Reve de Dragon

In which our celebration is predictably short-lived...

2009-11-10T22:14:06Z

Yes, that's right...

After an unplanned two month hiatus, we return to our regularly scheduled Tide! And there was much rejoicing.

Since it's been so long, it might behoove the audience to review where we last left our heroes:

http://laurelwen.livejournal.com/245894.html#cutid1

After a few minutes of shock, as they all processed what had just happened, our heroes refocused on the matter at hand. Search the alcoves around the room, make sure there weren't any other bad guys coming for them, etc. Adamant and Urol spent some time examining the alchemist's lab set up in one room--coming to the conclusion that it had been used in part of the process to create the black pearls. They decided to load it into the portable hole (that's what they're for, really). Then they camped out on top of the temple so that Adamant could regain spells so that they could teleport back to town. Jakara was distracted, absent, his mind clearly on something else. Bliz and Urol spent some time watching as the Abyssal fogs slowly burned away across the island. Jo chatted with Adamant a bit about what he thinks of while he sits up all night (he only sleeps a couple hours, apparently), and about the planes versus the primes, and how good we have it on the prime. She thinks about where she's been and where she wants to go. They have this in common, but she doesn't think that's all. He says, no, they've also both attracted the attention of Demogorgon. He tells her that *this* won't last. That we may be as insignificant as ants to him, but he won't forget or forgive and he will retaliate. She starts to ask why he would draw attention to himself, etc, but Adamant brushes her off before she can even form the question and tells her to just let it lie.

After a nightmare wakes her up, and everyone else is up, they teleport back to Farshore.

...Where everyone is running around in a mild panic. One of the ships is gone from the harbor, people seem to be milling around the remaining ships, and there is obvious damage to Lavinia's manor. Bliz and Urol run to the manor, Jakara is torn but wants to go to the manor and Jo tells him to do it. She and Adamant go to the chapel to find Catherly.

Bliz and Co. discover that the damage is located in Lavinia's bedroom, where a large portion of the outer wall is just gone. All of L's gear is still there, the only thing missing seems to be some favorite nightclothes. Nothing more can be discovered and Jakara gets angry, punching a wall at one point. Bliz gets the feeling that he *knew* this was what they were going to find...somehow. Getting no further info, Bliz gathers up Lavinia's personal effects, and they set off to find Jo and Adamant.

Meanwhile, the chapel is bustling with activity, but Jo flags down someone and asks where Catherly is. The acolyte's face falls and he turns away without answering. With mounting dread, Jo strides off to look for him herself. Suddenly Liamae, that sassy Jade Raven, comes running and launches herself into Adamant's chest, sobbing. She tells them that Catherly is dying.

*flash*

We see part of the cutscene from the last game. The twin demonic screams sound, and there is a crack like thunder. The sky begins to darken and then a column of smoke appears and heads for Lavinia's house, where the wall of her room disintegrates into fire and smoke. The smoke grabs her and lifts her up into the sky. Suddenly, a figure exits the door of the chapel and calls something. A light flashes from his hand and the smoke diverts towards him. Catherly stands his ground--and fights it with spells as the smoke makes several attempts at him. On the last pass, somehow the smoke catches his arm before he can deliver the spell or whatever, then pulls him up into the air. A face shows vaguely through the smoke and Catherly pales, and says, "You!" From the smoke, something stabs him several times in the chest and he crumples to the ground.

*end flash*

Liamae gives them a basic account of what happened, and then Bliz shows up with Jakara (Urol went off to check something). They head to Catherly's room. He lies unconscious, his chest bandaged and bloody. None of their healing magic can touch these wounds, and he was the best healer in the town. No one here can help him. They can't move him. Jo can't think of any way to save him, and is getting frantic. Bliz says that maybe the other Jade Ravens could help (they took the ship that was missing), but Jo says that if Liamae couldn't help, how could the others do anything? Liamae breaks out into sobs again and leaves, Adamant tells Bliz to go after her, and then tells Jo that Liamae *loves* Catherly and Jo just made her feel even worse.

Adamant suggests that maybe he could go to Sasserine and bring someone back (he *can* be very convincing after all) and maybe he could use Noltus' name to get one of the Pelorians to do it. Suddenly, Jo hears her name from the bed, and turns to see Catherly conscious.

To sum up a highly emotional scene is tricky as always, but here's the basic gist. He told us that it was Vanthus Vanderboren(!!!) who took Lavinia, though he did not know how that could be. He was sorry that he wasn't capable of stopping Vanthus, and mentioned the Crimson Fleet as a place to look for him. He said there wasn't enough time to get anyone from Sasserine, he knew he was dying, and he accepted it. He was there to see the Isle restored, but it was implied that he knew he wouldn't live past that point. Then he dropped another bomb: he told Jo that *he* is her real father, that he had loved her mother, and when she asked why they kept it from her, he only said that it was necessary. He then apologized to Bliz...saying that he was sorry for what 'they' did to Bliz (the Church, perhaps?) and did not elaborate. He requested that he be taken to Lady Silvermane, already on a ship on her way to the Isle. He told Jo that she needed to listen to the Lady now. He also talked about destiny and how everyone has their parts to play, but Jo was inwardly scoffing at this as usual. He said that Jo's mother was proud of her, that Jo is strong, and she would see both of them again. He was happy that he would return to the stars, and said something in Sylvan right before the end (using a word that could mean "queen" or "goddess"). He told Jo that he loved her, and then...he died.

Jakara almost takes a step forward, then looks long and hard at Adamant...who then moves forward and puts a hand on Jo's shoulder. After some time, Jo pulls herself out of her state of shock and misery and copious amounts of tears, and mentions that they have to do something about the rest of the town which is still in a state of panic. Bliz volunteers to go do it while Jo remains there.

Bliz heads down to the docks, where Lord Merovanchi is organizing a mass exodus by ship. She jumps up on the platform next to him and proceeds to win the crowd over to her side. Diplomacy, FTW! She talks about how they've all worked so hard for what they have here, and survived other dangers, and if they run now, they'll be giving all of that up. Plus, she and her friends are going to go get Lady Lavinia back and we need somewhere to bring her when we succeed. Merovanchi tries to counter, but nothing can stop the Bliz. The crowd agrees and she spends some time being encouraging, etc.

It is decided that Jo will write a letter to the Olman elders explaining what happened at the temple and in Farshore, and mentioning the need to take care of the pirates in the pit at Fogmire. Adamant teleports off to get information out of them--namely, the exact location of Scuttlecove. Bliz and Urol go to Tanaroa overnight to deliver the letter, and Jo stays behind to get the Sea Wyvern ready to sail. They plan to sail out to meet the contingent coming from Sasserine. It is also discovered that Vanthus' grave is open and empty, the little totems that Urol used to Hallow the graveyard having been twisted into two-headed monstrosities.We also learn that the Jade Ravens have sailed for Scuttlecove. Liamae, after an argument with her *other* lover, reads a scroll that takes her to their ship.

That night, Urol breaks the news to Bliz that he thinks he is not going with her off the island, that his place is here. Bliz says she cannot stay, because she must go to rescue Lavinia and keep countless others from being hurt or killed. She could not live with the knowledge that she could have done something to help others and didn't. She tearfully accepts him staying behind and says she will try to send messages when she can. That night, she has one of her dreams and comes to understand that Urol is not certain what to do, being torn between his love for Bliz and his ties to the Island, and that Bliz herself can make the decision for him to come with her or not. She chooses not to ask him to come because she wants him to be happy and do what he feels is best for him, and she bids him a sorrowful goodbye at the edge of town...and he steps into a tree and vanishes.

They set sail with Catherly's body and Jakara but without Urol.

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<urol [...] party.>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

Yes, that's right...

After an unplanned two month hiatus, we return to our regularly scheduled Tide! And there was much rejoicing.

Since it's been so long, it might behoove the audience to review where we last left our heroes:

http://laurelwen.livejournal.com/245894.html#cutid1

<lj-cut text="So what next?">

After a few minutes of shock, as they all processed what had just happened, our heroes refocused on the matter at hand. Search the alcoves around the room, make sure there weren't any other bad guys coming for them, etc. Adamant and Urol spent some time examining the alchemist's lab set up in one room--coming to the conclusion that it had been used in part of the process to create the black pearls. They decided to load it into the portable hole (that's what they're for, really). Then they camped out on top of the temple so that Adamant could regain spells so that they could teleport back to town. Jakara was distracted, absent, his mind clearly on something else. Bliz and Urol spent some time watching as the Abyssal fogs slowly burned away across the island. Jo chatted with Adamant a bit about what he thinks of while he sits up all night (he only sleeps a couple hours, apparently), and about the planes versus the primes, and how good we have it on the prime. She thinks about where she's been and where she wants to go. They have this in common, but she doesn't think that's all. He says, no, they've also both attracted the attention of Demogorgon. He tells her that *this* won't last. That we may be as insignificant as ants to him, but he won't forget or forgive and he will retaliate. She starts to ask why he would draw attention to himself, etc, but Adamant brushes her off before she can even form the question and tells her to just let it lie.

After a nightmare wakes her up, and everyone else is up, they teleport back to Farshore.

...Where everyone is running around in a mild panic. One of the ships is gone from the harbor, people seem to be milling around the remaining ships, and there is obvious damage to Lavinia's manor. Bliz and Urol run to the manor, Jakara is torn but wants to go to the manor and Jo tells him to do it. She and Adamant go to the chapel to find Catherly.

Bliz and Co. discover that the damage is located in Lavinia's bedroom, where a large portion of the outer wall is just gone. All of L's gear is still there, the only thing missing seems to be some favorite nightclothes. Nothing more can be discovered and Jakara gets angry, punching a wall at one point. Bliz gets the feeling that he *knew* this was what they were going to find...somehow. Getting no further info, Bliz gathers up Lavinia's personal effects, and they set off to find Jo and Adamant.

Meanwhile, the chapel is bustling with activity, but Jo flags down someone and asks where Catherly is. The acolyte's face falls and he turns away without answering. With mounting dread, Jo strides off to look for him herself. Suddenly Liamae, that sassy Jade Raven, comes running and launches herself into Adamant's chest, sobbing. She tells them that Catherly is dying.

*flash*

We see part of the cutscene from the last game. The twin demonic screams sound, and there is a crack like thunder. The sky begins to darken and then a column of smoke appears and heads for Lavinia's house, where the wall of her room disintegrates into fire and smoke. The smoke grabs her and lifts her up into the sky. Suddenly, a figure exits the door of the chapel and calls something. A light flashes from his hand and the smoke diverts towards him. Catherly stands his ground--and fights it with spells as the smoke makes several attempts at him. On the last pass, somehow the smoke catches his arm before he can deliver the spell or whatever, then pulls him up into the air. A face shows vaguely through the smoke and Catherly pales, and says, "You!" From the smoke, something stabs him several times in the chest and he crumples to the ground.

*end flash*

Liamae gives them a basic account of what happened, and then Bliz shows up with Jakara (Urol went off to check something). They head to Catherly's room. He lies unconscious, his chest bandaged and bloody. None of their healing magic can touch these wounds, and he was the best healer in the town. No one here can help him. They can't move him. Jo can't think of any way to save him, and is getting frantic. Bliz says that maybe the other Jade Ravens could help (they took the ship that was missing), but Jo says that if Liamae couldn't help, how could the others do anything? Liamae breaks out into sobs again and leaves, Adamant tells Bliz to go after her, and then tells Jo that Liamae *loves* Catherly and Jo just made her feel even worse.

Adamant suggests that maybe he could go to Sasserine and bring someone back (he *can* be very convincing after all) and maybe he could use Noltus' name to get one of the Pelorians to do it. Suddenly, Jo hears her name from the bed, and turns to see Catherly conscious.

To sum up a highly emotional scene is tricky as always, but here's the basic gist. He told us that it was Vanthus Vanderboren(!!!) who took Lavinia, though he did not know how that could be. He was sorry that he wasn't capable of stopping Vanthus, and mentioned the Crimson Fleet as a place to look for him. He said there wasn't enough time to get anyone from Sasserine, he knew he was dying, and he accepted it. He was there to see the Isle restored, but it was implied that he knew he wouldn't live past that point. Then he dropped another bomb: he told Jo that *he* is her real father, that he had loved her mother, and when she asked why they kept it from her, he only said that it was necessary. He then apologized to Bliz...saying that he was sorry for what 'they' did to Bliz (the Church, perhaps?) and did not elaborate. He requested that he be taken to Lady Silvermane, already on a ship on her way to the Isle. He told Jo that she needed to listen to the Lady now. He also talked about destiny and how everyone has their parts to play, but Jo was inwardly scoffing at this as usual. He said that Jo's mother was proud of her, that Jo is strong, and she would see both of them again. He was happy that he would return to the stars, and said something in Sylvan right before the end (using a word that could mean "queen" or "goddess"). He told Jo that he loved her, and then...he died.

Jakara almost takes a step forward, then looks long and hard at Adamant...who then moves forward and puts a hand on Jo's shoulder. After some time, Jo pulls herself out of her state of shock and misery and copious amounts of tears, and mentions that they have to do something about the rest of the town which is still in a state of panic. Bliz volunteers to go do it while Jo remains there.

Bliz heads down to the docks, where Lord Merovanchi is organizing a mass exodus by ship. She jumps up on the platform next to him and proceeds to win the crowd over to her side. Diplomacy, FTW! She talks about how they've all worked so hard for what they have here, and survived other dangers, and if they run now, they'll be giving all of that up. Plus, she and her friends are going to go get Lady Lavinia back and we need somewhere to bring her when we succeed. Merovanchi tries to counter, but nothing can stop the Bliz. The crowd agrees and she spends some time being encouraging, etc.

It is decided that Jo will write a letter to the Olman elders explaining what happened at the temple and in Farshore, and mentioning the need to take care of the pirates in the pit at Fogmire. Adamant teleports off to get information out of them--namely, the exact location of Scuttlecove. Bliz and Urol go to Tanaroa overnight to deliver the letter, and Jo stays behind to get the Sea Wyvern ready to sail. They plan to sail out to meet the contingent coming from Sasserine. It is also discovered that Vanthus' grave is open and empty, the little totems that Urol used to Hallow the graveyard having been twisted into two-headed monstrosities.We also learn that the Jade Ravens have sailed for Scuttlecove. Liamae, after an argument with her *other* lover, reads a scroll that takes her to their ship.

That night, Urol breaks the news to Bliz that he thinks he is not going with her off the island, that his place is here. Bliz says she cannot stay, because she must go to rescue Lavinia and keep countless others from being hurt or killed. She could not live with the knowledge that she could have done something to help others and didn't. She tearfully accepts him staying behind and says she will try to send messages when she can. That night, she has one of her dreams and comes to understand that Urol is not certain what to do, being torn between his love for Bliz and his ties to the Island, and that Bliz herself can make the decision for him to come with her or not. She chooses not to ask him to come because she wants him to be happy and do what he feels is best for him, and she bids him a sorrowful goodbye at the edge of town...and he steps into a tree and vanishes.

They set sail with Catherly's body and Jakara but without Urol.

<Urol has left the party.>

Worth the wait, my friends. What will happen next? How will Jo reconcile gaining and losing her true father in one fell swoop? Will Bliz see Urol again? What will be revealed when they finally meet with Lady Silvermane?

And can they survive without a healer???

Costume breakdown

2009-11-03T14:48:56Z

We decided to go as an airship/sky pirate crew (because it allowed us to use things we already had, saving money and time). I was actually inspired by the outfit that Milla wears in the third Resident Evil movie, but I didn't want to just copy it.

I found a free online pattern drafting tutorial for a short double-breasted vest. I drafted it up in my measurements, made a mockup out of muslin, then altered it from 3 pieces with darts into 5 pieces by changing the darts into side front and side back seams. The idea was to make it easier to incorporate the changes I was about to make at the bottom. I tacked some extra muslin on the bottom of each piece, then fiddled with them until I had a skirt width I liked. I used this mockup as a pattern to cut a second mockup. Once that was put together, I decided on a hemline that I liked and cut it appropriately. I used this as the pattern to cut the fashion material.

The outside is a dark olive green herringbone-weave suiting fabric with a nice drape. The lining is Potting Soil colored bemburg. There are 12 copper buttons--and let me tell you that placement for 2 symmetrical lines of buttons is quite the task. I rocked the buttonholes out in no time, since Judy's precise needle placement settings makes it really easy.

The shirt and shorts are thrift store finds. The boots I got last year to wear with my Jedi costume, but they're lovely and versatile. The stockings are a jury-rig--upside down stirrup pants. I cut the stirrup at the bottom seam, then cut the opening bigger and wider to fit my thigh rather than my ankle. I chopped the leg off higher up and just tucked them into the boots. The tops are just safety pinned underneath the shorts. All in all, I think it worked out well. I had been planning to serge the edges and make it look a little neater and more deliberate, but I found I was satisfied with that, and I had some other things to take care of during the day.

The black map case is from the telephoto lens for the camera I inherited from my mom. Throw on a gold leaf brooch on my lapel, and a large gold clock attached to my belt (hooray for Hobby Lobby ornaments!) and the outfit was complete. I was unable to find any goggles that I liked, so I skipped them. There's always the future. Or the past. Whatever.

I did learn a few things from the vest. I would have been better served to interface the entire front panel, rather than just half of it--this would have helped the front bottom hang a little more smoothly. Attaching the armhole lining was a bitch and it still doesn't lay quite flat, so I would find a better way to do that. The collar was a bit larger than I though it would be, and the neckline was higher than expected, too. I would change the shape of the side front seam just a bit. Overall, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Also cool: I could wear it over a fairly fluffy skirt if I wanted, so there are numerous styling options.

Project Mayhem...er, Runway...er, Halloween Costume

2009-10-27T14:58:45Z

As per usual, I'm down to the wire on the Halloween costume thing. It's just the way that I work, and I've learned to accept that. On the positive side, however, I am moving right along with the main piece I am making, and I've already bought the pieces I needed to buy. The real bitch is going to be the buttonholes. But...I think this new machine will make those easier to do, once I have done some fiddling.

On the machine end, so far so good. I've gone through plain cotton, and now a thicker poly/wool. Next up, I'll see how it does on some thin lining. After that, the only things I will want to check are super heavy fabrics, esp vinyl and upholstery, and superfine fabrics like chiffon. But Miss Judy sews like butter so far, and for that I am thankful. According to the manual, there are a bunch of fancypants options that I could experiment with when I have more time, and I'll definitely want to look into getting some of the specialized presser feet. Feet? Foots? I don't know!

I feel like I should have a framed photo of Tim Gunn on my sewing wall, casting a critical eye over all my work.

Weather, Judy, and more

2009-10-08T17:52:15Z

When fall snapped up north, we got hit with a lovely wave of cooler weather. However, it ratcheted back up into the nineties shortly thereafter. We've been hit with quite a few waves of rain, and with the humidity, the heat index is now in the 105 range. It's high enough that they're issuing warnings to people. All this in October. The forecast calls for a cold front to move through and then we might actually hit normal October temps (upper 70's to mid-80's.) It's a surreal experience to drive down the street in unbelievably hot weather and see all the houses decked out for Halloween.

In other news, I just picked up a Singer 500a Rocketeer sewing machine from the early 60's. All praise to Craigslist. This model is all metal gears (no belts), and has a devoted following among vintage machine fanciers. It seems like quite a workhorse, so I might finally be able to easily handle the heavy upholstery fabrics so often used for good costumes, not to mention the possibilities for vinyls and even leather. It also means I might be able to start into some corsetmaking endeavors, since those involve several layers of heavy fabric as well. I even ordered a CD copy of the original manual for a few bucks online. It's in lovely condition--either it wasn't used much or it was well cared for. I can't tell you how exciting this is. I've wanted a solid machine for a while, and my current one was having a nasty issue that I wasn't willing to get fixed (due to costs and the low quality of the machine in the first place.) So now I have one that will hopefully last me a long time and be able to handle the tough stuff. Also, it is named Judy. Look up a photo of the machine and you will see why. The best part is that this new toy coincides with this season of Project Runway, so I'm all fired up to make some stuff.

On a related note...now I can really start working on Halloween. I'm playing it fairly simple this year to save money and time. I'd really like to go all out on Mardi Gras, so I need to save money for this holiday in preparation for that one. I also need to start saving for a down payment on a new(er) car, so...I'll be combing the thrift stores for alterable items on the cheap. I think I may only be making one major piece and some accessories.

It was time to replace my falling apart summer shoes, so I picked up two pairs from Payless last night. I hate flats (I'm too short and stout to look good in them) but I got a pair anyway because they're so damn ubiquitous. I also got a pair of perfect character shoes. Not too high of a heel, nice plain black, thin strap. Very versatile and relatively comfortable since they make them in wide. I'm a 6 and 1/2 W, so often I end up in 7's which is not usually a perfect solution. Now I just need to supplement my work wardrobe with a few new shirts and pants for fall and I'm all set for a while on clothing. One of the great things about down here is that I can really wear most of my clothes for most of the year. Come Dec I won't be wearing capris much, but everything else is good to go.

Now I just need to find a good bike on the cheap. The bus is treating me well, but I can get to work faster on a bike, and on my own schedule. Still sad about the almost new Schwinn cruiser that slipped through my fingers. I keep combing the ads, though, and rely on the bus until then. It's only a 2.5 mile ride, so I don't fear not being able to make it and I'll get to kill two birds with one stone--commute + exercise every day.

Also, I cannot wait till James starts using his birthday present-gas grill. My mouth waters just thinking about it. It's a crime that we went this long without a grill down here. It's usable all year, too. And our walkway to the backyard is so narrow that the grill won't even fit through it, so no worries about it vanishing. To answer the obvious question, I bought the grill in the box, took it all out of the box to fit it into James' car, then carted the pieces to the backyard and assembled it myself. It took me a couple hours, but it saved on the delivery cost to have an assembled one trucked out to our house. Plus I love to feel like I can do things myself. And now I know I can put a grill together! Grand Moff Tisper does not fear complicated tasks.

Also...

2009-10-02T20:34:45Z

using the street view on google maps, I've discovered that my coffeehouse in college, Fourth Coast, is now a restaurant called The Crow's Nest. I am simultaneously sad and kind of happy about this.

Using the street view again, I found the house I lived in during study abroad, and the one I lived in with the two craziest people I had ever met during my senior year (in which I got to have the hobbit room--so named for it's shorter-than-me door and sharply pitched roof).

Also, I am worried that I can't see the old asylum tower in street view...did they tear it down? That would be sad...it was quite a landmark.

Have I mentioned how much I love maps? Google maps just keeps getting cooler.

Also, if you know our Nola address and you look it up in street view, you'll see the house as it looked before renovation, all yellow and weird. It's much better now. In fact, I think the photo was taken during renovation--there's a big dumpster right in front.

The ways I kill time on a Friday afternoon.

The next couple days are going to be hella busy with shopping and cleaning and whatnot. But that's okay.

Notes from the Land of Tisper

2009-10-02T17:47:56Z

Well, I'm a few dates in with a guy from Craigslist. Still a bit crazy, but it's been fun. Don't know if it will be something serious or longterm, but I'd rather just live in the moment for now. How many times in the past have I jumped in headfirst, full speed ahead? By this point, I think I've learned it's not generally the best way.

Seems like the Dragon Wagon might be permanently retired. When the mechanic (who stands to gain a lot of money from it) doesn't think it's worth repairing, that should be a warning sign. And maybe I could spend another $500 bucks and it will fix the problem...but how long before another one pops up? So...I might be cashing it in for parts, and buying a bicycle for the time being. It's a good season for the bike--past the extreme heat of summer and before it gets actually cold out. When it rains, I can always take the Magazine St. bus downtown (it's more reliable than the streetcar, if less fun.) And in the meantime, try to save as much as I can for a down payment on a new or newer car. I'm also going to go apply for a credit card to start building some positive credit history. My score is average, but not having any active credit accts certainly hurts. And in an economic climate where even people with exemplary scores are getting reamed on financing, I need to do whatever I can to get the best possible rates when it's time to buy a car. A brand new car may still be out of my range for now, but even a couple year old car will be better than I've ever had before. And please, please, please let it have AC. AC is so important to quality of life down here. On the plus side, I'll be greener and getting in better shape at the same time. On the minus, I'll be adding a bunch of time to my commute (which is annoying) and experiencing the lack of freedom to go where I want, when I want.

As we round up Season 5 of Lost with Rach (my second time through), I am just getting more and more excited for the final season. I yearn for January, but I dread it, too, since it means that Lost will soon be over for good. I also worry about the fate of my favorite characters (you can guess which ones those are). I spend a lot of time online looking at reference sites and blogs about Lost. I find it distinctly fascinating to experience Lost for the first time through another person's eyes, and see the way their interactions with the show develop and change over time. This has further led me to investigate the entire notion of transmedia storytelling, too. I know, I know...I'm a little late to the game. I think ultimately, I have a fan mentality. I'm picky about the things I obsess over, but I find it to be a fun and fulfilling experience whenever I do come across a new subject. Enthusiasm. It's been an elusive thing for me over the last few years, but I find a source of joy in Lost and our Savage Tide game.

Speaking of which, we haven't played since Labor Day! I hope the dry spell will end soon--next weekend maybe???

James' birthday will be celebrated on Sunday, and I think our plans are pretty awesome. I could be biased. Of course, I still have to go shopping for the present. Aieee! At least we know what we're getting.

Updatery

2009-09-24T14:29:55Z

Well, we're a couple weeks into our hiatus from game and I'm feeling the itch in a bad way. Can has teh gamings? We NEEDS it, precious. See our icon of pain and longing?

Anyway...

In other news, James and I started watching the first season of Fringe (which is online). So far I am enjoying it. It's very X-Files-y. I don't know how I feel about the blonde yet, but I like Joshua Jackson's character, and I LOFF John Noble's character. He totally rocks it out. Also, I find it odd to see M______ A______ running around in a Skinner-type role (only cooler, if that was possible). We've only really seen the two hour pilot and two more episodes, so it's early to make a judgment on whether I think it's going to stay strong long term. But since a bunch of you have been on my ass to watch it...enough with the cajoling already. I'm on it.

Despite being technically fall, it's still quite warm and humid. We've dropped down to the high 80's most days, but still damp which makes it seem hotter. It is exciting to be moving into some of the most beautiful weather we get down here...October seems to rule.

I've actually gone out on two dates with someone I met on craigslist, if you can believe that. There's some potential there, but we'll have to see as time goes on. At the very least, we both seem interested, and there's definitely some chemistry. I'm basically just trying not to have any expectations. If I have some fun, great. If I end up with a new friend, also great. If it develops into more than that, Greaty McGreatballs.

In other other news, I need to get off my ass and start working on my Halloween costume. I've got the idea, but nothing tangible yet. Since James will be out of town, and I have no other plans, this weekend seems like the time to get it moving. It will be nothing so elaborate as what I've done in the past. My sewing machine is still acting up and I can't afford a new one right now, so I'm going to keep it as simple as I can.

In which we catch someone's attention, and a chapter closes

2009-09-08T22:06:19Z

The funny thing is...I've had this icon ready for a while and was waiting for my chance to use it. Why is that funny? Read through the post and find out!

Once in town, the party split up to TCB. Adamant made a run to Sasserine to acquire some last minute magic items, and Jo asked to go with him. She wanted to drop off a letter to her father (and while she didn't say so, it was also because she missed her father and wanted to see him, and also because she didn't really want to be the one to give Father Catherly the rundown of recent events.) She quickly discovered that her father was no longer living at their home on Obsidian Street. Indeed, the house had been empty for around a month, judging by the dust on the floor when she broke in to investigate. The neighbors were all abuzz with the story of what happened. Seems Olaf Marten went over to this strange temple that no one knew much about and started banging on the front doors--and then everyone in the temple left and never came back.

Knowing this to be the Church of the Whirling Fury, Jo headed over to the temple to see if anyone was still there. Turns out that everyone did indeed leave. People who lived in the area reported that some guy came to the front doors of the temple and started banging on them, demanding that someone come out and talk to him or he would start telling everyone what the congregation was really up to. Then someone let him into the temple and a few days later, he and a bunch of other people headed down to the harbor and boarded a sailless ship which departed for the Isle of Dread. OMG!

Meanwhile, Bliz took Coriander to be healed by Catherly and gave him the rundown of events. Catherly was actually uncomfortable around Bliz...even a little afraid of her. He told her to tell Jo good luck and that he would pray for them. At the Vanderboren estate, Bliz noted that Lavinia and Jakara had spent some time talking together and that as they parted ways, they gave each other significant looks. Bliz surmised that they were doing more than talking. So that's how it is! In the morning, Jo and Adamant came back and Jo immediately went to confront Catherly about this news.

He told her that Lady Silvermane (the head of the Church) was coming to the Isle to meet with Jo. He said that when the party comes back from this mission, people were going to expect Jo to lead them. Jo is uncomfortable with this idea and doesn't understand. Catherly insists that she clearly has a destiny, Jo doesn't see that. He asks if she doesn't feel that she has some greater purpose, but no, she's just living her life. He thinks she'll understand eventually. Her mother would be proud of her. She leaves the letter for her father, but can't quite bring herself to give words to the idea that she might not come back.

And then...back to the temple! We teleport in just above the mudpit cavern and proceed to explore from there. After several dead ends with no encounters, they start down another corridor and realize they've just about made it. Jo and Jakara (who can detect demons) start feeling these pulses of demonic energy that ripple through them at regular intervals. Eventually the tunnel leads into a huge, very long room. At the far end is a source of green light that pulses in time with the demonic feeling. In front of the light is a large figure of unknown sort. As the party scatters, the figure steps to the side and turns around. Urol casts daylight and we can see that it's an awful creature with horrible tentacles for hands and two heads whose mouths run together into a single gaping gullet with a split tongue. Adamant makes his roll and warns us that this is an Aspect and it won't be alone. The source of green light is a huge black pearl, sparking and pulsing with demonic green light.

Sure enough, skulven start popping up out of the pools of water in the center of the hall and the aspect of Demogorgon starts casting Dispel Magic all over our asses. It didn't take him long to blow through most of our buffs, sadly. We managed to fight through a goodly number of these fuckers (all the while losing HP and using up magic and whatnot). Then, seeing we had almost finished with them, he summons a retriever. We make fairly short work on that one and then Adamant dim doors Jo right up to charging range of our friend, Khala. Jo charged, but...things get a wee bit more complicated. His eyes start glowing and sparking and suddenly I have to make 2 will saves. If you fail the first one, you're frightened and have to run away. If you make that but fail the second one, you're confused. Blarg! Thus begins a ridiculously complicated fight. To make matters worse, he is hella hard to hit, but has little problem hitting us. Plus, he has DR/good *and* cold iron. No one in the party has any sort of cold iron that is also good aligned, so he's soaking most of every hit. Party members keep trying to get in and get some hits in and then end up running away or confused or he moves or whatever. And of course, we're taking damage the whole time, so Urol is blowing through the healing spells at an alarming rate. Jo gets in a crit that takes off one of its tentacles--because it's not the second part of a trilogy unless someone loses a hand!

Adamant casts a spell that sort of severs Khala's connection to the Abyss, which reverses his DR. That helps a load, but I still have to keep my eyes closed to fight him without making Will saves (my Will save is a mere 9 at this point) which means a miss chance every time. And to top it all off, I rolled like SHIT most of the time. I seriously rolled three ones in a row at one point. Well, finally Jakara is about to get a good hit in on him and...just as the spear is about to strike home, Khala vanishes and a wastrilith appears in his place. Luckily, this is actually easier to fight. Unluckily, it means that bitch got away. As we work on the wastrilith, Adamant gets pissed off (he was confused for a few rounds and came back to his senses to realize that Khala was gone.) So he pulls out a scroll of midnight black paper, on which the words glow and shine through the back like stars in a night sky. He flies up and proceeds to start chanting. Just as we finish the demon off, he finishes the spell...in which he calls on all the layers of the Abyss, the tanaric lords, those who came before the demons, the Queen of Chaos, etc. to bring Khala back so that "the fruit may know the fate of the tree. This is my Wish."

Woooo! First Wish I've ever seen in game! And sure enough, reality itself bends and shifts and Khala appears, looking none too happy. Next round, Adamant casts dimensional anchor on him. Then the fighters close in to lay out some hurt--ish. The same issues are there. Jo finally gets a critical off that takes him down to 0 hp and pushes him back to just under Adamant. Khala grapples Adamant but then falls backward into the water. We run after him to attack, but Adamant has already slid out of this plane for a round and we finally, finally, FINALLY kill Khala.

As we all stand around, a double demonic scream sounds and the body starts disintegrating into foul black smoke. Within the smoke, two horrific faces appear--the faces of Demogorgon himself. His gaze falls on Jo and Bliz and we feel as though he sees right through to the core of us. Suddenly, Adamant strides over and pulls Jo back, placing himself between her and Demogorgon. He stares up at the demonic faces defiantly and then pulls Jo towards him and kisses her. As he does that, a ray of light suddenly pierces the swirling smoke, then another and another. The light grows until with a second double scream, the faces disappear and the smoke dissipates. The green light around the pearl sputters and goes out.

The crumbled statue of Quetzalcoatl repairs itself, as above the temple, we see a wave of green light spread out and over the little island and then the lake and plateau, spreading out over the Isle itself. As it goes, the Abyssal fogs burn away, taking the taint of the Abyss with them, freeing the Isle of Demogorgon's influence.

In the temple, Bliz is lifted off the ground, her head thrown back in a silent scream as her body seems to shatter outwards, as if it was only a shell. In its place, we see the spirit-Bliz that travelled with us through Golismorga, only now she is solid and real. The same swirling tattoos even draw themselves down her arms as we watch. As Adamant pulls back from Jo, he looks at her oddly. He reaches out to run a hand through her hair and pulls it out with a handful of flowers. The symbol on his forehead is more prominent and his skin is so black now that it almost seems like darkness itself. When he speaks, wisps of shadow drift from his mouth. Urol seems largely unchanged; he seems to be standing in flickering firelight that plays over him, although Bliz can see more--an orange flame at his heart that is the same she had seen in her visions. The only one who seems unaffected by any changes is Jakara. He stands staring intently at the statue of Quetzalcoatl, and then his eyes widen as he receives a message.

Back in the Farshore graveyard, there is a sinister development. The twin demonic scream sounds here as well, and suddenly the ground explodes upward in a roiling mass of black smoke. As the column rises, it seems almost to shape itself into a hand. Then the column shoots directly for Vanderboren manor, smashing into the house and grabbing Lavinia from where she sits. It pulls her out and up and vanishes into the sky, leaving the house half destroyed and taking Lavinia to some unknown but undoubtedly evil end.

Shablazam!!!!

End of City of Broken Idols, and the second arc of Savage Tide.

Aftermath: cleansed of the fogs that brought new demons to the island, the Isle of Dread will slowly become a less dangerous place. The remaining demons try to get off the island once Demogorgon's influence is removed. Jakara insists that we get back to Farshore as soon as possible, but we have to spend the night in the temple because Adamant used up all his Teleport level spell slots. We find a bloody holy symbol of Pelor, along with armor and gear which clearly belonged to Noltus before he was consumed and impersonated by the maurezhi demon. It remains to be seen how the Jo/Adamant dynamic will develop, but color me happy. :) And oh yeah, we've managed to get Demogorgon's attention. Yay.

Also, take note that Jo now has flowers all through her hair...all the time. Any sort of violent motion dislodges random flowers, so when she fights, flowers drop all over the battlefield. And I've had that icon for months now! For those who may not know, Xochiquetzal is a flower goddess, among other things--so it means we're getting epic-er.

Also also, now we will take our characters through a full conversion to the Pathfinder Core Rules.

September will be a little spotty, as the roommates have a full schedule, but that's okay since it means I have more time to work on my costume. Also, it's a good place for shorter games anyway.

A lovely weekend...

2009-09-08T16:20:50Z

Had a nice, long, relaxing weekend. Took care of errands on Saturday--shopping mostly. I have now broken not one, but *two* sets of earphones for my iPhone, so I had to buy another pair. Did some grocery shopping at Whole Foods.

I decided to get some swordfish. I've cooked fish maybe a total of three times before this, and I wanted to try something new. I did overcook it just slightly--moreso around the edges, but the middle was good. It's hard to judge something like that. But it was still tasty overall, and strange since it has such a meaty texture.

On Sunday, we headed off into the unknown (James knew, but we didn't), and ended up at Oak Alley Plantation. We walked the grounds, did the tour (oh how I wish I was allowed to just browse through at my own pace). The house was quite beautiful, but it made me wish I could walk around it in period costume. The 300 year old oaks were amazing of course, and the front alley that gives the home its name has been filmed any number of times (the most important to me being Interview with the Vampire.) It rained while we were there, which just made everything smell even better, and was awesome to watch while we hung out on the veranda with our mint juleps.

Then we went just across the road to the levee, and climbed down to the river to skip rocks and whatnot. I found some killer driftwood pieces that sparked some project ideas for me. Also, I discovered a plant that I have been looking for since I was 5. Seriously. I was in a greenhouse with my mom and the employee showed me this little plant with stems of itty bitty leaves. When you touch the leaves, they fold up together along the stem. It was a magic plant! Since then, I can't help touching plants that look similar just to see if they're the same kind. Well, I touched this one and turns out...I found it! I also took a picture with my phone to see if I can identify the plant online.

Then, since storm clouds were rolling in again, we headed off into the rainstorm. We picked up corn dogs and cherry limeade at Sonic, then drove back to the city. When we got home, we started talking about game which led to us watching the first episode of season 5 of Lost before bed.

Monday was game day. I got up early to do my magic item shopping before anyone else was up. Then I made breakfast which was turning out beautifully...until the last step. I made croque madames, which are basically hot ham and cheese sandwiches with an egg on top. But, as they were sitting under the broiler to melt and brown the cheese...they started on fire!!! Our oven has a weird top broiler instead of the ones in the drawer at the bottom. And I didn't know how close was too close. I do now. So, after the damage was done we pulled the charred tops off and the rest of the sandwiches were fine, so I put the egg on and we ate. Still good, but the top had a large portion of the cheese, so I was sad. I did manage a killer bechamel sauce with some dijon mustard in it. Mmmmm.

So then we gamed...that will be discussed in my next post. It was good, it was great, it was hella awesome. And we ended early enough to eat some dinner and watch two more episodes of Lost.

All in all...a good weekend. Getting up for work wasn't even as hard as I thought it might be. And now I have a four day week. Oh, and I think I managed to brainstorm a costume for Halloween that won't break the bank or be too time consuming (although you never know on that front). Wooooo!

Weekend

2009-08-31T16:18:31Z

I got so little accomplished this weekend that I should feel ashamed of myself...and yet I can't dredge up the shame. It was still a nice, relaxing weekend overall.

Since I only recently heard about it through the grapevine, James and I went to the Island of Salvation botanica run by Sallie Ann Glassman in the Bywater. We learned that A. she charges WAY less for 7 day candles than Authentica in the Quarter and B. the temple (which is located between Piety and Desire!) is open to anyone, so long as you wear white and bring an offering. This is supercool, as it means I may actually be able to work up the nerve to go. I've always wanted to, but it's intimidating when you're an outsider who doesn't know very much about Vodou other than the ultra basics.

Still, it was nice to hang out for a while, and we learned that railroad spikes are plentifully available down on the tracks in that area.

Next we headed over to Authentica and Trashy Diva, before hitting Central Grocery to satisfy my Unholy Craving for muffalettas. Dear lord, they are SO good. Watched some crazy Quarter types while we ate, then headed home. All by 3pm. (Also, telling dirty jokes for the parking faery works every time.)

And that was about ALL I did this weekend of any note. Got some breakfast at Slim Greasy's on Sunday. Drove through an insanely crazy rainstorm for Wendy's on Sunday night. Watched some ABDC--the Bollywood challenge was cool. Still not as enthralled with any of this set of teams the way I was with Fanny Pack, who fucking rocked it out.

Dreamed that these two teenage girls stole my iPhone and I chased them through the hallways of a hotel I was staying at, yelling "thief" and "stop them" which everyone ignored, and I was too slow to catch them. Anxiety about technology? Feeling like I don't belong in the modern world? Worried about getting old? I don't know. But I was definitely pissed off about it.

In which Bliz gets a mudbath...

2009-08-25T20:07:34Z

The rest of the party hurried after them, down some stairs and into a natural cavern. Through the steams and vapors, we saw that the floor was largely made up of bubbling, boiling mudpits, coated with a variety of unwholesome colors. Small and slippery walkways made of mineral deposits criss-crossed the cavern. After pulling Adamant up from the edge of one of these pits, we proceeded to investigate the room further.

As we moved along the wall, Adamant and Urol took flight and moved deeper into the shadows. Suddenly, two large nasty looking kopru burst up out of the pits and flanked Urol. With potions of fly looted from prior kopru, Jo and Jakara quickly joined the fight. Bliz had some trouble, dropping the Nimbus bow into the mud, and getting grappled...again. Adamant grabbed the holy greatsword off of Jo's back and waded into the fight himself, using the Transformation spell (pretty damn cool, really). Just as we thought the first two were taken care of, four more popped up out of the mud. One of them dominated Jakara, but Jo managed to get a Protection from Evil off and he made his second saving throw to resist the effects--after blithely throwing his spear and shield into the mud under their influence.

The fates smiled on us and my dice were feeling friendly after the good polishing I gave them before game--which led to a large number of nasty crits from most of the party. Still, we took a number of hits, getting bloodied in the process even though we dispatched them with fairly little muss or fuss.

Upon further examination, the back of the cavern held a throne upon which a skeleton sat, coated in mineral deposits from hundreds of years. Despite being Olman, the figure held a *metal* sword (the Olman are against metal weapons.) Bliz suddenly pops up with a story about how this guy was a priest of Quetzalcoatl who was unorthodox and he met with some Pelorian missionaries who sailed to the island before the fall of Thanaclan. He requested that his body be placed here, and here it has sat for a millenium. She is still unable to actually explain her knowledge. Jo, after hemming and hawing, reaches out and yanks the sword loose from the skeleton--along with a hand that falls to the floor. She chips the deposits off while Bliz notices a ring on the hand and gives it to Adamant to identify.

Ring of Telekinesis!!!!

Jo swings the sword around, noticing that it's much lighter than a bastard sword has any right to be. Adamant fools with it and swings it around his head several times, causing a large burst of light to appear and linger. And by "light," I mean "sunlight". As in, it's a Sun Blade. Uh oh...some bitches are in trouble now! Especially since it functions as a bastard sword, but can be used as if it was a short sword. And we gave it to Bliz.

The party moves to scout the two exits from the room before backtracking to see what they missed on the upper level. The walkway to one disintegrates, and Bliz sees another cavern down the other tunnel. Then someone points out that the kopru in the mudpool must have come from somewhere. So Bliz goes a-scouting (necklace of adaptation and resist fire make her the obvious choice). She finds a tunnel at the bottom of a mudpit that leads out to a submerged room and uses the portable hole to snag all of its treasure. Lots of rich loots.

We headed back up the stairs to check out two areas that we had inadvertantly skipped. Down one long hallway was a room covered in blue tiles and containing many statues as tall as the room was. Bliz discovered a line of holes at the bottom of the doorway, and some scuff marks along the walls, but couldn't find any triggers. She put some pitons in the holes (not enough for all of them) and stepped in and promptly triggered the trap. A large metal portcullis snapped down, only slightly askew from the pitons. Meanwhile, 4 of the statues grind to life...and wait. Because Bliz is currently invisible. Indeed, her own party members are huddled partway down the hall, waiting for her to give the all clear. They hear and see the gate come down, then silence. Then from the other side of the gate, we barely hear a little whispered "Adamant."

A little louder, "Adamant."

Adamant hears this and steps forward, says "You can get yourself back out of there, right?" to the blink dog. Coriander replies, "But sir!". Taking his bark for a yes, Adamant transposes the dog and Bliz. Then Coriander goes for the scroll case that Bliz dropped partway into the room and immediately gets hit by two of the golems. Yes, that's right. Golems. He dimdoors back out. Adamant realizes what is in the room and makes everyone run out of the hallway, closes the door leading to it and only then pauses to listen. He explains the gravity of four golems and then we discover that it's worse. Coriander's wounds will not heal. Unable to heal cursed wounds, Bliz tells him that they'll take care of him as soon as they can.

Moving to the other unexplored hallway, they reach a segment of hall still filled with nasty, brackish water. Bliz checks for traps, finds nothing and moves into the water toward the door at the end of the hallway. And immediately hits a great big patch of green slime. Running back out and scraping herself off, she still takes 3 points of Con damage and her armor is damaged. Blarg!!! After she recovers a bit from that, she blows a fireball at it...and takes out the patch that was on the ceiling as well. Turns out the room at the end of the hallway was some sort of office, holding a desk and lots of clay tablets covered with records of goods and whatnot. We sweep the room description into the portable hole, more or less.

At this point, Urol points out that it may be best to retreat our butts back out of here and lick our wounds, recover spells, etc. All in agreement, they gather round Adamant...and appear in a room covered in strawberry plants (Bliz's girly-ass bedroom). Back in Farshore, gearing up for the next run...which may be the final run.

Time to take stock, get some more healing items for god's sake, and have any last conversations we need. One player will be out of town next weekend, so the next game will be Labor Day weekend, wrapping up City of Broken Idols, and concluding the second part of the trilogy of arcs that make up Savage Tide. At that time we will also convert over to the fully revised Pathfinder rules. It's funny...we switched to Pathfinder beta at the gap between the 1st and 2nd story arcs...when we reached the Isle of Dread. Now, we'll be converting over again between 2nd and 3rd...when we'll most likely be leaving the island behind for bigger and badder things. Assuming we live. :)

In which we're swept off our feet...

2009-08-18T15:39:55Z

This update is fairly straightforward. When last we left our heroes, they had headed back into the temple, exploring the room where the last big battle took place before proceeding to the next level down.

They jumped into the old interrogation room through the hole in the floor and moved out from there. Almost immediately, they were set upon by a retriever (evil construct, not the dog) which we dispatched with relative ease. Explored further and came across a room full of urns filled with a variety of substances, from sand to blood to abyssal beetles (not to be confused with abyssal Beatles--which would be scary but awesome). Turns out it was a sort of pantry for the giant fiendish oysters in the cavern next door.

Let me repeat that: Giant. Fiendish. Oysters. We tried to pry one open to see if they had pearls inside already, but it *screamed*...which brought several oversized kopru to come attack us. Let me just say I LOVE my ring of freedom of movement. Sadly, Bliz doesn't have one, so she keeps getting grappled. Regardless, we managed to deal with those guys in turn. And yes, there were grapefruit-sized black pearls in each of the six massive oysters. And then we stabbed them in the squishy bits.

From this cavern a tunnel led down and down and down eventually becoming completely submerged and we decided to not go that way--stick to the temple for now. The other exit led to the room where the kopru had been hanging out. We found some shwag, but aren't sure yet what it is. There was also a tunnel leading underwater in the corner here...and Bliz heard a conversation in Aquan (but not what was said) when she followed it down. We decided not to go that way (not all of our party can breathe underwater anyway) and headed back.

As we were trying to decide between two passages, the one we were in suddenly got complicated. There were small tunnels to either side in the walls, and Bliz was looking into one when a yellow geyser of gross spewed out and grappled her (see?). Thankfully, Urol cast resist acid on all of us, thereby reducing the damage as it started slamming Bliz against the wall. Of course...every time we hit it, it split into another one. We were doing as much fire damage as we could, but this thing was a Bitch. Again, I had freedom of movement, but Bliz, Adamant, and Jakara were not so lucky. Eventually, Bliz got free enough to do what Adamant told her...namely, to use her wand of fireballs and drop one right on top of us. That finally did the trick. Lordy.

It should be noted that these tunnels are still full of 4 feet of nasty, brackish water. We follow this hall to the end and find a room with a door. From the other side, all I hear is some kind of bubbling noise. We bash through the waterlogged door and as it gives way, we realize there is no water on the other side. Then SPLOOSH--the door disintegrates and Jakara and Coriander fail to keep their feet and are swept down the hallway beyond...and down some stairs...and out of sight. Coriander blinks back up to us and almost falls into the source of the bubbling noise--a well at the bottom of which is boiling water. The rest of us try to make our way after them, then Adamant loses his footing and is carried along out of sight.

Blarg!!! I have a feeling this isn't going to be pretty based on the preview description we got of the room we're all going to end up in. The bad news is that Urol has blown through a lot of healing. The good news is that Adamant has been conserving spells--particularly the reserved one for teleport. So we can potentially get out if things go south too fast. I hate to do it, but it seems like we might have to even if the next fight ends well for us.

I, however, am annoyed that we didn't get to finish exploring one level before being swept off to the next. I am a VERY obsessive explorer in games. I have to go to every room and click on every clickable item before I am satisfied. I can't handle the notion that I might have missed something. Oh well. If we live, we could potentially come back and find out what we missed. Hopefully. :)

In which we jump right back into the fray...

2009-08-13T21:02:19Z

Jo wanders back eventually. Bliz is making tea (as usual) with Urol, Adamant is sitting in the same spot where he landed after the dim door, Jakara is way over by one of the pits. Jo tries her best to hide that she was crying.

She and Bliz dicuss the situation, Bliz seems to agree with Jo. Urol almost never puts in an opinion. When Skald left, he threw the Nimbus Bow down and Bliz picked it up. Despite being a long bow which gnomes can't use, it resized itself into a short bow, so she'll be carrying it from here on out. Jo told them what happened with Skald, and Urol tried to reassure her that she probably wasn't disloyal. Adamant, having wandered over, puts in that it all depends on how they come back. If we return right now, they won't look too kindly on it. If we come back victorious, they can't really say anything can they?

Jo talks to Jakara briefly before sleeping, recounts the Skald stuff to him as well. He actually manages to make her laugh. He also says that he thinks Urol was the one who came and healed him of Feeblemind--the one who looked like Tezcatlipoca. Food for thought when she's not dead tired. He also tries to reassure her that everything will be alright.

Jo has a nightmare (remember this is still Fogmire) where she is trapped at the bottom of a well. There are figures leaning over the top, talking to each other but she can't understand the language they are using, etc.

Overnight, Adamant finishes fixing her breastplate, and she wakes up as it hits the ground next to her head. One big issue needs to be settled before they leave...what to do with the prisoners? We can't spare the time to take them somewhere else. If we release them into the jungle, it's as good as a death sentence anyway. So, ironically enough, it is decided to leave them in the pits until after we return from the temple. Jo is not happy with this, but she doesn't see an alternative.

They teleport back to Mantru where they discover a large number of canoes. They figure if they can destroy the ones they don't use, that will slow down the Skinwalkers as they come back to the temple. While they're doing that, they notice another spot further along the lakeshore with just as many canoes. This does seem to indicate that we're wasting our time, and we would be better served just to get there and get in ASAP. So we row across, approaching from the back way this time, to find the landing that leads to the last room we were in. The inlet is protected by a series of poles with nets stretched between them. As we cut one side to get through, an alarm sounds. So much for stealth.

As we approach the landing, 6 skinwalker archers appear on the steps to start taking shots at us before we even land. We use the Nimbus Bow to Control Winds and create a hurricane level breeze towards the archers--which is great until someone Dispels it. Grrrr. Then a wastrilith pops up out of the water. Urol Flamestrikes it, then tells us to ignore it because it isn't real. Jo and Jakara are the first up to the stairs...then someone throws a wall of ice between us and the rest of the party. We start going to town, but Jo gets feebleminded (she's still pretty nasty, even without all her little extra fun bits.) I'll try to make a long story short and say that there was another acolyte throwing the feebleminds and dispels around, another wastrilith popped up when Adamant dispelled the first one, but we eventually wiped them all out. Like we do. Except for the second wastrilith, who disappeared as Jo was fighting it.

They then explored the area, and went back to the big room where the last big fight happened and explored that area as well. Found some nice treasure, as well as some nasty bits. Like skins on which horrible prayers to Demogorgon had been painted. That sort of thing.

Next step: heading down to the next level. We'll go in through the hole that we made when we fell through the floor during our last run, down to the old prison block/interrogation chamber. Fun, fun. This is just going to be extremely tense. I have no idea how much of the temple is still left to explore, but we've already blown through quite a few spells (esp. the Heals that fix mega HP AND feeblemind) just in that first fight.

In which there are revelations...

2009-08-12T18:19:35Z

I will do my best to convey the gist of these scenes, but without an actual transcript, some of the nuance, subtext, etc will be lost. I can only remember so many details, particularly when I am engrossed in RP and thus not taking notes (and most especially when the RP is of an emotionally charged nature).

Cut scene in which bad guy tells "master" that we've left. From off camera, two voices in unison command the minions to find us, and to send ALL the tribes.

When we left our heroes, they had just teleported out of the temple and back to the abandoned village of Mantru to heal their wounds and replenish spells. They brought the body of Rishitok back with them in order to give him a proper burial. Opening shot on Jo, sitting by the fire, holding a wooden holy symbol of Pelor.

*flash*

We see Jo's mother holding a holy symbol of Pelor. She is preparing to leave on a journey, and Jo's father appears in the doorway. They have a brief conversation in which Dad chides her, implying that she's leaving because of another cleric, she says it's not like that, he wants to know WHY her? Why does she have to be the one to do all these things? She doesn't know, she just has to do it. He wants to know what about him? What about Jo? Mom is resolute in her purpose, nods at him and leaves. He sees a letter on the table and picks it up and opens it. "Dear [Jo's Dad], I'm sorry. I have to go back to the island and...". Cut to just outside of Sasserine. Mom joins up with a party of adventurers, including a slightly younger Noltus Innersol, as they prepare to head off into the Amedio jungle. From the gates, a cloaked and hooded woman watches the scene. As she turns to go, she almost runs into a younger Jo (~13 years old) as Jo runs out of the gates towards her mother. The woman stops abruptly, and a lock of silver hair escapes from her hood. She pushes it back behind a pointed ear and pulls the hood forward before heading into the streets of Sasserine, where she eventually enters a door with a whirlwind on it.

*/flash*

The group sits around, healing up, not sure if Mantru is far enough away from the temple (it's across the lake, if you recall). Bliz makes Jo some hot chocolate for her birthday. On first watch, Jo goes about digging a grave, while Adamant attempts to repair her damaged mithril breastplate. That last fight was a damn close call, so Jo's in a funny mood. Suddenly, she hears a sound from the lake...canoes being quietly rowed towards shore. Waking everyone up, they realize that there are more than she thought and there's probably no way to fight them in the condition the party is in. Jo asks Adamant if he can get them away, but he can't get all of them. Urol tells him to take them "there". Adamant gets *scared* suddenly, but Urol reiterates the command as he walks off into the trees (crazy druid gnome has other ways of getting around the island). With extreme reluctance, Adamant teleports the group.

As they teleport, Jo sees a flash--a la touching the One Ring and seeing the Eye of Sauron--of the symbol on Adamant's forehead. Then she opens her eyes and for a moment can't place where she is. Then it dawns on her that she is at Fogmire--but it's much different than it was when they defeated Olangru. The cave entrance has been completely blocked off by stone. In the clearing, there are now 5 pits or wells, most of which are covered with wooden bars. Adamant warily backs away from the party and looks to be in a state of extreme trepidation. Connecting the pits is a path that seems almost like a Zen garden, smooth, with no prints, but bordered by strange and unsettling symbols. Jo asks what is going on.

She walks over to the closest pit and sees what looks like a calcified troglodyte at the bottom (30 feet deep). In the next one, she sees two Crimson Fleet pirates who are barely alive. Another one is covered with a taut skin, almost like a drum (apparently home to the Yuan-ti sorceror that we fought during the Battle of Farshore). There's another empty one, and one where the bars have been shattered. Jo repeats her question, getting more and more upset by this point. She moves back over to Adamant and demands to know what is going on.

Suddenly, a skinwalker appears and they fight it off. Adamant tries to stop them by shifting the skinwalker off plane, but it doesn't work. Jakara runs over to Adamant and bashes him backwards into a pit. As he falls, he breaks his arm. Again. Once the skinwalker is dead, they all gather around the pit, and Jo asks if they should listen to Ad's advice about tieflings (kill on sight)--he looks genuinely hurt. Jo commands Jakara and Skald (who are both ready to kill Adamant) to put down their weapons. She climbs down into the pit to talk about WTFOMGBBQ, etc. and heals most of his injuries. Bliz hangs around for the first part of the conversation, but when Jakara comes over halfway through to check on things, she urges him away and leaves with him.

What follows is a long and convoluted conversation but the pertinent facts are as follows: He doesn't know why he's been doing this, Jo believes he is telling the truth. For the first time, his bravado is down, and he seems resigned and straightforward. He got the notion after we repaired the Sea Wyvern (this is when Ad and Urol headed off into the jungle and made these pits). He hadn't done anything with the prisoners, was just keeping them. He thinks that it's only a matter of time before Jo wants to kill him, given how she reacts to everything Abyssal. She is wildly pissed off that he's been lying about all of this over and over again. She is wildly disturbed that he's been keeping people in cages (she doesn't deal well with that). She says that if they were the types of people to follow his advice about tieflings, they would have stabbed him to death in the cage where they found him in the Lotus Dragon lair in Sasserine. In response to his assertion that she will kill him eventually as he become more and more Abyssal, she insists that he has a choice about who he wants to be. He asks her if she chose to be what she is. She doesn't know how to answer that. He says that the longer he's with her, the stronger he gets.

When Bliz asked if he was "compelled" to keep these prisoners, this terrible rage overcame him for a moment, but he made no reply.

He asks what now, and she says she will give him the choice to stay or go. He points out that it's her decision and she throws it back at him, saying that she's leaving it up to him. He thought that as long as the other party members were more strange than him, that he had a chance. And when he points out that both Bliz and Urol have some unexplained shit going on, too--she realizes he's right. He thinks if he stays, there will be tension, so maybe he should just leave. She asks him if that's what he wants to do--he doesn't answer but she senses that he doesn't want to go. She tells him that she doesn't think he should go. When he asks why, she blurts out that she doesn't want him to. He examines her closely to get a sense of her emotional state (which for the record has been close to tears in this conversation).

She asks him if he's going to keep doing this, he says he won't be able to now that they all know about it. She asks if he's going to stop lying to her, he asks if she's ever lied to him (she hasn't that she can recall). He says he was only lying to protect her, that sometimes it's worse to *know*. She's a little taken aback by this statement, and while it's not really the right way to do things, she's also a little touched.

She is seeing past all the bullshit and the masks that he wears, back to the *person* sitting in the dark inside. Suddenly, something shifts in her--she just narrowly avoided death, could die again at any moment, she's wanted to do this for a long time, she's been feeling this inexplicable draw to Adamant, she's grateful even to see him with his guard down, happy that he seems to care, afraid that he'll leave, etc. So she crosses the small space between them, reaches up and pulls his head down to hers and kisses him. Yeah. That's right. She kisses him.

He is surprised for a few seconds, then seems to make up his mind to kiss her back, but then just as it seems he's going to reciprocate--poof. He dim doors them both up out of the pit, but they land separated from each other. At this point, Jo is totally confused, physically and emotionally exhausted, and would like nothing more than to crawl into her bedroll and sleep for days. She doesn't know why he did that and can't figure out if he was going to reciprocate or not. But...no rest for the wicked. He warned her that if her childhood friend tried to attack him again, he *would* hit back.

Jo talks to Jakara next...tells him that Ad doesn't know why he's doing it, she believes him, please don't *do* anything. If he feels something isn't right, then tell her, but don't act on it. He wants to know what Catherly would think (that she's being a fool, obviously). Says he's here because Catherly asked him to do it, he won't set aside his suspicions but he'll abide by my request.

Jo says basically the same thing to Skald, who doesn't take it well at all. He can't imagine how we could just accept this--even the fog is back in Fogmire, (having disappeared when we first defeated Olangru) which is a clear sign that something is wrong. He gets angry that Jo would be that stupid, accuses her of being compelled to believe Adamant is honest, says he's going back to Tanaroa and telling them about everything, compares Ad to the Fleet. Jo, having reached the end of her rope, isn't being very diplomatic, and gets angry. She concedes, not being able to force him to do anything, but asks him not to tell anyone just yet. He says he'll have to tell the elders, then when she hesitates about that, questions her loyalty to her village and says that he is more Olman than she is now. With a tight grip on her anger, she tells him to drop the subject. He says he wonders if someone I love will die before I realize my mistake. He heads out into the jungle, and she walks off to cry in private. (This is the first time she has cried "on camera", and only the third time according to all accounts.)

End of session #1.

(to be continued in the next entry)

And for the record...jeebus, I've only been building to that kiss for 6 months now. Not that we got very much in that scene, but at least it's something.

Clothings and game bits

2009-08-10T19:51:38Z

One thing I've realized: Jeebus I need more office-y clothes. I've been getting by on the same old crap that I wore to the Dial (where standards were rather lax)--and which largely consisted of only a couple pairs of pants at any given time, a bunch of men's shirts that were hand-me-downs from ex boyfriends and few random bits that I found on clearance or at TJ Maxx or both. This is no longer going to work, given that I will be interacting with clients more often (instead of hiding in my cubicle).

And while we're on the subject, can anyone tell me why a skirt is acceptable and even encouraged, while dress shorts in the same material and the same length are not okay? I mean seriously, what century is this, anyway?

Of course, these days I really dislike clothes shopping because of the amount of time it eats up and the precious little I have to show for it at the end of the day. My shoulders are too broad, so most button down shirts have a terrible gap at the bust. I discovered this because I have a shirt with puffy sleeves that magically doesn't have that problem--shoulder ease is my friend. And a lot of the doesn't-button-dressy-shirts these days are just butt ugly--especially if you have a normal size bust and normal sized waist. Shapeless bags is what I like to call them. Wish me luck.

As for game...there will be much posting as soon as I wrap my head around the insanity of our doubleheader and have a good chunk of time to write it. Let it be known that a good time was had by all. Woooo!

laurelwen @ 2009-08-07T09:03:00

2009-08-07T14:14:44Z

So...I am starting as a paralegal today. What does this mean?

I will be moving to another department within the firm (Admiralty) to work with one other paralegal on the biggest case in the whole firm (it's Katrina related). I will be working with two attorneys who are quite frankly hard-nosed, old-school, Type-A, get it done yesterday types--and they will expect me to know what I'm doing right off the bat.

I will have my own little office (no window) with an actual door. Step up from the cubicles, certainly.

I will get a raise--how much specifically I'll see on my next check.

My leisure time at work is over. The amount of work that needs to be done on this case is enough for 3 paralegals so I'll be keeping busy.

So basically, I'm stepping up into an extremely challenging, high-stakes position with no real training in the paralegal field. However, while you can go through training programs for the paralegal profession, there is no certification requirement for the job. Getting a certificate from an ABA-approved program will help your employment chances, but plenty of paralegals just learn through experience. Luckily for me, I've been here at this firm for well over a year, so there's no learning curve on firm procedures, software, equipment, etc. The main thing will be to learn what duties my predecessor fulfilled and what projects she was working on. I've got a week to breathe (relatively) easy while one of the atty's is out of town.

There is very little in this world that I can't learn how to do...so I'm not worried that I won't be able to do it. It's just a big adjustment in environment and habits on my part. It even helps that I was an English major.

Because I've always wanted to try this...

2009-07-29T21:09:32Z

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)"

Pick your Artist: Ani DiFranco

Are you a male or female:
Joyful Girl

Describe yourself:
Shameless

How do you feel:
Sick of Me

Describe where you currently live:
Glass House

If you could go anywhere, you would go:
Out of Range

Your best friend is:
Not a Pretty Girl

You and your best friends are:
In the Margins

What's the weather like:
Here for Now

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
Freakshow

What is life to you:
Swandive

Your last relationship:
Studying Stones

Your fear:
What If No One's Watching?

What is the best advice you have to give:
Face Up and Sing

Thought for the Day:
Falling Is Like This

How you would like to die:
Revelling

Your soul's present condition:
Light of Some Kind

Your motto:
Imagine That

In which there is a hot mess...and my dice betray me...

2009-07-28T19:13:31Z

After the encounter with the gods, there was some discussion regarding who should carry the newly acquired Nimbus Bow. It was decided that Skald should use it as a loaner, since he's a ranged specialist and thus would get the most use out of it. Urol apparently had some reservations about this, but since he didn't say anything and only Bliz noticed...too bad! In looking around the beautiful room, Jo noted that without the dangers, you wouldn't have the wonders. Spoken like a true adventurer.

We moved on, following a hallway frequently traversed by skinwalkers (according to the tracks). After noticing from the tracks that someone had tried to steal treasure from one of the 10! mummified Olman and then had promptly been attacked and then dragged off by someone else, we chose NOT to steal any of the at least 10,000gp treasure in that room. Yes, we have the power to turn our backs on mad treasure. We made up for it in another room by stealing some items off a small altar to a god that clearly wasn't Olman...and thus shouldn't have been there anyway.

All was going well when we hit a patch of hallway where the skinwalker tracks suddenly changed pattern in some fashion. Not being able to figure out what they were doing, we searched for traps to no avail. It was only when Jakara ventured out behind Jo and Bliz that the floor suddenly collapsed beneath us, dropping all three of us into a room beneath. This room turned out to be a interrogation chamber, now flooded with 4 feet of water. There was a block of 6 cells beyond and a hallway past that, but we decided not to pursue this course for the time being. We climbed back up and got everyone to the far side of the gap. Proceeding up some stairs, we realized there was fire ahead. Oh boy. Having made a huge racket, anything up ahead would know we were coming.

As Bliz snuck down the hall, two skinwalkers popped out on either side of the far door. They couldn't see her invisble gnome glory, so they popped back out of sight and had a brief conversation. And then...the battle was on. The 10 ft wide corridor we were in emptied into a huge room, with a giant firepit in the center and lit by a large skylight directly above the pit. Two sets of stairs on the far side of the room led to balconies to the left and right with doors leading off them. There were 4 skinwalkers already on our level who moved to engage. There were 4 skinwalker archers on each balcony with almost full view of the doorway we were coming through. It should be noted that these guys don't go down in one round, so while we were hitting fairly easily, it was by no means short work. And meanwhile, the archers were totally free to send barrages of arrows our way.

Then, as we slowly worked our way into the room, Jakara suddenly howled and started attacking mindlessly. Urol was able to heal the Feebleminded spell, but it was only a few rounds later that we discovered that the doorway we came through was in the form of a giant mouth...belonging to a carved stone face...and there was someone hiding behind it, just visible in one of the eyes. Clever skinwalkers. As we started to tear up the sw's within reach, a couple archers jumped down to join the battle up close and personal. Then they made a bunch of noise as part of some kind of signal and two more figures came out of one of the balcony doors...another spellcaster and a female all decked out with feathered, ceremonial gear. Uh oh. Bliz got feebleminded too before we got a Silence into effect on the one in the eye. This really crippled her in combat as she could no longer go invisible, spring attack or sneak attack--thereby removing a potential for 40-50 damage each round. Blarg!

Meanwhile, things were looking really ugly, and Urol was having a hard time just keeping everyone alive. Adamant feebleminded the two spellcasters (don't you love using their own tactics against them?), but those guys are hella hard to hit even without spellcasting abilities. Jo got tied up with one in the hallway. Then the chica decided to jump down and wade into the fight. She pulls out a giant flaming weapon, and readied her shield. Arrows are still raining down on us, and no one can get free to go after her, so she waits for the right moment. As she charges at Jakara, Rishitok steps in front of him to block her attack...and she promptly kills the SHIT out of him. Like whoa. We knew it would be bad; turns out, it's VERY bad.

Now without even Rishitok's healing, and with everyone else engaged, Jakara is looking at taking the full brunt of her might next round. Urol's been trying to work his way over to Bliz to Heal the Feeblemind, but hasn't made it yet. He sees what's going to happen and turns the floor under the Chief and several of the sw's to mud, it momentarily stops her and she gets super pissed and orders all the other sw's to kill Urol. Jo finishes off the spellcaster and moves up to stand next to Jakara. The Chief points at Jo and says she'll send that one to the Prince, but Jakara will become a member of the tribe. Unable to charge, she can only make one attack, but it still hurts. Jo and Jakara lay in as much damage as they can with a Heart Shot crit from his spear and an Abdominal Rupture from her cutlass, but the bitch is still up with 40 hp next round. (Did I mention she has favored enemy: humans?) Knowing that she's done for, she does everything in her power to take Jo with her.

And rolls for about eleventy billion attacks, one of which is from a flaming burst weapon, and two of which are confirmed crits. Turns out she's named, so James draws from the crit deck for both. I have a really, really tense eternity of waiting for him to roll up, calculate, subtract my DR 5, etc. I'm ready to hear the worst at this point. Her first crit tears a gash in my mithril breastplate and the second one shatters my jaw, all total does 100 HP of damage. Taking me down to 4. Yes, four. If I hadn't had the DR (which soaked 30 HP)--Jo would have been D-E-D, dead. Everyone else is completely occupied and out of reach for any aid whatsoever. Jakara lights into her but by my turn, she's still standing with 14 HP left. Only 14...but with the SHITE rolls I've been getting off my dice, I could conceivably wiff all 7 shots and then the next round be D-E-D dead. Decision time. Jo activates her new Boar tattoo (giving her Diehard for 10 rounds) just in case, and goes for it. And...

The dice give me enough love to drop her below zero. Jakara goes for the coup de grace, and Jo pours a potion over her ruined jaw, drinking being nigh impossible. Meanwhile, Adamant's taking out the last archer standing, Bliz is finally laying out sneak attacks, etc. The last sw tries to run out a hall on the other side of the room, but Skald takes him out with 8 arrows in two rounds. As he's running he's calling out for "Master". Broken and bloody, we loot the bodies and teleport the fuck out of there, back to the other side of the lake.

Jibbety. It was a narrow miss. Points of note: Bliz took Leadership when she levelled, so now Coriander is a super badass awesome blink dog with class levels...who still can't take much damage, but hey. I'm really happy we didn't have to run before finishing the fight and only lost one NPC. It was definitely set up as a tactical challenge. There were so many and they were so spread out that even without the feebleminds we would have had a hard time with it. But, all's well that ends well...not that it's even close to ending.

All told, the battle lasted 13 rounds, and took us hours to run (maybe as many as 4 or 5--I didn't see when we started). A hot mess, indeed. Next up, we lick our wounds and head back in for more abuse. Adventurers have to be some seriously fucked up people.

In which there is adventure, and a hat...but no whips

2009-07-21T17:31:57Z

When we left our heroes, there was about to be a big stink regarding murdering enemies who surrender.

But first... A small boy, cloaked and hooded, runs frantically through a crowded city street, away from several angry, armored pursuers. The street is filled with strange beings, even a large blue frog-looking creature (can you say "slaad"?). As he rounds a corner into an alleyway, he discovers his route is cut off by a more of his pursuers. One of them has a long polearm ending in a pincer, which he uses to grab the little boy. The boy, struggling and squirming, pauses and concentrates for a moment and tongues of flame erupt from his hands towards his captor, only to die out before reaching up the pole. The men laugh and tell him that he's going back to their master and back into his cage...or maybe the box again, for all the trouble he's caused. Suddenly, from behind the boy's shoulder, a woman speaks.

She addresses the men as part of something called the Harmonium, and that if they just give the boy to her, these sorts of incidents will no longer happen, saving their master all the trouble. They refuse at first, but then, as she reiterates her point...something changes and the leader's eyes glaze over. He consents and releases the boy. The woman, whom we have not seen, reaches out a hand to the little boy, who takes it in his own. She tells him that one day, he's going to get into trouble and won't get bailed out, calling him "little brother" as she does. He looks up with contrition, his little horns visible, and as they walk away you see the woman's long blonde hair and large, leathery bat wings. The camera pans up and out and we see a huge city, from the middle of which a large stone spire rises.

*********

Jo did indeed become super angrified, but held it together long enough to send everyone but the core party off to scout around the perimeter. Then, making sure the wounds were being taken care of, she proceeded to let them have it. Of course, it quickly turned into a scenario involving Jo being angry, Bliz offering her reasons, and Adamant going into a tirade about the untrustworthiness of all tieflings and how there was nowhere to put him, it's ok to murder our way across the island but not kill this guy? etc, etc. Whereupon, Jo asked what we should do with *him*, tiefling that he is. Which then devolved once again into sexual tension, as noted by Bliz. Urol jumped in when Jo was clearly again at a loss for words, and Adamant ended the scene by getting pissed and walking away. Urol knows more than he's letting on, and Bliz can tell that he does. So Jo remains the most clueless. Yes, there was more to it. No, I'm not going to try to recreate the conversation.

We found the ledger/journal of the tiefling--he was sent to the isle as an alternative to execution for fucking up with the Fleet. He hated it here. A lot. As of the year he has spent on island, 44 pearls have been shipped off to the fleet. 9 had not yet been picked up. Of those, we found 8 in Golismorga. That means there's one more out there still on the island somewhere. Also, in that year 160 sacrifices had been made, of which 23 were special in some way (though how is not mentioned). Lovely.

Well, we camped out for the evening and got up bright and early for our big day of dungeon crawling. This place is so huge that I'll try to sum up whenever possible.

Of course, we got hit by a poisoned spear trap in the entrance hall. Ow. We found a great big flesh ooze thing, but before we had to actually fight it, Urol walled it in. Sometimes it really pays to have a druid on your side. After poking around a room that was used for some sort of murdering, we found a secret door (the blood trail made it obvious). When we saw that it led to stairs going down, and realized that someone had just chopped the bodies up and thrown them down the stairs rather than going down themselves...we backed away and shut the door, hoping to avoid that fight as well.

Then a long, long hallway, with no doors. Bliz was scouting invisibly and finally saw a room up ahead--right before she saw something come rolling down the corridor towards us. Yes, that's right. It was a huge stone ball, taking up most of the hallway, and accompanied by the appropriate Indiana Jones music. Bliz had the option of trying to squeeze by, but Adamant transposed himself to right in front of it and her back to his location, and then dim doored through the ball. It wasn't enough, though, and as everyone else ran for it, she saw the ball overtaking her, and pressed up against the wall at the last minute. Just before the ball got there, she leaned out and picked up her hat...and successfully avoided getting squished. Meanwhile, Urol was Not At All Happy with not knowing if Bliz was OK or smushed flat, so he went all earth elemental and sheared right through the ball. They embraced, there was squishiness, we moved on.

A wee bit later, we were crossing a room whose floor was covered in small copper disks that appeared to be an Olman divinatory tool, when bam! Cue a hezrou, right behind me and Bliz. Then bam! Cue second hezrou in front of the rest of the party still in the hallway. Scramble, scramble, hezrous doing bad shit like they do (chaos hammer, unholy blight, you know the deal), when bam! Cue Adamant dismissing the hez in front of them. Oh but wait...there's another one coming up the stairs. Bam! Adamant dismisses that one too. Jo steps up, says sucks to your Blasphemy, and we promptly dispatch the third. 3 hez, 4 rounds. Not too shabby. Jo says, neat trick, Adamant!

The room beyond is a doozy. The crystal pillars catch the light, and we see three statues surrounding a series of three concentric circles. On the walls are murals of the bow-wielder from the ancient Olman party that defeated the aboleths. He clearly came back to the city, was touted as a big hero, and was crowned emperor. Hmmmm. The rings in the center of the room turn out to be a puzzle, which we solve with the help of the stone disk--turns out to be a sort of combination lock--and we didn't need any rolls, just our noggins. Bam! Cue the gods...no really, I'm not talking about couatl *aspects* of gods...the REAL FUCKING THING. It's our friends Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Tonatiuh. Of course, the only one who doesn't drop to a knee or the floor in respect is Adamant.

The basic gist is this: they've been kicking around for a while hoping for someone to defeat the evil in their home. Their people have dwindled and things were looking pretty bad. Now we're here, and they're hoping we're gonna get the job done, for vengeance and a renewal of hope. So...here's a little something to help us out. Bam! The bow we've been wondering about appears and does that fancy magic-weapon-floating-in-midair thing. They leave, but the bow stays.

Jo grabs the bow and immediately learns its powers. Hello, Nimbus Bow, able to do several cool things. It's a minor artifact, even. Sweet!

Next on Savage Tide: who gets the bow? What other ridiculous traps will they blunder into? How many demons does it take to make demonpaste?

Also: finally! An Adamant flashback! Color me excited. Hopefully this means more such scenes are forthcoming. Loved the scenario going on there as well, but I won't say more since I don't want to spoil things for my gaming partner.

Mashup mania

2009-07-21T15:59:43Z

So, I highly recommend checking out DJ Earworm (at http://djearworm.com/) to hear some really good mashups. I followed a link to his latest, an Annie Lennox themed mashup, complete with some of her insane videos.

I highly recommend Heartless (In a Bottle), a little further down the page. If I can get permission from the computer's owner, I might want to download that song just because it's a damn fine song overall. Srsly, check it out. It's rare that I hear a mashup that I honestly like as a song in and of itself. This is one.

Small victories

2009-07-17T16:56:18Z

On a rather positive note...I have managed to maintain my stairclimbing activities, even with no specific goal like a wedding to go to. I still do this usually thrice a week, but I try not to beat myself up if I only do it twice. I'm also following the Hundred Push Ups app on my phone, and I am at over 80 at this point. They *are* girl push ups, but with my miserable upper body strength, I take what victories I can get. The emergency stairwells are almost unbearably hot at this point in the year, so I'm proud that I have managed to keep on truckin'.

I haven't gone down a size, which is what I was hoping for, but there has definitely been some noticeable change, especially in my legs and butt. Overall, the goal *should* be improved health and I think I am managing that. I might have gotten down to a halfway point between my current size and one smaller, so there may be further developments in that arena. Of course, the trick now is to somehow manage to burn some of this belly fat--so difficult to do.

Overall, I feel better about myself, which is good. And I have definitely got some killer legs at this point, which is also good. And with the pushups, I'm working towards getting arms like Kate from Lost (not ripped, just toned, defined.)

And on that note, it's time to climb.

Loved by the Sun

2009-07-17T16:44:00Z

Killing Emit Flesti...

1. What do your friends say about you? Fast As You Can, Fiona Apple

2. How would your coworkers describe you? Cursed by Beauty, 300 sdtk (uhhhh)

3. How would you describe yourself? Landslide, Fleetwood Mac

4. What do you like in a romantic partner? Release part 1, 2, 3, Blackalicious

5. How do you feel today? Bring Me to Life, Evanescence

6. What is your life’s purpose? Marianne, Tori Amos

7. What is your motto? Untouchable Face, Ani DiFranco

8. What do you think about the most? Dance Me to the End of Love, Kate Gibson

9. What are you going to do on your next vacation? When Shall I Be Free, Shpongle

10. What do you think of your first love/date? Lose Yourself, Eminem

11. What is your life story? When the World Ends (Dave Matthews, Oakenfold remix from Matrix Reloaded)

12. What did you do yesterday? Hurt, Johnny Cash

13. What do you think of when you see the person you like/love? Track 03, Unknown

14. What describes your wedding? Mary Jane's Last Dance, Tom Petty. Weird

15. What will they play at your funeral? Transformation & Immortality, Govinda

16. What is your obsession? Adam & Eve, Ani DiFranco

17. What is your biggest fear? Let Go, Frou Frou

18. What is your biggest secret? Come With Me Tonight, Bob Schneider

19. What is your biggest turn-on? Nothing Else Matters, Apocalyptica

20. How do you describe your friends? Amazed, Poe

21. What would you do with a million dollars? Tainted Love, Marilyn Manson

22. What is your opinion of sex? Blister in the Sun, Violent Femmes

23. What is your biggest regret? Skin of a Drum, Saul Williams

24. What would you rather be doing right now? Come What May, Moulin Rouge sdtk

25. What will you post this list as? Loved by the Sun, Legend sdtk

In which Jo has a very special day...

2009-07-14T17:48:42Z

Another solid 8 hour session later, and we've made it to the very heart of Thanaclan.

And because I realize these things get awfully long (especially now that we're running longer sessions), I'll actually deign to put it behind a cut this time.

You'll recall that our heroes had just fought off a band of evil skinwalkers and their ghoulish demonic leader (now short a head). Jo decides that holding onto the spear of Tezcatlipoca might be silly since she's not likely to use it. She offers it to Jakara, who takes it with some awe--it is the weapon of a Big Damn Hero of Legend, after all. After camping, we set off to follow Noltus' footsteps toward the village of Mantru, hoping to find some clue to his fate, or any clues at all. Upon reaching it, we found no signs of recent habitation, though all tracks had been cleared away. It was as if they all just vanished. After searching thoroughly (and for the record we have Jo, Skald *and* Jakara with ranger levels), we noticed a ring of totempoles off to the side. We immediately set out to explore this significant monument when a mental command/urge to stop came over us. This presence asked us who we were. Bliz got lippy, and it started to get a bit crabby at our impertinence--and revealed itself to be a couatl before swooping down to give Bliz a piece of his mind (although something about Bliz made him stop and reconsider). And then another couatl appeared next to us as well--this one recognizable as Tonatiuh, who we met at the Temple of the Jaguar before the Battle of Farshore. Great...two godlike beings at once. Jo dropped to her knees. They basically wanted to know if we had come to send Umlat off properly. (Who's Umlat? And what happened to him?) We're like, sure, anything you want. So we move towards the ring again, but this time, *another* coatl shows up in front of us, and then *another* one behind (surrounding our group).

At this point, Jo and Jakara are having a giant Holy Fuck moment, as 4 gods appear simultaneously (technically, they're not actual gods, but they might as well be for the Olman). They tell us we have to demonstrate wisdom in order to go deal with this Umlat guy and give us a riddle. Of course, they also indicate that they're going to make it easy on us, and indeed, it was easy. I got it right away and we proceeded to the circle, where the body of an Olman man was laid out on a bed of flowers, fully prepared for funereal rites. The couatl addressed each of us by a name which wasn't our name but rather a word, or epithet, and while they spoke to each of us at the same time, we were able to hear the words used for our companions. I love gods.

So here's the breakdown: Bliz = Spirit. Jo = Huntress. Urol = Shifter. Adamant = Jailer. Jakara = Hero. Skald = Revenant. Rishitak (the lizardfolk cleric of Pelor) = Disciple. Natch, this raises quite a few questions. Certainly we have seen some of these aspects in play already, but when Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, Tonatiuh and Tezcatlipoca all call you by a particular name, it's best to sit up and pay attention. Definitely food for thought.

So, while Urol starts performing the funeral rites for this guy, we learn something of what happened here in Mantru. Seems they had been living here on the shores of the lake supposedly without attracting notice. In truth, they were being subtly controlled by the kopru for a long time. Occasionally, a few of the young warriors would disobey the elders and cross the lake to find out what was there. Umlat suspects that in fact, this was the result of mind-control, as the kopru harvested their best warriors...I'm guessing to turn them into skinwalkers. Well, the cycle didn't repeat itself this time. Instead, the skinwalkers attacked the village, along with a wastrilith out in the lake (who smoked the chief). Umlat recognized some of the attackers as warriors who had left previously. Umlat himself was done in by the very same demon that Jo decapited last night. The question Jo asked and that none of the couatl could answer is...why would they destroy the village now? Also of major note: Umlat, who is called the son of Quetzalcoatl, is recognized by Bliz as one of the infamous party from the quest to take out the aboleth. There was Tez. and Xochi, who stayed behind, and the other two who returned to the surface...one named Umlat and the other who carried the bow recently discussed as being important. Feel like an episode of Lost yet? If not, I don't know where you've been for the last 3 modules.

The rites completed...Umlat's spirit left. The couatl all beam thoughts of gratitude and love at us (although Jo notices that either Adamant wasn't getting the good vibes or he was able to ignore it, given that we were all in states of bliss and he was looking annoyed.) We ask if there's anything else we can do, but they respond that what we are doing is all that they could ask of us. And let's just reiterate here that we're talking to the aspect of FOUR GODS, who have been ousted from their natural place by the evil that we puny mortals are now going to try to defeat. Let that one sink in a bit.

We spend the night in the village after the couatl take their leave. Before dawn, we take a couple of the outrigger canoes left at the village and set off across the lake to the island which once housed the heart of Thanaclan. We were fully expecting to run into a wastrilith, but instead the boats are destroyed by a gargantuan crocodile, who immediately bites down on Jakara. Luckily, we are a party that is kind of tweaked to overcome the water handicap. After a horrendous critical hit on Jo doing 120 damage, we fight him off successfully and swim for shore. Circling around the island we find a beach from which two paths lead. We can see four large ziggurats above the trees, so we take the path that leads toward the closest one. After climbing it to get a good view, Bliz reports that there is a large temple on the far western side of the island and that's where we want to go. Because she just *knows*. We head off in that direction, passing a few Demogorgon statues along the way. Jo, on point, gets ambushed by a gaggle of skinwalkers, but the party isn't too far behind, so she isn't alone for long. Adamant actually interposes himself between two baddies and the blink dog which has put itself into direct line of charge from either one. They charge Adamant instead, of course, and he gets the shit beat out of him as usual. One tries to run away, but Jo and Jakara make quick work of it. After piling the bodies off the path, we proceed.

The island not being very large, it's still early afternoon when we make it to a ziggurat next to the wall/rockface of the temple Bliz was talking about. Before we even have time to think, a skinwalker trots around the corner and gives the alarm. A few more run out of their huts and attack as well. Then a tiefling rogue pops around the corner and sneak attacks Jo (ouch). Adamant flies in to take care of him, as we mop up the other dudes. Bliz moves in to cut off his escape and he drops his bow and puts his hands up...too bad it was a feint. He whips out a sword and stabs the shit out of Adamant. The dude runs, Bliz bases him and then Adamant sends him off the plane for a round. That trick never gets less creepy. Jo rounds the corner and sees Adamant bleeding, Urol trying to help and no bad guy. Thinking he's in a hut, she runs over there and is adjacent when the bad guy blinks back onto the plane. Looking rather scared, he calls for parlay. Upon examination, he's sporting some red accessories which leads us to believe he's tied to the Crimson Fleet. Then Bliz (invisible on the other side of him) sneak attacks him anyway. Jo gets pissed, tells Bliz to back off and the guy to start talking. He says he has information about the Fleet and their involvement here and he's got a ledger...and then Adamant lets loose with SIX scorching rays, reducing the guy to a charred corpse. As everyone turns to look at him, he says "What?"

To be continued. All in all...an eventful 17th birthday for Jo. She hasn't told anyone yet, though. She might later when they're camped. She didn't want to jinx herself by being all like, yay it's my birthday, and then getting shwacked by some nasty. It is however, rather significant to her that the night before her birthday, she was graced by the presence of 4 gods, and that on her bday, she went all out with the defiant taboo-breaking and is now standing on the island that none of her people knows anything about other than legends from a millenia ago. No party, no presents, but definitely the most eventful bday of her life so far.

And for the record, just what *is* the past tense of sneak attack? Snuck attack? Sneak attacked? Stabbed the shit out of?

At any rate, I counted and for the session, we drew 21 cards from the crit deck, of which only a couple were from the bad guys. When you've got two weapon fighting, and one of them is a keen rapier (15-20) and the other is a cutlass for which you have Improved Critical (17-20) and a sacred scabbard that lets you Bless Weapon 3 times a day thus confirming all crits on that weapon...this is to be expected. Jo is all about basing and full attacking, and with her boots of speed, that often means 7 attacks. Just call me the Cuisinart.

Next up, we find out what Jo does when she's angry and upset (and boy is she angry at Bliz and Adamant right now). We see if there's any good loot. And then...into the temple, gods help us. Get ready for dungeon crawl mayhem.

In which there is a very scary dog...and holy Noltus!

2009-07-07T17:52:58Z

It seems like these entries just get harder and harder to write, but I feel like I can't stop now when things are just getting bigger and crazier and awesome-er.

Do we all remember the Pelorian missionary who was out in the jungle trying to convert the natives and who hadn't been heard from in some time? Well, Jakara found a letter from him during a patrol into the interior. Seems good ol' Noltus came to the island because of a stone disc that he found in the Amedio jungle which depicted a trio of Olman gods--Quetzalcoatl, Tonatiuh, and Tezcatlipoca--who were seemingly working together. At the center was some sort of bow, a weapon presumably of artifact level power. A. Those three gods generally do not work together. B. Bliz *saw* this bow being wielded by one of the Olman in the war party that took down Golismorga. Mysterious Olman was one of the two who returned to the surface (Xochiquetzal and Tezcatlipoca remained behind, if you recall). So...stone disc=important in some fashion. Noltus was headed up to the plateau for various reasons and requested aid in his mission. Ballsy motherfucker, ain't he?

So, the party plus Jakara and Skald heads north overland, towards the plateau--which, for the record, is taboo to the Olman. Having reached it, they follow a hidden path and discover a very hidden camp of lizardfolk who are following Noltus. Seems Noltus left with a smaller party in search of a village whose people he was going to help, and hasn't been back in several days. We settle in for the evening when...lo and behold, Noltus and company return, somewhat worse for wear. Turns out they ran into a party of Skinwalkers (these Olman warrior types who wear some sort of skins that become part of them and who've been attacking villages recently) while trying to find a way across the lake to the island at the center of the plateau. We chat it up with Noltus for a while, his bloodhound comes over to make friendly with Bliz, but Coriander growls at him. Noltus goes to get some notes and...all hell breaks loose.

You saw this coming, right?

His dog turns into this massive horrible monster that Jo's tribe used to scare the children with. The party Noltus came back with turn into Skinwalkers. Noltus disappears. In the suprise round, the monster does over 50 damage to Bliz. Here is Oh Shit Moment #1. Jo goes after it first, the Skinwalkers do for many of the good lizardfolk and their leader tries to feeblemind Adamant...and fails. Adamant returns the favor and succeeds. Jo and Bliz (who throws a fireball at the skinwalkers before they can close with our party) work on taking down the big nasty and do so in a few rounds. The leader attacks Adamant who freaks out slightly and calls for Jo to help. Four skinwalkers go after Jakara, and the lizardfolk cleric helps him. With Bliz and Urol on hand to help with the skinwalkers, and Skald to take shots where needed, Jo pounces to attack the leader and help Adamant...and promptly drops her rapier, discovering that this guy is damn hard to hit. Meanwhile, un-Noltus is busy raising dead lizardfolk to come and attack us. Eventually, there are five of them around me, plus the leader. Bliz goes invis, trying to find un-Noltus. Adamant switches places with one of the undead and casts See Invis on Jo, and tells her to go get the un-Noltus and he'll take care of these guys. The other skinwalkers are doing a number on Jakara, and things are getting a bit desperate. He goes down to some of the poison they're using (Oh Shit Moment #2: Skinwalker Boogaloo), and Urol thankfully is on hand to bring him back.

With a worried look at Adamant, who tells her again to go, Jo runs to un-Noltus and gets an attack or two in on him. Then he goes to town on her...and she fails her Fort save. Paralysed. (cue Oh Shit Moment #3: Omygodi'mfucked McGee). Two more undead come over to join the fun. A skinwalker sees an opening and moves to charge Ye Olde Helpless Jo, but Jakara interrupts his charge with an attack of opportunity--from prone, no less. Despite still being above 100 hp, Jo is facing death squarely in the face. Adamant, meanwhile, starts screaming in abyssal at the demon un-Noltus, threatening horrible, painful violence if the thing so much as touches Jo...and Goes To Town with some spell action, taking out most of the undead around him in one round. Then Urol jaunts over and casts Freedom of Movement in the nick of time. Again.

Jo does the only thing she can...attacks the demon again with her cutlass (did I mention that she has a sacred scabbard for it now, so she has a Bless Weapon in effect, confirming all crits?). She scores a hit, and then miss and then...a crit. Draw from the crit deck for slashing...

Decapitation. Fort save against DC 38 (my attack roll). Snickersnack, bitches. Srsly, I had tears in my eyes when I saw that card. It's never come up before, and I didn't really expect it to ever come up. Dude wasn't even bloodied, and he would have retreated in the next round or two and gone back to the Main Bad Guy to await our arrival at the end of the module. The D&D gods were smiling on me. Jo went from facing certain death to pulling off the nearly-impossible in one round. I don't know how much more my heart can take. ;)

So, we still had the remaining skinwalkers to deal with, including their leader. Tenacious fuckers, but we eventually took them all down. Did I mention that the skins they were wearing had claws that also got to attack in addition to their normal attacks? Oh yeah, and Adamant, seeing the last skinwalker still fighting, walked over and grabbed it and promptly disappeared. (He later claimed that he threw it in Zotzilaha's volcano.) It was a couple hours of intensity for the players and not even 10 rounds of insanity for the characters.

Upon looting the bodies, we found a few nice bits. Also, the big nasty monster was wearing a ring.

A ring of Freedom of Movement. (cue choirs of angels singing hallelujah) After that little close call, Jo isn't going to *let* anyone else try to claim that ring. Word. Not invincible, but what a damn good magic item.

We bury the dead and camp out there for the night. All in all, a fabulous session. And of course, it just keeps getting crazier from here. I can't wait.

In which there is downtime...

2009-06-30T20:55:37Z

Where to start? How do I sum up 2 months of downtime activities in a way that is neither deathly boring nor completely confusing? I'll give it my best shot.

We all made it back to Farshore safe and sound.

Jakara is safe and has been un-Feebleminded...by a random unknown Olman whose description matches that of Tezcatlipoca and who disappeared again after telling Jakara that I would be coming to talk to him. Quoi?

Jo got another level in Totemic Demonslayer and thus another tattoo of awesomeness.

Bliz and Adamant went to Sasserine to sell loot and buy treasure. And Bliz decided it was time to add to our party. Thus, we have a new friend by the name of Coriander (Roger) Snorglebach...a blink dog. Yeah, that's right. A blink dog.

At the same time, Jo went off into the jungle to find Urol so he could make her a new magic item (I <3 Craft Wondrous Item). She eventually found him, after having to kill a great big fuck off dinosaur. He fed her some boar, smoked her out and sent her off into the jungle at night. At which point, she stumbled across a party of Scarlet Brotherhood monks who were planning to attack and interrogate Urol. She killed three, the fourth ran, she tackled him and beat him unconscious, and then...as she was preparing to carry him back for interrogation, a hezrou teleported in for a nice little visit. She proceeded to FUCK his shit up. Mind you, part of that was luck in making her saving throws against Blasphemy...but it was really only a few rounds. YEAH. Mission successful, and now she has a Belt of Physical Perfection. I will take any item that uses one slot and gives me a bonus on all three physical stats. And you can bet that's going up to a +4 and then a +6 whenever she actually gets the money.

There was much relaxing, drinking, fucking around, etc. The mines finally ran into a nice vein of ruby. Jo fulfilled her obligations as a member of the tribe by manning the Wall for a couple of weeks. She might also have gotten...entangled with Jakara again after her tattoo ceremony...although she has reservations about it now. And the Tezcatlipoca thing has got her all...muddled.

Jo had the bright idea of getting Adamant to cast spells on her while she sparred with someone else so she could practice a new trick that raises her Will saves in combat. His spells succeeded more often than not and he was not afraid to abuse this opportunity. Mass hilarity ensued, Jo got to be REALLY embarassed, and the sexual tension was thick enough to slice with a cutlass. Ahem. He might have teased her mercilessly and also detected some rather private thoughts that she didn't want anyone--especially him--to know about.

Bliz had another drug-induced vision quest up in Tanaroa. Definitely some food for thought there, but as with any vision...hard to say just what it was.

And of course...we got the lowdown on the actual events leading to the demise of Thanaclan. After the aboleths were defeated a thousand years ago, the people of Thanaclan grew complacent, even decadent. Meanwhile, Demogorgon and his minions were laying plans far below in Golismorga. They made a huge black pearl and left it where the people of Thanaclan would find it. So they put on top of one of their pyramids and it slowly but surely began to corrupt everyone around it. When one guy finally came to his senses and realized what was going on, he smashed the pearl to remove its influence...thereby releasing the first savage tide. The island itself fought back with earthquakes, eruptions, geysers and other cataclysms. Most perished within hours, and the rest were eventually destroyed. Thus came the end of Thanaclan and the beginning of the demonic influence that would transform the fallen empire into the Isle of Dread.

Tezcatlipoca told Jo that she would have to restore Thanaclan, and this is the source of so much demonic evil, that there was really no question at all of whether or not to attempt it. It's kind of her job description, so she'll do it or die trying. The only question is how to go about doing it and what they are really up against. It ain't gonna be pretty.

Bliz has cast her lot in, hopefully Urol will help cleanse his precious island, and god only knows what Adamant thinks about it. Then there's trying to find anyone else to go with them to help. The central plateau is taboo, forbidden to the Olman of the island, so no help from them. We got a couple of ideas...but we'll see.

Next session will bring us to the fullfledged start of City of Broken Idols. Woooo! I can't wait. We have, for the record, been adventuring in game for 9 and a half months. Of course, we started in real life in...what, 2007? And here we are, halfway through, almost 2 years later? Insanity!