Player Characters:
Starflower the Lion Warrior (with Regulus the Lion) (27th mission).
William the Bear Knight (with Bill the Bear) (29th mission).
Philip the Overlord’s Guard (28th mission), riding his horse, Johny.
Hector the Renewer, on his 15th mission.
Date in Real Life: Saturday, 25 March, 2023
In Game Day: Sheva, the 32nd of Sawol
A team of Potentials and a team of Cadets had been dispatched to the Bahanen Islands over a week ago, and have not reported in. The Lightraider Team was dispatched to investigate.
Story by Adventure Master (Player 2)
Philip (with his horse, Johnny), Hector, Starflower, Bill the bear, Regulus the lion, and I stepped out of the hollow tree. I looked around. We were on a beach (sand and a few rocks), and there were ashes where our boat was. The skies were overcast, looking like it might rain soon.
“So guys, what should we do,” asked Hector.
“We could sail off and find the missing lightraiders!” said Philip.
I frowned. “Our boat is burned.”
There it was, on the shore of the beach, was our boat.
“I wonder who burnt our boat.” said Regulus.
“We should have kept it on the tree.” said Starflower.
“Or brought it into the liberated lands with us.” said Hector.
I searched the ashes while Starflower and Hector were talking. I found a note.
“Hey guys, look what I found.” I said (Flatly).
Philip snatched the note. “Let me see.”
The note read:
Dont leve you’re bote lying around
CAPTAIN GORGOTH
“Looks like an orc attempting to write English.” said Starflower.
“Footprints are coming from the graveyard!” said Philip.
“We need to get the salt to the salt warrior.” said Hector.
“So... to the town or to the Graveyard.” I asked.
“Town!” said everyone but Philip.
“Graveyard!” said Philip.
“Town.”
“Okay fine...” said Philip.
We headed toward the town.
*
“We wish to pass.”
Hector was talking to one of the guards on top of the walls of Dadvn.
The guard pondered the decision.
“Hey! There are some guys wanting to pass!” said the guard to the other side of the wall.
“HE might not allow it.” said a voice from lower down. (Later identified as the guard with the gate key)
“HE said not to let anyone OUT, not IN.” The guard replied.
“Good point.” the voice said as it unlocked the gate.
The guard turned back to us. “You may enter.”
We entered the town of Dadvn.
I looked around. We were in a large clearing, houses were on the sides of the clearing. There were a few roads going out of the clearing (left, right, and straight). Some people were walking around, and two people were sitting in lawn chairs on the front porch. They were sipping lemonade.
“We need to ask about the town.” said Hector.
Philip walked up to the people in the lawn chairs.
“PHILIP!” Starflower muttered as she followed him. The rest of us followed Starflower.
“Hi, whatchya doin’?” asked Philip as he went up to the people in the lawn chairs.
“Having the easy life.” said one of them.
“How much work did you do today?”
“Absolutely none!” the other one said.
The rest of us came up to Philip.
“No swords, eh?” said one of the people.
“That’s a problem?” said Starflower.
“Did you not see the dragon’s new order?! Everyone needs to have a sword.” said the other person.
“Where might we get one?” asked Hector.
“The weapon’s shop, of course.”
“Where’s that?” asked Philip.
One of them frowned. “Go straight down the road, and when you reach the shoreline, turn left. When you get to the place with crossed swords, Lo behold you’re at the weapons shop. It is said that he sells rusty weapons though.”
“Great, thanks bye!” said Philip as he charged off toward the correct road.
“WAIT UP!” said Starflower as she went after Philip. The rest of us followed suit.
*
On the road we were going down, at the place where the tavern was, there was ashes instead of a tavern.
“What happened here?” I asked.
“Doesn’t look good.” said Hector.
“Hey look, a random bulletin!” said Starflower.
The bulletin read:
ORDER 66
Written by Lord Bahanen and his secretary
Citizens of the Bahanen Islands,
As you might know, most of the fish in the sea have died. I was very unhappy about this, so I investigated this problem further. I found the reason AND who did it. It was those cursed lightraiders. And here is the reason why it is them:
Once upon a while ago, before your grandfathers' grandfathers were born, I had created my masterpiece, a dark creature nearly impossible to kill. One of the only ways to kill it is to submerge it in salt water. If it goes into the salt water, it dies along with the required amount of salt to kill it. It so happens that a week or two ago, lightraiders submerged it into the sea, thus killing it and the required amount of salt to kill it. Because this happens to take a lot of salt to kill, the water in the surrounding area lost its salt. Try tasting the water… it should be fresh especially if you are near Dadvn. Because saltwater fish cannot live in freshwater, they either migrated or died.
So what do lightraiders have to do with it? They are the ones who deliberately submerged the creature into the water in order to take out all the fish. Luckily, there are still fish around my castle…
So how do we take vengeance on the lightraiders? We kill all followers of the Overlord so that no more trouble will be caused.
What to do if you meet a team of lightraiders: Obtain a sword. You may get a permit saying otherwise from your local Nazgul. You will draw your sword and shout at the top of your voice “Lightraiders are evil”. If you hear someone call “Lightraiders are evil”, respond by saying “Evil are lightraiders” and join the fight. If you are afraid of death, Lightraiders shouldn’t kill you anyways, only injure you. IF YOU HEAR LIGHTRAIDRS ARE EVIL AND YOU DO NOT RESPOND, YOU ARE CONSIDERED A LIGHT RAIDER AND DIE!
What to do if you suspect a team of lightraiders: If you suspect somebody is a follower of the Overlord, ask them the secret question. If they do not answer with the correct answer, go to “What to do if you meet a team of lightraiders.” What if you forgot or don’t know the question and answer? Ask your local Nazgul for the question and answer.
There are rewards for killing a lightraider. By the end of the mandate, find the number of lightraiders your town killed and square the number. The number is how many half petas each citizen gets.
This mandate ends when all the fish in the sea return.
“Oh snap!” said Starflower.
Something dawned on me. The mud creature we killed with a whirlwind which threw it into the water was the dark creature that Lord Bahanan was talking about.
“What have we done!” said Philip.
“Oops.” I said.
“What’s the matter?” said Hector. He didn’t seem to pass his knowledge check.
“The mud creature we killed last adventure is the mud creature Lord Bahanen is talking about!” said Philip
“What mud creature...”
“The one that after we kill it, it stands back up, but stronger!”
“Ohhh, I get it! Oh no...” said Hector.
During the conversation, I was poking around in the rubble of the Tavern. I found an old cash register.
“Hey guys, some southeastern currency.” I said as I pulled out 4 Kobos and 15 half petas.
The team looked relieved. “Some currency to buy swords!” Hector said.
“Not like it would be enough.” said Philip.
“Still worth a try.” said Bill.
“Whatever happened to the hobbit?” asked Starflower.
We searched the rubble of the Tavern and produced no bones.
“The hobbit might still be alive!” Philip said.
“We need to find the cadets!” said Hector.
“We need to get our swords...” I said.
We headed down the road towards the weapons shop....
*
“DRAGON STATUETTES FOR SALE! COME GET THE NEW DRAGON STATUETTE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”
A merchant was selling dragon statuettes. Hector, Philip, Starflower and I walked right past. The merchant stopped when he realized that we weren’t paying attention.
We had arrived at the weapons shop. It had the crossed swords at the entrance.
“Here goes nothing...” said Hector as we walked in.
The weapon’s shop had various weapons about the room. A dragon statuette was in the corner.
The weapons shop owner smiled as we came in. “Come to get a sword...”
“How did you guess?” asked Starflower.
“Because it’s already happened about 500 times.” the weapon’s shop owner replied.
“So, to get a sword...” I said.
“Ah yes, I’ve got three swords deals. The first is a cheap rusty sword and it costs a peta. An actual sword usable in battle is worth 3 Kobos. A superior quality sword is worth a Mezid. What’s your choice.”
Hector looked through the money. “4 cheap swords.” he said as he took out 8 half petas.
“Pleasure doing business with you.”
“What happened to the Tavern?” Starflower asked.
The weapons shop owner frowned. “2 weeks ago, The new dragon came in and burnt the Tavern to cinders. The proprietor fled out of the city, the dragon in pursuit. I was dashing out of my shop, and suddenly, the air was moist, and I passed out. When I woke up, the proprietor was gone. The dragon returned and introduced the new order and also put a Nazgul in the town.”
“What do you know about the Nazgul?” asked Philip.
“Cloak on a horse. Likes hanging around the marketplace. It is said that the Nazgul can sniff out lightraiders!”
“That’s all we needed to know.” said Hector, “Bye.”
“Bye.”
We left the weapons shop.
“So now what?” I asked.
“We could check out the marketplace,” Philip said.
“Good idea, but...” I said.
“I will morph so the Nazgul won’t recognize me as a lightraider!” said Philip. “You can stay nearby.”
Starflower smiled. “We can wait.”
“Don’t forget to ask for the question and answer.” said Hector.
We walked towards the marketplace.
“DRAGON STATUETTES FOR SALE!” The merchant was still there.
We examined the statuettes. Some were sea serpents, but others were firedrakes.
We continued toward the marketplace. A person came by.
“Hello!” said Philip.
“Hi...what da...BEAR!!! AUGHH!”
“Don’t greet people.” I said to Philip.
Philip ducked into an alleyway and morphed into the appearance of a traveller from the North. Hector decided to go fishing while “a traveller” (Philip) went to the marketplace. Starflower started swimming while I looked at Hector fishing.
Somebody walked up to Hector. “Why are you fishing?”
“Because I want to fish...”
“DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT ALL THE FISH IN THE SEA ARE DEAD.” he said. “THINK!... Uh... is that a lion... uh goodbye now.”
“Oh yeah, right.”
I tasted the water. It was indeed fresh.
*
After a couple minutes, Philip came back. He said, “The salt warrior that we need to deliver salt to is dead! The Nazgul also said that 10 other lightraiders were slaughtered. I think our mission is over and we need to get out of the city!”
“I think we can assume the cadets are dead. We need to get out of here before we are, too,” Hector said.
“How?” Starflower asked. “The guards said no one can leave, and now it sounds like that thing is hunting us!”
“Let’s make our way to where the town wall meets the water,” Hector suggested. “Maybe we can swim around the wall and get to the other side, depending how far out to sea the wall goes.”
“The Fish and Chips stand is nearby the wall.” I commented.
“We need to head there. Fast,” said Hector.
While we were going that direction, Hector asked, “Did you get the secret password?”
Philip’s face turned grim. “The question, the Overlord is evil. The answer...”
“Is what?”
“Always and Forever...” Philip muttered.
“That’s absurd!” said Starflower.
“We are almost at the Fish and Chips shop.” I said.
*
“Would you like something?” The Fish and Chips owner said.
“How much does something cost anyways?” asked Philip.
“1 Kobo per fish and a Xico per chip.” He replied.
“Three fish is the price of a sword...” I muttered to myself.
“We were hoping to see the wall behind your small field,” Hector said.
“Oh no, you can’t do that.” He said, “It is said that the olive trees are alive and only like me. They might kill you if you go near them.”
“Well goodbye then.” said Hector.
“Bye.”
*
We skirted the fields to see where they would end. The fields ended about 300 metres away from the fish and chips stand.
“Raindrops.” said Philip.
Sure enough, it was raining.
“It looks like that if we want to get to the wall, we are going to have to cut through someone’s property.” said Hector.
“Whatever,” said Philip as he rode his horse towards the wall. We followed.
Along the way, I perceived the owner of the property going to go see why we were trespassing.
I attempted to climb the wall.
“How’s the wall, William?” asked Hector.
“Slick. Too Slick.” I said as I failed to scramble up.
“Pass me your rope,” Regulus said to Hector, “I’m going to jump the wall.”
Hector passed one end of the rope to Regulus. Regulus then jumped onto the wall. Hector and clambered up the rope. Starflower then began climbing the wall.
I heard a horse galloping. But it wasn’t from Philip’s horse...
“NAZGUL!” Philip said as he pulled out his lance.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” said the owner of the property we were trespassing on, “THERE IS A FULLY FUNCTIONAL GATE JUST OVER THERE!”
“Light raiders are evil!!!!!!” That was the bone chilling cry of the Nazgul. The owner of the property whipped out his sword. The Nazgul wasn’t in view yet.
“How do we get Bill up?” Starflower asked.
Hector hesitated. “If we all hold one end of the rope, and Bill holds the other end, we jump down towards safety, and maybe as we go down, Bill will be pulled up.”
We attempted this, but the rope snapped, Hector, Starflower, and I fell onto the sand on the other side of the wall. Bill remained in the town.
“Ow!” Hector groaned.
Bill then relayed that the Nazgul came into view.
“Dear Lord, help Philip!” said Starflower.
*
WARNING! NEXT PART IS IN BILL’S PERSPECTIVE.
The Nazgul came into view, which I relayed to my master. Philip charged toward the Nazgul, and the Nazgul charged back at Philip. Johnny the horse (double lances) attacked the Nazgul’s horse, while Philip attacked the rider.
“That’s got to kill the horse.” I muttered to myself as the Nazgul’s horse took a blow. The horse was still standing. Unfortunately, Philip galloped away in terror (sin enchantment)
“Why is the horse not dead yet?” I asked the Nazgul.
“Because it’s a pure bred war horse, not some domesticated pony!” the Nazgul replied. The Nazgul charged.
Regulus and I jumped towards the horse and killed it. The Nazgul’s cloak became flat when it hit the ground.
“I sense an evil presence, M’Lady!” Regulus called out. This was to Starflower.
Starflower (even though she was on the other side of the wall) cleared her throat. “In the name of the Rescuer, the Overlord of Many Names, I rebuke you and banish you!”
There was a sound of a shriek, and all was quiet. The Nazgul was defeated. (the owner of the property ran off in terror).
KRAKABOOM!!! The thunderstorm has started.
*
(Still Bill’s perspective)
“Give us the Gate key.”
Philip was talking to the guard with the gate key.
The guard frowned. “I have no gate key.”
“Bill, tear his arms off.”
“Oh, you mean this gate key.” the guard quickly said.
We left the city.
*
(Back to William’s perspective)
Philip, Bill and Regulus emerged from the city gate. It was still raining.
“We should set up my tent.” said Philip.
“YOU HAVE A TENT!” said Hector.
“I’m thinking we should not be near the gate, in case someone comes.” said Philip.
“Good idea,” said Starflower.
We skirted around the walls until the gate was no longer in sight.
*
Philip smiled “There we go, the tent is all set up and...”
It stopped raining.
“OH COME ON!”
“Guess we better take the tent down...” I said.
*
The tent was all packed up.
“Hollow tree or graveyard?” I asked.
“Graveyard!” shouted Philip.
“Okay.”
***
End of Player 2's story. The following is from the AM Adventure Master logbook:
“Hey, mists,” Hector said. “We can pray for the Overlord to give us some answers. John 8:32, Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32.”
The mists swirled around and formed a scene, showing the cadets and potentials being executed by the Nazgul and the townspeople. They also saw their hobbit friend get kidnapped by a firedrake, who flew away with him.
“Skeleton,” Philip said, pulling out his Jawbone of Whacking. “Christ in you, the hope of glory!” he called out, charging the creaky creature. He whacked it to pieces. Hector walked over and used his warhammer to smash the skull into tiny fragments.
“What is that?” William asked. A small creature was sitting by a tree.
“I sense evil,” Hector warned.
They approached. A curious little creature saw them. It was about 3 or 4 feet tall, and seemed at first to be wearing armour, but at they came closer, they could see it was made of metal. It was wearing a green cloak. A sword was fused to its arm. It had a single blue, human eye. An empty socket held the place of another eye. It blinked, and skin was visible, but the skin around the eye seemed to flow into the metal around it.
“What is it?” Starflower asked. She reached for her quarterstaff, but accidentally pulled out a broom. She shrugged and approached, wielding the broom as she would her staff.
The creature seemed aware of them, but didn’t say anything. It attempted to swipe at them with its sword hand. Starflower easily dodged and knocked it to the ground.
“Bill, sit on it,” Hector suggested. Bill pinned the short metal man to the ground.
“Something’s odd about this creature,” Hector said, looking at it. “I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
The creature struggled.
Starflower cleared her throat. “John 8:32, Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32.”
The mists swirled around her feet and words formed. “This is a Ronin,” the words spelled.
“A Ronin,” Starflower repeated. She looked at the creature doubtfully.
“I’d disarm it, but the sword looks attached,” Philip said.
“I got it,” Hector said. He put a rock under the creature’s wrist, then tried to strike the sword blade with his hammer. The rock slipped a couple of times, but on the third blow, the sword blade snapped off.
Philip picked up the sword blade. “Looks like a normal blade to me,” he said, shrugging. He handed it to Hector.
Hector examined the blade. It started glowing blue. “It’s turning blue,” he said, looking up. A crypt just beyond them was opening up, and orcs were pouring out.
“Time to go!” William cried out. The team turned and ran out of the graveyard, leaving Ronin behind.
Glancing over their shoulders, they saw a large burly orc pointing at them and shouting orders to the rest. A fire ball came flying at them from the mass of dark creatures, and missed. “Did an orc just use magic?” Hector yelled as they sprinted. No one answered.
They ran all the way to the Hollow Tree, and made it back to the Liberated Land.
Back at Ras Telesar, they reported the sad news to the guardians that the other teams had been martyred.
“What of the hobbit?” Simeon asked.
“You know, that Ronin thing was about the size of a hobbit,” Starflower realized out loud.
“And dressed in the same sorts of clothes that hobbits wear,” Hector added.
“I think Shorty had blue eyes, too,” William said.
“Do you think that Ronin was Shorty, somehow?” Philip asked.
“Somehow, yes,” Hector mused.
“How is that possible?” Starflower demanded. “Can dragons turn Keledan into Dark Creatures?”
“No,” Simeon said quickly. “But there must be more to this than what we know.”
Edward returned and was filled in on what all had happened in the Bahanen Islands.
The team found Qzim, the gnome that the cadets had rescued, and asked him about some of the artifacts they had found during the Iron Forge Campaign. The gnome examined some maps and told them where they might find the rest of the gnomes who were in exile.
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