| Player | Characters |
|---|---|
| Mike | SD, Raul, Franklyn |
| Corky | Frank, Minerva |
| Eric | Joram, Hurricane, KC (Luke), Sid |
| Dave | Han Solo, Oolst, Jeldi, Ursula |
| Tom | Ferraud, Rollin, Jason, Ox, Rod |
| Scott (in absentia) | Elendil, Khellek |
| NPC's | Wolfgang, Lucy, Daliah, Sven, Souless One |
With the return of S.D. from his duties as lord of Midway, Ferraud, Joram and Han Solo paid a visit to the castle. Their arrival stimulated a host of others needing to attend and provide their input, including Rollin Hand, Hurricane Highlander and Oolst. The conversations that took place roamed over a number of topics ranging from the beginning item of the Island of R'lyeh that was destroyed by Rollin Hand's party to the news about the first border war battle.
It was shared that the first battle along the borders of the Al-Alin and Drow empires have begun. An aggressive attack against an outpost guarding the southwest corner of Al-Alin was attacked and overrun by a combined force of Drow and Githyanki. This news drew a discussion as to the types and ranks of the troops involved to determine the actual involvement level of the cooperation between these two races. Based on the info, some of it received by way of a runner (rumbler) from Al-Alin sent by the king to inform S.D. of the events, there was determined to have been more grunt level Githyanki. Probably organized to test their ability to fight together. After the fight, from which Joram was able to withdraw the forces he led, the outpost was leveled and the evil forces withdrew. Joram detailed the events of the fight and what tactics they attempted to use to defend the position. Also, how they were attacked and the story of how Jeldi was ruthlessly murdered and how he came to possess Frank Castle's head. S.D. determined that it might be helpful to contact some Githzerai to offset this unexpected alliance.
Rollin brought black adamantium to S.D. to research. He shared the tale of how they came to have it and some of the properties they witnessed. This discussion led in to the topic of Oolst's battle axe, the news of Wolfgang Prochnow and the creatures encountered on the island. Many questions regarding the details were asked and answered and the city of Midway should consider itself caught up on current events.
The talks turned to the sublime when Hurricane showed up to complain about the wandering bands of hoodlums that harassed him several nights previous. The band, led by Ferraud, of cavaliers and paladins were trying to uncover information about the evil in the islands and what impact it may have on the war. The topic was eventually dropped, though not after some personal conflict and an apology from Ferraud for being as intimidating while questioning.
Elendil decided that it would be wiser to protect the forest in a more final and absolute fashion, rather than attempt to defend the border and the vast territory with his relatively small numbers. He contacted S.D. and discussed exhuming the One Acorn that gave life to the forest and relocating the population of the forest to Midway for protection of the people and the Acorn. The arrangement was eagerly agreed upon, with details of if and where they can house all these folks still to be determined. The offer solved one large problem for S.D. He was in the process of looking for additional military to defend the city and the Rangers of the Forest fit the prescription perfectly. Their services have been offered and accepted and they will not accept pay, but instead just living arrangements and expenses. They number 75 and bring the total force of Midway to 358. The remaining approximately 200 druids are still waiting arrangements for their accommodations. More will follow on this as the Acorn is exhumed and living arrangements are made in or out of Midway.
Ferraud caught up with Hurricane and had a discussion regarding performing some recon, sharing some info and perhaps making some money. This last bit got his attention. A plan was devised to share some intelligence with the evil religion to attempt to lead them astray and defeat them. Hurricane gladly accepted the mission because he stands to make money by selling the knowledge learned on the islands by Rollin's party and the two hands the removed from the Gug they defeated. Hurricane assembled the island party at the Midway Brewery to discuss the options and began to make plans for the trip.
Joram was approached by a strange old man. The man told him a tale that informed Joram that he was the one to stop the evil religion and that he needed to help. The old man had knowledge that would be vital to helping stop the advent of this evil presence. The two decided to leave the immediate area of the city for a quieter place in the wooded area of Midway to talk in private.
The man identified himself as "The Survivor". An acolyte from a long dead world in a parallel plane where the evil beings of Cthulu had come and had destroyed it. He was chosen to survive to stop this plague from ever coming again. He was foretold of one that would be brave, courageous, strong and clear headed enough to accept the knowledge and use it to stop the evil. The Evil had to be stopped, for if it came, all those living on this plane would be destroyed and devoured by it, starting with those that brought it to being. Joram was understandably cautious, but nonetheless curious and enthralled by the story. He probed the old man for information about his authenticity and was convinced by the responses. Especially when he asked what S.D.'s real name was and the old man had an answer, Steven David.
The man informed Joram that he could not just TELL him the info, he had to share it mentally, for the collective consciousness of an entire race, their perception and understanding would take years to provide. This was time they did not have and the only way to share it was through a joining of minds, much the way his people communicated on his homeworld. The equivalent of Telepathy or ESP, as he described it. To allow this, Joram would need to sit down in a yoga like position, close his eyes, open his mind and drink the Elixir of Consciousness to open his mind and protect it from harm. Joram swallowed it, literally.
He was able to ingest the potion (which was actually laced with a paralysis poison) with no ill effects and awaited the mental joining. The old man circled around to join Joram at the base of his brain and then used a Garrote to attempt to assassinate him. The attempt failed and the jig was up. Joram was able to use his Druidic transform ability and changed to an Aurumvorax to fight the assassin. The fight went hand to claw, the assassin trying to hold on with the garrote and Joram tearing away at his body. The damage sustained by Joram was severe, but the assailant was eventually defeated. The attacker was a simulacrum of Jason Michael Cropsey, and turned to dust after being destroyed. Joram shared nothing of this incident with ANYONE.
Ox Baker was summoned from his duties building the new Christian church in Midway and sent to the restaurant Meat Pies and Stuff. There he was sent to meet someone sitting at the bar. The half-orc he met slowly recognized Ox and introduced himself as Ox's son. This fact left Ox speechless and a bit bewildered. The son explained that his real mother was Lucy Simpson, the long time, and long ago killed in the Castle of Darkness, girlfriend of Ox. His story told of a time when Lucy discovered she was pregnant, the Christian church tried to help and at the behest of her family, sent her to an outer plane where time would move faster and she could have the baby and return without really being noticed. The Christian church would then look after the child. Ox wondered if the boy was educated, which he is. He was taught by the Christian clerics and he stood before Ox as a fighter and cleric. This revelation, led to a brawl between K.C. and the new Baker. The scramble lasted a few moments as they swung furiously at each other, but in the end, K.C. was tagged good and knocked out. This new Baker identified himself as Lucifer "Luke" Baker, son of Lucy and Ox Baker.
It became apparent to all that the return of Raul Julia would not be peaceful or smooth. A definite animosity from earlier incidents still existed between he and Sid. A heated argument transpired between them regarding who is really in command and that without Raul, the religion would never have come about. This argument would have raged on for some time, but Daliah, the Mistress of Jesper interrupted and gave both wizards a stern talking to. She then decided to share the news of a recent development with the group. She had good news. The religion seems to have been embraced enthusiastically by her people due to the appearance of another minion of evil. She led them to the Temple in Jesper where she showed them a dark corner of the cavern wherein there existed huge, thick, strong strands of spider webbing. Amazed at the size and presence, the party was speechless. The mistress summoned down the creature for them to see. Slowly a spider, many times the size of a man came down the web and presented itself to the group. It was obvious from the physical features of the creature that it belonged to mythology of Cthulu. Its enormous vertical mouth has become easily recognizable, like its presence on the Gug, as a trait of the eldritch creatures of Cthulu. Daliah identified the spider as being of the race Leng. These events convinced the members to stop their bickering and an agreement was reached that Raul needed to be a part of the "Inner Circle" of leaders. His intellectual approach is invaluable to their goal and keeping him on the outside would only harm the cause.
Khellek and Ursula had exchanged several notes amongst themselves and finally decided to a private dinner and discussion of events. They settled on a quiet dinner at Khellek's quarters in Jesper, where they ate and discussed many topics about the onset of Vampirism, the baby and the real motivation behind her willingness to become impregnated by Sid. She sought to find out more regarding the Possession spell her and Sid cast when they conceived. Their dinner was pleasant and then turned to Sid, since he possessed the book wherein it rested. The conversation was not light and egos were bruised. The talks went from informative to hostile as student and teacher clashed. Eventually, the discussion turned to the topic at hand and they sat down to research what they could about the spell and what it really did. The two wizards then carried on a private conversation about Ursula and their concerns for her loyalty, which Sid questioned and Khellek did not, and, her role in the religion as a leader. More data on the results of the research have not been discovered as yet.
As Sid and Rod began to organize an expedition to acquire more components for the next ceremony, problems began to arise in Ursula's pregnancy. Even though she was only 3 months along chronologically, she appeared to be more like 5 months physically. She began having pains and concerns. She asked the mistress if she could divine anything about the child. Daliah was able to discover that where there should be a baby, there was nothing. An emptiness. A soulless existence of some sort. And that the baby was not humanoid, but more worm-like. The pains she experienced began to grow. The "baby" began to move in the womb and odd shapes could be seen through the abdomen wall. It quickly became obvious something was about to happen.
Ursula began to cry out in pain as the baby torr at her from the inside. It felt as though the creature were trying to eat its way out. At that point the baby turned and a clear impression of a segmented worm could be seen against in the flesh of the soon to be mother. Then a human head could be seen pressing against the abdomen, trying to break free. The pain became excruciating and contractions began. The feeling of the thing trying to eat its way out became more obvious and Ursula began to bleed. Khellek and Sid rushed to hold her down to prevent her from hurting herself. Raul ran to get Franklyn and Minerva to provide healing. Rod at the suggestion of Sid, ran to the prisoner holding area to get captives for the thing being born. Timing became vital as the birth was upon them.
The mistress offered to help as best she could by cutting Ursula open and delivering the thing this way to stop the pain and damage it was obviously causing her. Ursula quickly agreed and with one swipe of the sacrificial obsidian blade she held, she cut open the belly of the mother and out spilled a protoplasmic miasma, upon which sat a segmented worm-like torso. More horrifying yet, was the human head that perched atop the worm feature. It poured forth from her body on to the temple floor in front of the evil altar. It propped itself up, peered about the room and uttered one word, "Khellek". A deathly silent moment fell on the room that was broken as Rod brought in 2 dwarven captives. The thing then said "Food" and Rod quickly offered the prisoners. It set upon them with frightening quickness, its body flowing across the floor, reaching out for the offering and engulfing the body. The victim disappeared in the protoplasm with only a stifled gasp and the sound of grinding bones. Only partially quenched, it looked for more. The second dwarf attempted to struggle, but there was no doubt it would be the next meal and it was also quickly devoured.
Rod rushed to Ursula and performed healing (the first time the Anti-Paladin had performed such a task on any but himself). This served to revive her somewhat, but the day was not over. Ursula began to contract viciously and they became quickly aware that there was another baby to be birthed. This time she spent over 10 hours in active labor. The whole group looking on trying to help. When the birth did happen, the anti-climax proved that the baby was dead, or was it un-dead. Ursula began to appear more vampiric and Khellek went to stand over her body, cut himself open and offered his blood for her. Its effect was obvious as she gained strength. But unnoticed in the chaos Sven Larrssen appeared at the back of the temple room. He announced "Bring her a dwarf to kill". Quickly another prisoner was retrieved. It was brought to the altar and she attempted to perform the prototypical vampire neck attack. As she bit in to the flesh, she felt her teeth stretch, searching for veins from which to drink. They found a flowing source and the canines opened. A rush of blood and energy entered in to her being as she drained the life from the helpless victim. As she finished, the two, victim and would be vampire, fell to the floor motionless. Both were dead. Another hush fell upon the room as they all looked on waiting for something to happen. When it did, a collective disbelief spread across the room as Ursula, now completely devoid of normal skin flesh color and sporting a significant pair of enlarged canine teeth, gasped for air and began to stir. She was moving and now un-dead.
The group tried feeding the baby expecting it to be vampiric as well, but it would not drink or move. When they brought it near the first born thing, it eagerly, yet gingerly accepted the baby and caressed it in its form. It would not allow any save Ursula and Sid to come near it. At that point the thing flowed itself upon the temple altar and there perched itself as the royalty of the room. Many discussions to it were attempted in trying to communicate. None were successful until it seemed to acknowledge when one of the group referred to it as "The Soulless One". Thus it had been named.
This page and its contents are presented solely for the purpose of the RPG game events conducted by a private group. Any references to people or places is explicitly within the context of these RPG games and has no connection to any other similarly named source.
Bob Senkewicz / Howell, New Jersey / senk@optonline.net