Campaign Log: Chaotic Pioneering

[coronatiger]

Thoughts on February 11th

Last night, Leopold prepared a small cave for us after his tunnel, where we could put on armor and prepare ourselves for the attack. He warned us that it was quite cramped, but I didn’t see that as a problem. Everyone fetched what equipment they would bring, and Va’lyndra grew a tree and wrapped it around our gear like a big sausage. Olivia would have everything else ready for a quick departure when we returned.

We waited for the cover of darkness, and then Va’lyndra cast Body of Water on Ilzo, me and herself. Leopold quaffed a water breathing potion, took hold of the luggage sausage and pulled it into the water. It was heavy enough not to float up to the surface. Ilzo swam in front of Leopold and Va’lyndra behind; I swam beside Leopold, practicing aquabatics.

After a while, I noticed that Leopold was struggling, so I relocated and pushed on the sausage as best I could, but it was hard in my current form. I hoped it helped at least a little. After about three quarters of an hour, we arrived at the underwater tunnel. Leopold had sealed it up so it wouldn’t be discovered while he was away, but he opened it now and entered. The rest of us followed behind the sausage. The tunnel was completely dark, so I couldn’t see anything, but it was easy to go through the straight, narrow passage by feeling the walls on either side.

When I emerged from the water, I discovered that there was a dry shelf. Leopold rested there and ordered Va’lyndra to use her Destroy Water spell to dry him off. I climbed up on the shelf and waited for the Body of Water spell to expire. There still was no light, and Leopold said we couldn’t use Surkalpi, because its light was so bright it might be seen. I felt him shivering beside me, and realized there was a limit to how much cold even gnomes can take.

I felt the return of my own form, and Leopold handed me armor parts to put on, naming each so I knew where to put it. I think I could have figured it out by myself, but his instructions made things easier. Va’lyndra asked Ilzo to do the same for her, since she couldn’t see anything either, not when it was completely dark. There was some splashing while Ilzo and Va’lyndra put on their armor, for they stood in the water to get more room to maneuver. They are taller than me, and far less flexible.

Leopold dug out a shaft to the crawl space under the Seral’s house, and light streamed down between the floor planks. I supposed this was enough for Va’lyndra to see comfortably, but I still could only make out vague shapes. Both Leopold and Va’lyndra wanted to restore their energy before we made our incursion, so we all huddled together on the shelf and waited.

From time to time, we could hear footsteps on the floor above us, but otherwise it was all quiet. I nearly fell asleep, but then Ilzo started to get impatient. Va’lyndra warned him that they had to rest a little longer, but she rose and stood in the shaft, listening to the faint sounds from above. Leopold crawled past me and joined her there, and he moved some earth so we could enter into a dark room rather than what seemed an often-used hallway. With more room in the crawlspace under the floor, Va’lyndra climbed all the way up. After a while, she whispered that she had loosened the floorboards, and was ready to enter after another short rest.

We shuffled about before entering. Leopold went first, then Ilzo, as they can see in the dark. Then I climbed up, and finally Va’lyndra. “Storage room,” whispered Leopold. I couldn’t see a thing. After listening at the door, Leopold opened it and revealed a lit hallway with three more doors. Ilzo wanted to go to the right, but Leopold said we needed to find stairs. The Seral would be on the upper floor, he claimed.

Leopold listened at the door straight across the hall, opened it, took a quick peek inside, and closed it again. Then he checked the door on the right. Beyond it was the main entrance with a grand staircase leading up. Apart from the main door, there was another on the other side of the room. Leopold closed the door and whispered what he had seen. Also, he had heard someone at the top of the stairs; he suspected guards.

Leopold suggested we tried to find a servants’ staircase. In a house this big, there was almost certainly more than one way to go between floors. The last door from our little hallway was most likely a back door leading outside, so we entered the first door Leopold had checked. It led to another hallway, with several doors on both sides.

Va’lyndra and Leopold listened to the doors. If they heard nothing, they opened the doors to look. Some rooms had sleeping servants in them, but the last door on the right had someone awake behind it. That was our last chance to find another staircase, but Va’lyndra offered to make a hole in the ceiling. We retreated to the kitchen, for the floor had creaked under Va’lyndra’s foot, and someone might have heard us.

Beyond the kitchen was a spacious pantry filled with food. In the light from the kitchen lamp, I could see some dried fruit on a shelf, and I helped myself to some while I waited. Va’lyndra made her hole in the corner of the pantry ceiling and shaped the wood into a ladder.

Climbing up, we emerged in an unused bedroom. Leopold listened at the door and Va’lyndra guarded the hole. Then we heard surprised voices below commenting on our hole, and one said to the other to run and call the alarm. Va’lyndra jumped down. I followed her, but grabbed a beam so I could swing over whoever stood below and land lightly at the door between the kitchen and the pantry.

One soldier was already in the kitchen, but another engaged Va’lyndra with his longsword. Va’lyndra smashed her staff into his face, knocking him over backwards and towards me. He tried to swipe at me, but hit a shelf instead. The other one started bellowing that the house was under attack. I followed him out of the kitchen and shot him in the back.

These were human opponents, so I didn’t want to kill anyone I didn’t need to, despite them wearing temple guard uniforms. My one shot was likely enough to take this guard out of the fight, so I returned towards the pantry where Va’lyndra and the other guard was fighting. I shot the guard in the arm, through the open door. He ignored me and tried to stab Va’lyndra, but the pain fouled his aim. “Die, elf pig!” he hissed at Va’lyndra as a voice elsewhere in the house took up the alarm call.

I shot the guard in the arm again and peeked out at the one I had shot first. He still lay where he had fallen, so he was certainly no more threat. Va’lyndra dropped an empty potion bottle and began to climb up the ladder. I planned to follow her, but she climbed ever so slowly, so I thought I had time to drink a potion of my own. I had my trio of battle enhancement potions in my pouch, and pulled one out at random. Of course, I picked the fourth and last potion in there, which was a potion of major healing, the only one I didn’t need. I returned it to the pouch and pulled out another. It was a potion of invulnerability. I bit off the cork and swigged the liquid while watching Va’lyndra ascend the last few rungs.

As soon as Va’lyndra cleared the hole, I followed. I ran, using the shelves as stepping stones to gain elevation as I crossed the room, and shot up the hole after Va’lyndra. Leopold and Ilzo had left the empty bedroom, so I ran up to the door and stuck my head out to look in both directions.

To the right was a closed door only a couple of meters away. To the left, at the other end of the hallway and past the stairs down, stood Ilzo and Leopold outside another closed door, fighting a guard, the last still standing; three more guards lay along the corridor. Va’lyndra appeared next to me just in time to see the fourth guard fall.

I heard footsteps racing up the stairs and prepared to shoot whoever came up. Ilzo turned around and kicked a hole in the door and Leopold grabbed the doorknob of a door on the left that I hadn’t noticed before. One of the fallen guards grabbed Leopold’s foot with both arms.

A voice downstairs shouted for those running up to come back down, but they didn’t have time to react before they burst into the hallway. I shot at the first one, but he threw himself down and avoided my arrow. Va’lyndra’s ice dagger took him in the chest. I drew another arrow and fired at the other guard, but he threw himself down too. Ilzo readied Surkalpi and stepped away from the door. Leopold tried kicking the man holding his other foot, but he wouldn’t let go; instead, he tried to yank Leopold’s foot out from under him, but Leopold resisted. Va’lyndra ran over to the unharmed guard and whacked him with her staff. The guard rolled down the stairs to get away. I stepped over to the landing and shot him, but my arrow didn’t penetrate deeply.

I saw four more guards at the bottom of the stairs. These had both sword and shield, but no armor. In fact, they wore only underwear, having just been roused from their beds. Ilzo plunged Surkalpi through both the door and whoever stood behind it. Leopold tried to break free, but against a bigger and stronger opponent holding on with both arms, it seemed like a futile attempt.

Va’lyndra rushed down the stairs. “The soldiers down there, Mattea!” she yelled, and it was obvious she wanted my help against them. One of the guards met her with his sword, but Va’lyndra’s flying shield blocked the attack. The guard I had just shot kept rolling after her. “Ow, ow, ow!”

[coronatiger]

Thoughts on February 12th

I shot at one of the guards below, but he interposed his shield. Ilzo and Leopold still struggled with their doors, for they hadn’t reacted to Va’lyndra’s call for aid. Of course, it had been directed at me. Va’lyndra rammed her staff up between an unfortunate guard’s legs; he fell to the floor clutching his cracked jewels.

Va’lyndra called, “He’s down here!” to alert us about the Seral. The guards swarmed her, chopping and stabbing with their swords, but her magical shield held them off for the moment. I couldn’t see the Seral from my angle, but more guards came into view, and one shouted, “Block the stairs!”

I shouted to Ilzo in case he hadn’t heard Va’lyndra and leapt up on the handrail to slide down to her while shooting. Or at least I tried to. I missed and got stuck between the balusters. Luckily, this wasn’t a performance, or I would have died of shame. Ilzo and Leopold rushed down the stairs while I struggled to get back on my feet. The guards continued to strike at Va’lyndra, but her shield took the brunt of the attacks. From my position, I could see the Seral. He came from a corridor across the room with a bodyguard in front. That guy had a gem-adorned sword and a shield, and he was more skilled than the rest of the guards.

Ilzo plowed into the crowd and chopped one man nearly in half before taking a defensive position in front of Va’lyndra. One guard stabbed at Leopold between the balusters and Leopold returned the favor, but they both foiled each other’s attack. Another guard still went for Va’lyndra and her shield finally shattered. The rest of the guards focused on Ilzo, but they did little or no damage through his mail-and-plate.

I was stuck near the top of the stairs, but all the guards were at the bottom, so since I couldn’t get up, I decided to squeeze through and attack the guards from the rear. Shaking off the depressing thoughts that had hindered me for the last couple of seconds, I landed lightly on my feet a few meters behind the throng.

Ilzo made a whirlwind attack, dropping his defenses for the chance of major damage output. He killed one guard outright and wounded two more, but the fourth and fifth defended well and got Ilzo to drop Surkalpi. Leopold copied Ilzo’s disregard for his own safety and waded into the mass of guards to stab at the Seral with an all-out attack. The chaos knife slipped past the sword of the bodyguard, but the Seral dodged. Va’lyndra stepped forward and rapped the Seral across the leg with her staff. A human opponent would have collapsed after such a blow, but the Seral practically ignored it. He still looked human, but the disguise didn’t fool us.

Va’lyndra had turned her back to one of the guards, but instead of attacking, he opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, letting in cool night air. The rest of the guards attacked my friends, but were ineffectual, as two more charged down the corridor to join the fray.

I drew Scorchmark and stepped up behind the closest guard. I struck as fast as I could, planning to swipe twice before preparing my defenses, but the guard went down after my first cut, and no others were within reach. I was using lethal force, but I wasn’t eager to kill anyone other than the Seral, so I held back the second attack.

Ilzo tried to grab one of the guards, but only managed to push him backwards. Leopold attacked the Seral again, less recklessly than before, but still focused on our primary target. The Seral jumped back to avoid the blade, and it seemed he was extraordinarily wary of Leopold’s knife. Va’lyndra turned around and whacked the guard who had opened the door. The guard remained standing even after a hit to the groin, but he was clearly in pain and that caused him to miss Leopold’s back with his sword point. The bodyguard also attacked Leopold, but he parried.

The two newcomers ran for me since I was the closest intruder and one of them got within reach to make an attack. I dodged backwards, took position next to Ilzo and attacked another guard, but he blocked with his shield.

Ilzo seized the bodyguard and informed him he was now a shield, causing him to strike with the sword hilt, but Ilzo dodged easily. Leopold stayed on target but the Seral kept evading his stabs. Va’lyndra hit the door guard in the other nut but he wouldn’t go down. The Seral tried kicking Leopold, but he missed. Two more guards attacked Leopold, and he parried the first, but the second attack struck him in the chest, cleaving through his leather armor. The guard I had tried to attack attempted something clever, causing him to fumble his sword to the floor. Another guard wasn’t as cocky and made a straight cut which I had no trouble avoiding.

If Leopold fell, the Seral would have an almost clear path out the door, so I positioned myself next to the gnome and attacked. My hit pained the Seral who was resistant to physical attacks, so in the moment I could only conclude that it was the fire that burst out of Scorchmark when I hit that did the damage. Thinking back, I realized that Serals aren’t immune to physical injuries, for I once knocked one out cold with a simple, albeit hard, punch to the head.

Ilzo punched his “shield” in the face, causing him to pass out and drop his sword. Leopold tried to strike the Seral again, but he made an unarmed parry. Va’lyndra finally downed the door opener, and as he was about to strike, the Seral collapsed too. Three guards attacked Va’lyndra, Leopold and me without doing much harm, but the last one, the one who dropped his sword, fled.

Having retreated from the attack against me, I let go of Scorchmark and drew and fired at one of the guards. Another guard interposed his shield. Ilzo kicked one of the guards and knocked him back, but he remained standing. Since the Seral was unconscious, Leopold finally managed to connect with his chaos knife, and the Seral’s disguise dropped as a cloud of purple suffused him. Va’lyndra closed the door.

A second guard decided to run and the last two fell before Scorchmark. Ilzo threw the bodyguard at the fleeing guards, but he didn’t manage to trip them, and they vanished back into the corridor. Leopold worked his knife on the Seral until the demon died, but I sheathed Scorchmark, seeing that the fight was over.

[coronatiger]

Eager to get back to Olivia and Mara, I asked if we were leaving once Leopold had chopped off the Seral’s head. Ilzo said he was busy, and I realized he’d take ten or more minutes to adorn the scene with prettily arranged heads if we didn’t prevent it. The alarm bell was still ringing and someone hammered on the door almost as soon as Va’lyndra finished fusing it to the doorframe with her wood magic.

Leopold proposed we left the same way we came in, but Ilzo refused. I told the others I wasn’t waiting for Ilzo to do his thing. Va’lyndra gave Leopold a healing potion, but remained silent, so I repeated my question. Were they coming, or did I have to return alone? Va’lyndra stood behind Ilzo and whacked him over the head with her staff. Ilzo turned around and asked if she was all right, and she told him she just wanted his attention. It had looked as if she struck with all her might, but Ilzo acted as if he barely noticed, so she couldn’t have hit as hard as it seemed. Leopold said we had to leave, but made no move to go, so I understood I was on my own and began to grow out my wings. Ilzo said we could go and he’d follow once he finished at the scene.

Those outside asked who we were; they couldn’t see us, for the curtains were drawn in front of the windows. Va’lyndra told Ilzo to say that he was the Seral and he complied, explaining through the door that the intruders had escaped out another door. I thought his ruse was convincing.

With my wings out, I asked who was coming with me. Leopold insisted that Ilzo had to come and Va’lyndra just drank a potion, so it didn’t seem like either of my friends would be joining me. I flew up the stairs only to remember that the upper-floor windows had been blocked and nailed shut, just as the first-floor windows.

I went into the empty bedroom, down the hole, through the kitchen and into the downstairs corridor. A crossbow bolt slammed into my side and I threw myself into the storage room and started looking for the hole in the floor. It was so well camouflaged that Va’lyndra and Leopold caught up before I had it opened. They had of course taken the shorter path.

I dove down the hole and wriggled my way down to the little cave Leopold had made. I thought I should drink a water breathing potion and a healing potion, but realized it was too dark to identify which potions were which in my backpack, so I plunged into the icy water after taking a deep breath.

The submerged tunnel was longer than I recalled, and I thought I would drown. I gasped for air as I came up under the pier. There were plenty of guards around, so I climbed up on one of the poles as silently as I could and clung to it while I got my breath back.

There wasn’t enough room under the pier for me to spread my wings, so I climbed from one pole to the next trying to get away from the guards on land. Thinking there was no time like the present, I threw myself into the night air to fly away. I drank the three potions in my pouch, hoping they would alleviate the cold shivers and help me escape.

The men on the patrol boat soon spotted me and turned their spotlights on me. I kept an eye on them while I climbed out over the Silent Lake and I had to pull some fancy moves to dodge their cannon shots, but I got away unharmed. When I was out of reach of their lights, I turned south, towards Olivia.

I had no hope to find our camouflaged campsite from the air, so I searched for the place where Ilzo, Va’lyndra, Leopold and I had gone into the water. I thought I should be able to backtrack from there to the camp. I heard the cannons fire again, but not at me. My friends had to be trying to get away too. I hoped they’d be all right.

My wings vanished before I found the place on the beach, but I was still looking like a succubus with dark hair, purple eyes and glowing skin. I felt as hungry as one, too, in addition to shivering like a wretch. It was about fifteen minutes’ walk back to the camp, and when I got close, I started calling Olivia’s name. She soon called back, and we found each other.

Mara was crying, frightened by the anxious voices of her parents, but at least we were together again. Olivia was ready to leave as we had planned, but we erected a tent so I could get warm. I climbed a tree to put Walter on watch from a high vantage point.

Olivia gave me of her warmth, and we were steaming in no time, but I was so hungry, we kept it going for several hours. I asked if we should go to sleep afterwards, but Olivia insisted on keeping watch. I said we could do it together, but Olivia saw I needed to get some rest and was uncharacteristically stubborn about it.

I got the impression that I had just fallen asleep when voices woke me. Leopold and Ilzo were back and I heard them ask Olivia about Va’lyndra. Leopold explained that Va’lyndra was flying while he and Ilzo took water breathing potions to get away. I dressed and joined them outside, telling them about the cannon salvos I had heard. It had to be Va’lyndra who was shot at. Leopold thought she could be lying along the beach somewhere, wounded, and wanted to go look for her. The rest of us should move three hours to the south where he’d find us, hopefully with Va’lyndra. He took a sack full of healing potions and left his horses to our care.

Leopold found us where we were waiting, but he didn’t have Va’lyndra with him. If she had done as me and flown out over the lake, we might never find her corpse, if she was dead. Va’lyndra had often spoken of taking a flight potion and flying away from us, and I thought she might finally have done just that. I told myself we would find her in Alvheim where she could be as discriminating against non-elves as she wished. That hurt less than the alternative.

[coronatiger]

Epilog

We got back to Urdon without incident where we told the knowledge guild and the adventurers’ guild about Va’lyndra’s likely demise. Wilhelm Surre of the knowledge guild paid us for killing the Seral, once he got confirmation from his agents that the job was done. I couldn’t recall there being a reward, but I didn’t object to getting paid.

Lord Karl Morgenstern was back in Urdon, and he wanted a word with Leopold, concerning an upcoming conference. We were invited to hear Lord Karl’s speech there, and he wanted to borrow Leopold’s knife, presumably to demonstrate something about a Seral.

It became clear why the Urdon authorities wanted me. Some people had tried to kill me after the orgy outside of town, and these were revealed to be church assassins. They were really coming for all of us, but had only found me. I had done nothing wrong, so a small payment to the Sidel family spared me having to testify.

With no imminent threats hanging over me, I was free to stay at the Golden Swan inn with my family, and I put on a show every evening until the conference started, a couple of weeks later.

The army that we had helped raise for Urdon were responsible for the safety of the conference. When it was time for Lord Karl to hold his speech, he sent us notice, and we all went into the forest. A clearing had been prepared, and delegations from many lands were present. Lord Karl thanked everyone for coming.

The high human began by telling everyone about the history of the House of Verdel, Lady Karita’s and Lord Karl’s family, who governed Virendia’s colony in the new world. He spoke about how the colony was built up, mentioning monsters that the settlers had encountered. Now, there was a new threat, one that we all had to face together. A hostile organization had infiltrated every nation.

Soldiers pulled a cage into the clearing. A bedraggled human looked out at the gathering. Lord Karl said he knew that this man was known to some of those present, just as the Holy Alliance delegation protested the treatment of their man. They looked about to draw weapons, but just then, Fidel Sidel came out of the trees with an overwhelming number of soldiers, making sure the peace was kept. Lord Karl demonstrated – using Leopold’s knife – that the captive was a Seral.

Lord Karl told the delegates what he knew about Serals, and I gave Olivia a smile. This was information we had given him, and I bet the captured Seral had been found based on our intel. Lord Karl said that Morgenstern and Verdel would help the others uncover the demons hidden among them. The reaction varied; some just left, but others remained to talk. Ilzo threw fruit at the Seral until the guards stopped him.

Some days after the conference, the shapeshifters came to see our party. They thanked us for saving the world and released us from duty, but they also invited Leopold to join them to pull strings from the background. He accepted, on the condition that he was allowed to continue to write down stuff. Leopold gave most of his money to Ilzo and explained that Ilzo should continue to throw money around. Ilzo vowed to continue building arenas in Gromsh’s honor and said he wanted to improve – or initiate – relations between orcs and the other races in the new world.

Olivia and I stayed a few more days in Urdon. When Lord Karl heard that we were planning to go back across the sea to the old world, he bestowed us with a small barony in Virendia. It wasn’t much, he said, but there would be guards to keep us safe, and servants to attend to us.

We took a detour to visit Olivia’s parents, to introduce them to their latest grand-child. My own family could be anywhere, being traveling performers, but I found them eventually, and our reunion was a joyous one.

Olivia converted one of the rooms in our small manor house to a surgery and we spread the word that there was a new doctor in town. We brought the magical still with us, and Olivia showed me that she had figured out how to operate it. Her friends at the knowledge guild in Urdon had taught her some magic related to food and drink, and the beverages she concocted with the still were divine.

With the income from the estate, as well as what Olivia and I drew in from our respective jobs, we never lacked for anything. The fortune we made adventuring sat undiminished in a vault, a backup for a rainy day.

Marinivova grew up to become a strong-willed young woman. She inherited Olivia’s intelligence and my nimbleness, and demonstrated a talent for performance. As soon as she was old enough, I taught her tumbling and tightrope-walking, but it turned out her heart wasn’t in it. After a burst of disappointment, I accepted that she was her own master and that she would have to find her own way in life. I taught her about Sulla and explained what she was likely in for when she got older. When the time came, she left to seek her own adventures. Olivia and I gave her our blessings and assurance that she would always be welcome back.

“Happy birthday, Mattea!” Olivia pulled aside the curtains and let in the warm morning light. “How does it feel to be forty?” “I don’t feel any different,” I replied. “Are you still going ahead with your plan to retire?” she asked. “Yeah, I want the world to remember me at my best. I don’t want to fade away to obscurity when my body starts to weaken and slow down. I think perhaps I’ll start a school for acrobatics, gymnastics and dancing, if it’s all right to dip into the funds at the vault.” Olivia smiled at me. “Of course! You’d go bored if you had nothing to do with your time. So… does this mean that you reached your goal to become the world’s greatest acrobat?” My return smile said it all.

A few final sentiments:

• I've had a great time with this campaign. A thousand thanks to the GM, to my fellow players and to all you readers!
• It was kind of funny that both the characters of one player (Magnar Goldenbeard and Va'lyndra) should meet a watery demise. Va'lyndra had quaffed a water-breathing potion and she would probably have survived had the water been warmer, but the cannon shots brought her below 0 HP and all the magic use from the break-in had her near 0 FP. The cold water continued to drain both FP and HP, so she never woke again.
• I love the way GURPS allows the creation of vivid, three-dimensional characters. Much fun ensues from such characters: Haughty Lady Karita, Ilzo the barbarian, Leopold who always had his nose in a book and so on. Immensely frustrating at times, but thoroughly enjoyable too! Well played, guys!
• For those who are interested: Va'lyndra and Ilzo were never a couple. Mattea was incredibly gullible and interpreted almost every statement literally, but her sex-crazed mentality won out when they said, repeatedly, that they were "going to dance among the trees".
• Writing the campaign log for Chaotic Pioneering has been a lot of fun, but also a lot of work, amounting to about 550 pages in Word. I look forward to a Christmas vacation before starting up another campaign, this time with me as GM.