tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14914621124605133052023-07-17T21:54:21.412-07:00The League of Smoke and SteelWalaka of Earth 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/15937932225623126280noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491462112460513305.post-58557790818867340962009-11-21T07:38:00.000-08:002009-11-21T19:12:41.395-08:00The White BookTwentieth Day of Nymph Moon, Year of the Knife<br />Carrier Hawk Memorandum from Loremaster Walaka<br />To Sir Sveinn of Hilltop, Paladin Emeritus of Toesch<br /><br />Executive Summary, Incident 1109<br /><br />Initial reports from Akram indicate that phase two of Operation Library¹ has been successfully completed.<br /><br />After the operation in Salis, Adept Perch arranged transport to Akram for the warrior witch Belit, the cleric Kahlan, and the bard Allys. While other members of this heretofore extended party had to absent themselves for divers reasons, the core group was rejoined by the evoker Nyro, recovered from his illness.<br /><br />Upon arrival in Akram, the party, following a lead provided by municipal authorities there, engaged with an infestation of the undead in the city sewer system. By pure happenstance, the party found themselves in the very catacombs mentioned in the T letter and began pursuit of their primary goal.<br /><br />The party encountered and fought many undead creatures, including a powerful but as yet unidentified extraplanar entity. The objective was found and retrieved within an altar in the catacombs, and the party was, not incidentally, able to cut off the undead plague at its source.<br /><br />The connection between recent developments and the undead attacks seemed incidental at most; the re-emergence of the undead appears to have been related to the earthquake.<br /><br />No Corporation involvement was reported or suspected.<br /><br />Both objectives are in the possession of Agent S² and are en route to disposal.<br /><br />Detailed report sent under separate cover.<br /><br />¹ Ref. LSSR Strategy Document 49.121<br />² Ref. LSSR Field Strategy Document 66.429-P<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Personal Note:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">It would be easy for me to say how smoothly this recovery has gone, but I won't, for two reasons. One, heavens know how easy it would be for Fate to throw a bone in the grinder, and I won't tempt her; two, I can still recall when it was you and I slashing at wights in underground rooms, and that never seemed easy when we were doing it. Suffice to say that I am glad we have not had more incident than we have.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cousin once again showed his ingenuity and usefulness. If that boy could swing a sword without cutting off his own foot, he would be most formidable; as it is, I am still happy he's one of us.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The council is debating choices for a new burial ground, as it were. I am arguing hard for complete destruction, but old fears run deep and few of the paladins listen very hard to an old man. I am sure it will work out for the best.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">One dark note amidst the victory: there has been no word from Thor or Kioska since they left on phase two of their mission. This is not necessarily bad, of course, but still...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Best to your better half.</span>Walaka of Earth 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/15937932225623126280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491462112460513305.post-23210765003562497502009-11-20T08:13:00.000-08:002009-11-20T08:46:09.667-08:00The Black BookFifteenth Day of Nymph Moon, Year of the Knife<br />Carrier Hawk Memorandum from Loremaster Walaka<br />To Sir Sveinn of Hilltop, Paladin Emeritus of Toesch<br /><br />Executive Summary, Incident 1108<br /><br />Adept Perch, after performing admirably to mitigate earthquake damage in Tikram¹ , dispatched the team of agents comprising the Rashemi Belit, the Confessor Kahlan, the rogue Samael, the bard Allys, the ranger Arborealis, and the new agent, barbarian Felana, to continue Operation Library. (The evoker Nyro remains unwell and is resting with the injured).<br /><br />The party proceeded forthwith to Salis in the foothills, where local authorities had reported² that the earthquake had uncovered a doorway to an ancient tomb. Investigation confirmed that it was the Tomb of Boredar mentioned in the T letter, and the party entered to retrieve the Object.<br /><br />The party reported that it fought its way past deathtraps, lava pools, resistance from bearded devils, ogres (possibly constructs), and a destrachan, as well as interacting with what may have been a snow nymph, before encountering the objective. The object was retrieved without apparent ill-effect and is in the possession of the party.<br /><br />Unconfirmed and unconfirmable reports of possible Corporation intervention attempts were included in initial field reports.<br /><br />Detailed report sent under separate cover.<br /><br />¹ Ref. LSSR General Intelligence Report 56.001.23<br />² Ref. LSSR Incident report 2205<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Personal Note:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">What a world we live in, old friend! Heady times, indeed, yet I begin to feel a little more confident. This new party exceed expectations - even the barbarian Felana, who might have a little more zeal than prudence - okay, a lot more - is being embraced by these adventurers, and I think their comradeship will benefit him highly.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The mission, of course, is at best half-completed. I have been reviewing the reports from the earthquake zone and I have a feeling we will soon be receiving messages from the very same piazza where both first tasted honeywine. Do you recall? At any rate, if this goes as well in the south as in the north, perhaps we will get out of this without too much damage and stay ahead of the damned Corporation once more.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">By the way - although it is officially outside my purview, I have heard that the druid Kioska and paladin Thor are moving forward and prosecuting their charge effectively. I fear that there will be more blood on the tablelands before that side of the story is completely told.</span>Walaka of Earth 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/15937932225623126280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491462112460513305.post-67613752802412946672009-11-13T22:11:00.000-08:002009-11-14T07:24:21.384-08:00The Box in Suttin's House<span style="font-size:85%;">Twelfth Day of Nymph Moon, Year of the Knife<br />Fireball Memorandum from Loremaster Walaka<br />To Sir Sveinn of Hilltop, Paladin Emeritus of Toesch<br />via PN Garrison<br /><br />Immediate Notification, Incident 11o7<br /><br />Urgency: Highest<br /><br />Encoding: Level 20<br /><br />A party of agents has found Toestall's Box.<br /><br />Initial reports from Adept III Perch indicate that a band of agents on an operation in Tikram in support of LSSRS 49 to recover artifacts once held by the Thief Suttin have found the Box and that a preliminary survey indicates that it holds both demikeys. The agents also recovered Toestall's Letter but not Toestall's Guide, although a secondary (tertiary?) map was found.<br /><br />Report to follow.</span><br /><br /><br /><hr /><br /><br /><br />Twelfth Day of Nymph Moon, Year of the Knife<br />Carrier Hawk Memorandum from Loremaster Walaka<br />To Sir Sveinn of Hilltop, Paladin Emeritus of Toesch<br /><br />Executive Summary, Incident 11o7<br /><br />The party sent to Tikram on Operation Library¹, comprising the warrior witch Belit, the cleric Kahlan, the rogue Samael, and the bard Allys, followed a lead from a residence of the former master thief Villi Suttin to one of his (presumed many) warehouses. The evoker Nyro was rendered <span style="font-style: italic;">hors de combat</span> by a pestilence likely picked up during the party's prior excursion into the Tikram sewers; thanks to the quick work of Adept Perch, the party was reinforced by the ranger Arborealis and the barbarian Felana before any engagement. After overcoming in a relatively peaceful manner resistance from an oath-bound lammasu, the party seized the entire warehouse of commercial goods², a few items of tactical magic, and, most importantly, what turned out to be the location of Suttin's base of operations, secreted in the tower of the Tikram Cathedral of Vecna.<br /><br />The party breached the sanctuary, facing and overcoming a stone golem guardian as well as several death traps. The party reported complete success in securing the objective of Operation Library, seizing not only the Box of T. but also the Letter. The Box was examined by Adept Perch and appears to be whole and intact.<br /><br />Further operations were suspended because of the recent earthquake in south Carpathia.<br /><br />Detailed report sent under separate cover.<br /><br />¹ Ref. LSSR Strategy Document 49.121<br />² Transferred to Tikram merchant D'Kath per LSSR administrative order 55.989.A22<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Personal Note:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I am sure you have received my IN long before reading this message; I routed it to you through the Steel Guard outpost - I hope the rider didn't ride his mount into the ground getting it to you.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Toestall's Box! Did we ever really think we would find it? The Codices have lain forgotten all these many centuries - and now we will have to race The Corporation to them just to keep them safe once again. The thought of that power... it boggles the mind. Well, we have faced such challenges before. But this earthquake... I don't believe in coincidence. There are rough waters ahead, my old friend.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This party continues to show promise. That Belit is command material, mark me. And Samael continues to be buffeted by the winds of luck - can you believe he actually damaged a stone golem with a </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">rapier</span><span style="font-style: italic;">? Not that it helped him much, but still! Amazing! The ranger Arborealis actually came inside city limits and proved herself a capable team player, and the cleric Kahlan continues to grow in power (and seemed to share some luck as well: she threw a Bead of Force at the golem thinking to destroy it - hah - but did capture it in the resilience field). The bard Allys is becoming more and more a veteran campaigner each report I get - I told you we could rely on her. And Cousin says that this Felana fellow is about as sharp as an owlbear egg but tougher than iron. How many years will it take for you to trust my judgment in recruiting!?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I am lobbying to get you some fireballs of your own so I can keep in touch more readily - I feel developments will be coming fast and furious soon. If nothing else, it will make our hnefatafl-by-post games go faster!<br /><br />Cuthbert be with you.<br /></span>Walaka of Earth 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/15937932225623126280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491462112460513305.post-279833589938009902009-11-02T20:49:00.000-08:002009-11-06T09:17:09.042-08:00Tikram boundFirst Day of Nymph Moon, Year of the Knife<br />Carrier Hawk Memorandum from Loremaster Walaka<br />To Sir Sveinn of Hilltop, Paladin Emeritus of Toesch<br /><br />Preliminary Report, Incident 1106<br /><br />I wanted to get this message to you as soon as possible, since you expressed such interest in the current challenges facing the league.<br /><br />The Inner Council has acted with remarkable alacrity. Within hours of the return from the Tablelands of the party that eliminated the gnome insurrectionist Gruenwald (not incidentally discovering the diary that contained the highly interesting information), they had met and planned a course of action. Thor took personal charge of the situation and left immediately for Skalder. He took with him agent Kioska, the odd druid who comes from some distant land.<br /><br />Further developments will be forwarded as known.<br /><br />In the meanwhile, the party, joined by the warrior witch Belit, was dispatched to Tikram to follow through on Operation Library.¹ After hurried investigations² and intense negotiations, the bona fides of the "merchant" D'Kath were established to our satisfaction and the recovery effort is currently proceeding apace. Sir Trimwick personally briefed the party and sent them to Tikram by boat, along with Cousin Perch to handle negotiations and administration. Initial reports from Tikram indicate that D'Kath acted true to form for his type, throwing some thugs at the party in a foolish test of their mettle with no regard to the injury or death of his own men. Once that obstacle was overcome, the party breached a former residence of the master thief, Villi Suttin, and has apparently recovered some goods and, even better, strong leads to the recovery of the target item. No DuChamp involvement or resistance was encountered, although the party had to fight off some magical beasts who seemed to have set up housekeeping in the structure.<br /><br />Further developments will be forwarded as known.<br /><br />Detailed report sent under separate cover.<br /><br />¹ Ref. LSSR Strategy Document 49.121<br />² Ref. LSSR Intelligence report 55.989.1<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Personal Note:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">You can probably guess that crafty Thor knew that only a stranger in a strange land was guaranteed to have no possibility of any conflicting loyalties - something he may have to rely on. I both hope that we are right and pray that we are wrong in our assessment. Percival took the party into his confidence and told them our usually untold history - at least as much of it as they needed to hear to calm some anxieties. I think that some of these agents have a long future with the league and deserve to know the truth; I leave the details of their management to Percy, who I know has your faith as well as mine. And the Tablelands still smolder behind all this... were things always so flinty? Wasn't there a time we fought dragons?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">On a brighter note, the new fireball birds seem to be working very well - that's how Cousin (who sends his regards) got me his field report. Imagine communicating across Carpathia in a matter of hours or less! It seems like just yesterday that you and I were marveling at our first carrier hawks, replacing those stupid, slow, and smelly pelicans that league used for so long. I wish there were not so few of these fireballs, so that our communication now could be so swift, but I am told they breed very slowly. Perhaps too old men don't have that much to say anyway.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh - and Cousin says the party encountered a sea-cat during the passage! I'll bet you're still knocking the waters of Beldar Bay from your ears! Oh, that fishing trip. A sea-cat!</span>Walaka of Earth 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/15937932225623126280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491462112460513305.post-88403378271572953602009-10-11T10:19:00.000-07:002009-10-11T12:34:10.410-07:00Gnome on the RangeSeventh Day of Owlbear Moon, Year of the Knife<br />Carrier Hawk Memorandum from Loremaster Walaka<br />To Sir Sveinn of Hilltop, Paladin Emeritus of Toesch<br /><br />Preliminary report, Incident 1105<br /><br />The new party of operatives, after taking care of the skeleton troop threatening the northern exurbs, was dispatched by Thor to eliminate the threat of threat of the Gnomish Illusionist Gruenwald, whose organization of the Gnomish thieves had become a threat to the peace of security (not to mention the balance of power) in the Tablelands and Greater Toesch¹.<br /><br />The party engaged the Gnomish forces in a underground complex not far from Heavenstair. In heated hand-to-hand and room-to-room combat, they forced they way through the tunnels, encountering and neutralizing several fighters and clerics before making their way to Gruenwald's inner sanctum. There, the Evoker Nyro displayed tremendous courage in leaping through a curtain of fire to dispatch Gruenwald with a fireball. The thief Samael was hot on his heels, after having cut a swathe through the gnomish defenses with his blades. Confessor Kahlan once again stayed in the thick of battle to support the party, and the strange druid apparently spent most of the engagement shapeshifted into a bear, bloodying the enemy with tooth and claw.<br /><br />After killing or routing the gnome defenses, the party defeated a series of death traps to uncover Gruenwald's treasure room itself. They allowed themselves loot within league protocols, secured some funds to compensate the northern farmers for their recent losses, and returned to league stores a significant amount of battlefield pillage comprising weapons both knightly and Orcish.<br /><br />However the most significant battle prize was the diary of the Illusionist Gruenwald, which provided some significant information regarding recent military developments in the Tablelands. A full report will be on its way forthwith.<br /><br />¹ Ref. LSSR Intelligence Report 55.313<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Personal Note:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Forgive the extra message that I know will seem redundant when you get my executive summary and official report, but I needed an excuse to use the official hawks and send this personal note. That diary had some extraordinary information in it concerning the skeleton attacks, that was revealed to the party and to Thor as well before it came to my attention. It seems that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree: C.P. has apparently been up to the same tricks that his father, Cuthbert rest his soul, thought to employ all those years ago - and I don't need to remind you how that turned out. I think this may have been discovered soon enough for it to be nipped in the bud with sufficient damage control. I hope that I won't have to entreat you to leave your dacha to make an appearance at Council. Wish me luck - this behind-the-scenes maneuvering is never pleasant.</span>Walaka of Earth 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/15937932225623126280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491462112460513305.post-9743340460676317002009-10-03T16:14:00.000-07:002009-10-03T21:19:15.059-07:00Intrigue in the Tablelands<span style="font-style: italic;">Second Day of Owlbear Moon, Year of the Knife</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Carrier Hawk Memorandum from Loremaster Walaka</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">To Sir Sveinn of Hilltop, Paladin Emeritus of Toesch</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Executive Summary, Incident 1104</span><br /><br />An operative team comprising the wizard Nyro, the cleric Kahlan, the bard Allys, the thief Samael, and a new recruit - a strange druid hight Kioska - was sent on a routine escort detail¹ for training purposes. While the escort was completed without incident, the party became lost taking a shortcut on the way back to Toesch. In the exurbs, they encountered hostiles in the form of a powerful cleric and two fighters, all human. A confused communication preceded the eventual conflict: from the reports of the agents, the hostiles were apparently on their way to meet someone after having completed a "mission," and upon discovering that our agents were not their contacts and were in fact League personnel, they attacked. Our agents dispatched them with little difficulty and returned to report to Paladin Thor.<br /><br />Thor almost immediately dispatched the team to confront a skeleton troop advancing on Toesch from the north, since the knightly corps was still somewhat diminished by the recent unfavorable encounter with elements of the Northern Orc Army². The party chose to engage the enemy at a tactically advantageous position on a mesa, and through a stratagem proposed by the druid, executed a daring manoeuvre that split the undead ranks by forcing half of them off a cliff with a bison-dragged rope. The wizard Nyro's exuberant opening fireworks set the tone for a successful engagement; by all accounts, the party pressed hard and smart. The thief Samael displayed considerably improved aim and combat accuracy, and the bard Allys employed her spellcraft strategically. The cleric Kahlan, styled Confessor, was in the thick of battle as usual.<br /><br />The party's reports indicate that the bugbear and orc skeletons comprising the attack force displayed some unusual behaviors: to wit, at least rudimentary employment of phalanx formation and military precision in advancement. This observation, if true, is doubly disturbing in light of the recent development of new tactics among the Orc warriors that League troops have recently encountered. There is some outside agency gaining influence in the Tablelands' whether this be the work of The Corporation or some other adversary remains to be seen.<br /><br />Detailed report sent under separate cover.<br /><br />¹ ref. Log entry OW1.04<br />² ref. Incident Report 2103<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Personal Note:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I am worried, old friend. I fear that something great and troubling is afoot. Let us hope this apprehension is the imagining of an old man who has seen too much. Mayhap these new agents can set things right in one night. I wish I could visit you to see the migration of the swallow-cranes; it is a beautiful spectacle. Best to your wife.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">ps: I told you that all Samael needed was spectacles!</span>Walaka of Earth 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/15937932225623126280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491462112460513305.post-26502149808603113912009-09-26T21:09:00.000-07:002009-10-03T16:54:44.411-07:00Kurdishan's Garden<span style="font-style: italic;">Twenty-fourth Day of Serpent Moon, Year of the Knife</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Carrier Hawk Memorandum from Loremaster Walaka<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">To Sir Sveinn of Hilltop, Paladin Emeritus of Toesch</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Executive Summary, Incident 1103<br /></span><br />After the incident in which the young wizard H.P. terrorized an agricultural community, Paladin Thor sent league agents to investigate mysterious circumstances in the farming village of Darbin¹. The farmers of Darbin were late in bringing their harvest to the local trade center, no communication had been received for weeks, and messengers sent to the town had all disappeared.<br /><br />A squad of agents led by the Rashemi warrior-priestess Belit were sent to investigate. They encountered townspeople possessed by weird vines which seemed to control their minds; the enslavement of the populace was the reason for the delay in harvest. These unwilling combatants were defeated without loss of life in a house-to-house struggle. The agents tracked this unnatural disturbance to the home of Kurdishan<span style="font-weight: bold;">²</span>, a semi-retired wizard who had taken up residence in a former temple located in the community. In the wizard's garden, the agents rescued similarly-enthralled local official<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Brock Gnath³, discovered the wizard (who had transformed himself into a creature not unlike a Shambling Heap), and eliminated the threat with extreme prejudice.<br /><br />Agents recovered personal property of the wizard, some of which they kept as booty in accordance with league protocols and some of which they returned to the community to help bootstrap recovery operations; our training seems to have worked well in developing strong habits of responsibility among the field staff.<br /><br />A follow-up team sent to investigate the wizard's home and possessions did turn up some evidence of correspondence with The Corporation among Kurdishan's personal papers and some artifacts that could not have come from Bandui without their knowledge. Conclusions are tentative, but it seems The Corpration may be discreetly supporting area wizards in some activities that might otherwise have been crackpot schemes; whether they do this to sow random discord or as part of some larger plot, we have yet to learn.<br /><br />Detailed report sent under separate cover.<br /><br />¹ Map reference 21C4R5<br />² cf. "Kurdish of Feck," Vol 23.1, Peerage<br />³ ref. LSSR White Paper 44.19 "Pillar Retirees"<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Personal note:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">You will be pleased to hear that this relatively new band of operatives proved themselves quite capable. The young cleric Kahlan apparently showed considerable discretion in applying her divine magic to assist in the battle with the creature, and the ranger Arborealis was described as having had a major part in combat. The thief Samael is still plagued by bouts of ill-sightedness; I have referred him to League healers for curative spells or at least the fitting of spectacles, and anticipate excellence in the future. The Wizard Nyro managed to restrain his usually extravagant modus operandi in light of the civilian noncombatants, and the Bard Allys was reported to have been in the thick of the final confrontation. Team leader Belit performed with her customary competence. I have high hopes for this group, and think we will need their skills in the days to come.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I hope that black fly season in your neck of the woods is passing with somewhat less vigor this year than it is here in Toesch, and that your wife's boils have subsided.</span>Walaka of Earth 2http://www.blogger.com/profile/15937932225623126280noreply@blogger.com0