dark there. go straight toward the moon for ~4 hours. Bring back 2 sacks of soil from that location and bring it back to me. Be absolutely sure that you have none of that soil on your person when you return.

After the festivities the party departs. A couple of the zombies are laughing it up and dicing beneath the bleachers. They come to attention when their master descends and follow them off the island. The party goes to the CGoW and takes the portal to the alpha site and then to the desert world where some of the Lords are holed up. They pass the letter and return to the alpha site. There they go to one of the newly opened worlds and step through. One of the adventurers remain on the desert world to avail herself of Lord Briss' cherry slushie pool, telling the party she'll catch up.

They find themselves in an apparently never ending field of flax... yellow as far as the eye can see. After a bit of experimenting they party decides that the black stone does kind of tug in a specific direction. The follow it, sending zombies and skeletons ahead to scout for traps. A few hours later they are suddenly surrounded by unhappy bees. It is apparent that a zombie has probably stepped on something. The party scatters. Once alone they employ various methods of bee removal (fire, wind, water, etc...). Before they succeed it becomes apparent that the bees pack a bit of toxin.

They continue onward until the stone tugs directly downard and then they start digging. After a few feet they find a cement cube about 12 inches on a side. It doesn't look like a black gem but its what the stone points to so they start chipping away at it. One inch in they find a layer of lead. They melt that off and find a wire mesh surrounding a black gem. The first cut into the mesh is rather dramatic but further cuts go pretty easy and then they are in possession of the gem. They head back to the portal (easily following their trail through the flax and avoiding the bee nest). At the alpha site they rejoin their missing companion who has been bathing at the alpha site.

The party returns to the CGoW and takes a coach to Ocean Shore. There they get a couple of rooms and procede to rack up a bill with various services. In the morning they take the walking trail. The concierge point the way to them and endorses the waterfalls medicinal properties. The party takes the trail to the waterfall. They step behind the waterfall into a small cave. The cave floor is littered with bottles, bits of wood, old firepits and a couple of wooly condoms. They place the stone in a nook in the wall that looks large enough to hold it and a hole opens in the floor.

The party drops through the hole (last guy grabs the stone before jumping). At the bottom they find themselves in a narrow passageway. They follow the passageway to a larger, circular cavern with a pillar in the middle. After a bit of fiddling they figure how to open the door to the pillar (ouch) and insert the gem. One of the party notices a pad of numbers on the pillar and sees them flash 2467 before they are teleported. The find themselves in a barren, twighlight world. The surroundings are rock and dust and an old pillar stands before them. Looking around they notice they are surrounded by large half-man, half-wolf creatures that don't look at all friendly... and who quickly make it clear that the party was expected.

Combat ensues, the creatures seem fairly hard to kill but several are rendered unconscious for a few rounds. When they awaken they retreat. This continues until the party has a free opening and head off to follow the moon. They decide that the moon is actually Jaern and conclude they must be on one of the moons. So they follow Jaern for the required time and come to an area that is different at the appointed time. They dig out two sacks full of dirt and then brush themselves clean of any remaining soil, including the soles of their shoes.

The party returns to the pillar and endures taunts from the werewolves. The werewolves don't attack and the party realizes that they don't actually know how to make the pillar take them home. Erica teleports to the cavern under Ocean Shore to see if the pillar can be activated from that side. No luck. Others use a livewire card to teleport back to Jaern and then start making their way back to Centralia. Two stayed at the pillar. They found another number pad and started working combinations.

When Erica fails to get the pillar to work she teleports to Lord Briss and asks him where Shaylin is so she can report in. Briss directs Erica over 3 tents and down one. She invisibly goes past a few guards and enters a tent. There she sees a woman sleeping with a dog curled up beside her. Erica whispers: Hey Shaylin. The dog opens an eye and gives a low grown which wakes up the woman. Erica starts talking about the pillar and the werewolves and the woman looks confused. Then Erica remembers (yey blonde) that they are employed by Chelsea and not Shaylin. She teleports to Is'Damor.

Meanwhile the party makes their way to Is'Damor with bags of soil and a dead werewolf. The remaining person on the moon manages to find a combination that works and gets back to Ocean Shore. He collects the gem and heads back to Is'Damor. The party arrive at roughly the same time. They give the soil to Chelsea who thanks them and tells them a few tidbits about werewolves (they like honey). Party is paid and all is well with the world. One adventurer walked off with an unconscious werewolf. Another with a dead one. A 3rd with the black gem and stone.

A few days later Lord Wills was spotted at market buying some tobac for his pipe.

Noteworthy Postgame Events