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rw081108

This version was saved 15 years, 4 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by Nick
on November 10, 2008 at 4:54:48 pm
 

Last updated November 9th, 2008.

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Game Summary

Introduction

A party of adventurers is hired by a group called the Order of Orion to investigate an abandoned temple in Northern Thracia. The party is called together and organized by a half-elf named Vergil and offered 1,000 gold pieces each to travel hundreds of miles by ship to the desert where the temple is said to lie, surrounded by a wasteland. First, is the two-month sea voyage, followed by a trek through a hot desert. No details were given about the temple, only mentioned was the importance of a successful completion of the mission.

 

Overview

Episode 1

Date: November 8th, 2008

The party, made up of an elf mage named Ala-din, a human orator Anaxagoras, an elf amazon named Eithne, a human warrior Polynices, and a dwarf paladin by the name of Telemachus, is called together in the port city of Media by a representative of the Order of Orion, Vergil, a half-elf. Bureaucratic and trite, Vergil explains the importance of the mission and refrains from going into the mission's details, promising that all will be made known when they arrive in their port of destination, Varna.

 

Vergil tells the party that he has a valuable contact who is the captain of a ship belonging to a local shipping and trading guild, the Bosporus Strait Trading Company, who is willing to transport the party at a significantly reduced price. He tells the party that they must be on their best behavior around the crew and captain and they don't want the captain to look ill on the party or the Order. Vergil hand-waves many of the party's questions, once again assuring them that they'll learn the details of their mission in Varna. He informs them that, due to the nature (and importance) of the mission, the Order will be "purchasing" a prophesy pertaining to the expedition.

 

Anaxagoras researches the Order over the next couple of days. The guild seems legitimate enough; they hire adventurers and fund expeditions to distant sites, organize "morally sound" mercenary work, and promote the colonization of regions to facilitate trade and greater exploration. Their bookkeeping is a little uneven, and Anaxagoras comes to the conclusion that they're probably run by another group behind the scenes, and receive funding from either a noble, a king, or a hero, or perhaps from a temple or other wealthy patron, or perhaps even another organization.

 

The day of the departure comes with little fanfare, but the party still hasn't received word of the "prophesy." As they're boarding the ship, the Themia, a messenger sent by Vergil arrives with news of the prophesy. Though he spares all the details, the gist of the prophesy says that the party mustn't set foot on any land before their destination in Varna, and to do so would incite the wrath of the gods. A few of the ships' crew are in earshot, and take note of their strange passengers, but otherwise don't act too concerned. The party meets the captain of the Themia, a human man by the name of Argyles.

 

The Themia is crewed by three score and ten professional rowers of all gender and race. Many of the crew are human, but there are many dwarves and half-elves as well. The ship has three decks, the main deck above the rowing deck, with a cargo deck below the rowing deck. At most, there are fifty rowers working at a time, with the others keeping watch and tending to other tasks, rotating in to take a few hours on an oar when another needs a break. The rowing deck is warm and humid, and the rowers consume a lot of water over the course of the day.

 

The voyage begins amid good weather and high spirits. Though the crew largely avoids the party, regarding them as "queer folk," Anaxagoras gets along with the crew and Captain Argyles quite well, learning a little bit about the captain, who proves to be a pragmatic, no-nonsense type who knows the route well. Argyles tells of how he's captained a trading vessel in the Northern seas for over 15 years, since before the fall of Troy, and describes a little bit about the type of trading he does. He seems quite the entrepreneur.

 

The ship travels from harbor to harbor, and only during the day. When night falls, the crew pulls the Themia upon the shore, or where no shore is available, they carefully moor her in an area of shallow water. The first patch of bad weather occurs a week after embarking from Media. Party and crew are delayed for four days while they wait for the storm to pass; as able-bodied as the crew of the Themia is, she isn't the most sea-worthy of vessels, she founders in a storm of even lesser severity, and thus must remain grounded until the seas are calm again.

 

The first few ports are of minor importance, and it is after almost three weeks, that the ship comes to its first major port of call on the island of Imbros. The Themia takes on fresher supplies, and the crew makes repairs and performs other standard maintenance duties. Halfway through the stay at Imbros, the island stops all trade and work to honor the monthly birthday celebration of Athena. Most of the crew stays in port while the party is left to their own devices on the ship.

 

It's now that Ala-din makes his first and only serious attempt to leave the vessel by means of trickery. He calls over a few locals on the shore, and offers a reward for them to carry him into town on their backs. He makes an outrageous offer of gold, and the wary locals demand first to see the money. With nothing to show, and failing to convince them otherwise, Ala-din is then made the object of a number of crude jokes by the raucous townsfolk, their slanderous remarks eventually drawing the attention of Anaxagoras.

 

Anaxagoras, through wit and storytelling, convinces the townsfolk to fetch wine and slyly convinces them to bring some of the party aboard the ship. In only a few minutes' time, the party has their own festivities, even though they've been confined to the ship by the stricture of prophesy. No one is more merry during the festivities than Anaxagoras, though the others participate. Polynices celebrates the birthday of Athena in his own quiet way, giving thanks to her in prayer.

 

The crew remain at port in Imbros for a few more days, finishing up repairs and loading new supplies. Whenever a crew member has a spare moment, Telemachus takes the opportunity to promote his patron god, Hephaestus, even going so far as to carve dozens of tiny holy symbols throughout the ship. Though the crew spends a great deal of time undoing the dwarf's work, they don't realize who's responsible. When not proselytizing, Telemachus tends to his faithful companion, a pony named insert animal's name.

 

Unable to leave the ship for fear of angering the gods, the party has grown quite bored. More and more, Ala-din throws dice and makes opportunistic wagers with the crew, and Telemachus finds himself carving the holy symbol of Hephaestus in a place to be discovered by the crew to later be removed. Polynices spends most of his time in quiet observation and contemplation, listening to the conversations of the party and the crew. Anaxagoras makes innumerable attempts to learn the languages and stories of the other party members and the crew, and meets with mixed success. Eithne finds stimulation in merely observing the daily work of the rowers.

 

The ship finally departs from Imbros, and stops for a day in observance of the monthly birthday of Poseidon. A couple days pass, and then a storm waylays the Themia for several days. The ship passes within sight of the beach where many battles in the Trojan War took place. Many of the crew are quite solemn while the beach is in sight. The remains of some ships can still be seen, though a decade has passed. The Themia soon arrives at the port city of Abydos, where they make the longest stop on the journey. This stop also marks the halfway point of the party's journey to Varna.

 

After a long stay at Abydos, the ship next sets out for Cyzicus in the Sea of Marmara. The stay in port is extended by a day due to the observance of the birthday of Athena. Several days into the journey to the next port, the city of Procerastis, the ship stops again in observance of the birthday of Poseidon. They make port two days later.

 

The cliffs of the Bosporus Strait are in sight, and loom ominously in the distance. By coaxing a few of the locals to come near the ship, Anaxagoras is able to learn a bit of the truth behind the legend of the The Argonauts, that the "crashing rocks" were actually strange creatures made of stone that preyed on ships that passed through the strait. The Argonauts tracked the rock creatures into their lair and slew them.

 

Quotes

(Regarding a band of charging raiders.)

ANAXAGORAS, bard

Why don't you charge out there and meet them?

POLYNICES, warrior

You come with me, then.

 

(Regarding the bodies of the fallen raiders.)

ANAXAGORAS, bard

Don't you think we should bury them?

POLYNICES, warrior

If they wanted to be buried, they ought to have brought more friends.

 

ANAXAGORAS, bard

I think I'm ready to kick some ass.

 

Game Review

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EXP by Player

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EXP by GM

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Next Session

Date: November 15th, 2008

Link: mp081115

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