[pnpgm] Game Update #89 - File #477 - Fog/Fire and Books

Scott Adams longshot at darktech.org
Tue Nov 11 21:05:13 CET 2008


s
  HT Alias/Player          Character Name    Type    Status/Notes  Sex
  -- -----------------------------------------------------------------
  R1 John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid  .Normal/Alfar  Ma
  ?? Chris Wells...........Ben'dar...........Warrior.Normal/Human  Ma
  R1 Tom Corckett..........Caladan...........Wizard  Normal/Human  Ma
  W2 Marcel Liberty........Chion.............Sailor..Normal/Human  Ma
  -- Tobie Bonahoom........Fremea............Sidh....NormalFaerry  Fe
  Do David Sanders.........Kiet.Sunan........Acrobat Normal/Human  Ma
  R? J H Hooten............Raban.Usherwood...Bard....Normal/Human..Ma
  W4 Wout Broere...........Unali.............Ninja...Normal/Human  Fe
  R4 Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human  Fe
     Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Boyzdar [Wolf] (Strie'bog),
             
     Game Web Site - http://www.funport.com/longshot/pbem
     Public posts/actions to pnpgm at abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list)
     Private emails (not public actions) to longshot at darktech.org
                        
     Game Update #89 in sequence (file #477)      
     ----------------------------------------------------------------
              
     Admin Notes: None. 
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     [Recap]

        From Ben'dar: [Re: Actions]
          Ben'Dar swears angrily in Zen'dali, then yells at Raban, "Get
          out of there!"  As Raban steps near, he'll pull him through the
          doorway, then he slams the door shut.  "Let it burn," he mutters
          darkly.

          "There is nothing left in this place but magic traps!  We have
          killed our enemies.  Let the wizards below deal with this place
          now."
        GM: Ack. 

                -----------------------------------

        From Raban: [Re: Actions]
          <Mean little dagger! That stung.>
          <Not a lot to do in Raban's areas of expertise> Raban is happy he
          managed to save Frema from possible serious harm, even though he
          took some himself. But fires and fogs are not something he knows
          how to handle, so he will watch carefully and help where he can.
        GM: Ack. Nasty dagger indeed boosted by magic. :<

                -----------------------------------

        From Z'leyra: [Re: Actions]
          If Z'leyra hears the commotion she will go investigate.
        GM: Ack. Not through 3 sets of doors and walls. :<

                -----------------------------------

        From Raban: [Re: Actions]
          I may loose internet access again since my bill is due on monday
          and I have not been paid yet.
          Cash flow has been a major problem this year If that does occur
          I will try to use a friends computer or the office as needed.

          So if the characters effected suddenly stare into space and
          drool, you know why ;)
        GM: Ack. I understand.  Economy has been bad for all.  :<  I
            should know well enough now how to run Raban if needed. 

                -----------------------------------

        From Fremea: [Re: Actions]
          As Fremea is taken out of the way and starts to see the library
          go up in smoke, she looks in and wonders why anyone would be so
          stupid to burn what they think was important.

          "Just let this whole damn place burn down. It is not even worth
          it to try and get anything out of here. These people, whoever
          they were do not deserve even the death we bring to them. Lets
          finish getting what ever it is we came here for and get back to
          what matters most."

          From now on, Fremea will not walk into any other rooms with out
          first having everything scanned as much as she can and have Arawn
          tell her he has done the same.
        GM: Ack. 

     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     [New Stuff]

        [Ma 2nd, 1633TH. 5th Day of Adventure #4.
        [Location: Chaos domain, Dark Lands, 9 Miles up, Flying Island]

        [Time: 11:14am]

        [Two seconds after the door is opened and the room goes up in
         flames and spells...]

        [Ben'dar from his angle west of the door notices flame sparkle
         on the east wall and fog shooting everywhere.  He swears angrily
         in Zen'dar and yanks Raban out of the door just as Raban pulls
         Fremea to safety. Rather Ben'dar tries to do that.  Ben'dar
         finds it is like moving a mountain.  But lucky for Ben'dar,
         Raban is already moving and rolling.  Ben'dar yells out as
         Raban hits the ground and Ben'dar figures he is still in an
         angle of attack.]

        Ben'dar: "Get out of there!"

        [As Raban rolls Ben'dar slams the door shut with his left foot
         and mutters in a dark frustrated voice.]

        Ben'dar: "Let it burn,  There is nothing left in this place but
          magic traps!  We have killed our enemies.  Let the wizards below
          deal with this place now."

        [As Raban gets to his hands and knees he sees the fire and fogs
         inside the library just as Ben'dar slams the door.  He shakes his
         head in confusion as to why anyone would want to set a trap to
         destroy the contents.  He is glad he was able to save the frail
         one but he took a nasty hit himself in doing so.  He quickly gets
         to his feet and looks to the others for suggestions or ideas,
         knowing this type of thing isn't his main area of experience.]

        [Fremea becomes dizzy at the sudden rush of being in the doorway
         one second and then twirled around and pushed into the hallway the
         next.  Confused she looks around to find herself looking up at the
         towering giant.  The next instant she feels a sharp impact in her
         back and then Raban dives and rolls.  She turns around just in time
         to see the library in flame and fog for a second before Ben'dar
         slams the door.  She has seen many library of the Humans.  In
         Donara some were visited her when her masters needed certain
         knowledge, rather needed books stolen.  Some libraries were
         guarded by a old man or young boy or old lady.  Most never had
         fire anywhere near it aside from a closed candle lantern or such.
         Fire and books just don't mix.  Confused she has no clue why
         anyone would want to trap the library to destroy itself upon
         entry?]

        Fremea: "Just let this whole damn place burn down. It is not even
          worth it to try and get anything out of here. These people,
          whoever they were do not deserve even the death we bring to them.
          Lets finish getting what ever it is we came here for and get
          back to what matters most."

        [Fremea grunts and has learned her lesson.  This place seems to
         love traps.  But they seem to be defensive and protective. She
         wonders why Arawn didn't try to warn her or others.  Did he sense
         the magic? Even if he did was there enough time to react and do
         anything about it.  After all a trap isn't good if it lets those
         it traps time to react.  Fremea knows that lesson as well.  Having
         broken into certain homes in Donara, forced by her masters to do
         so, she has encountered mundane and elaborate traps but nothing
         quite this style.  Then she wonders about Raban who seemed a
         second before Arawn reacted to be alerted.  She wonders if he
         has some skill or ability to detect traps more than she?]

        [Ben'dar nods curtly at Fremea's response and realizes that she
         is like him about this place.  To the Zen'da books and scrolls
         are useless.  Stories and important information is handed down by
         word of mouth generation to generation.  It is frustrating all
         this magic.  Ben'dar rather fight monsters and men not these
         magical hard to see things.  It isn't honorable and isn't fair.
         He'll see this place burn down before he sees more of
         his friends wounded by other magic.]

        [Chion isn't so frustrated by the use of magic in this place. He
         has seen many wards and many such traps in the Dark Lands. Some do
         it to stop thieves while others to protect treasure and
         information.  Clearly this library holds some ancient information
         that A'kril, or others, don't want just loose on the world.  If
         they can't let that happen they'll see the stuff destroyed. It
         is ironic that most humans fall prey to wards.  Yet this party
         have Sidh who can sense magic.  But even the best detectors can
         fall victim to quick wards.  In that balance he has found there
         is no defense against everything.  Some wards will go off with
         or without knowing about them.]

        [Fremea grabs her wound and find it light but near her wing. She
         can't understand why humans collect treasure.  Faerry society is
         known to hoard treasure but mostly for society not their own
         personal use.  This idea of personal wealth and power is useless
         against skills, status and magic.  As she speaks the words above
         she wonders if she shouldn't have said them.  Curiosity gets the
         better of her and she wonders if there is some ancient magic there
         in the library that could help or harm this world.  Could it
         contain cures to the woes of mankind?  Could it contain spells to
         find the thing she seeks greatest in life?  A twinge of regret
         hits her as she considers her next move.]

        [Kiet standing in the hallway sees the last 4 seconds of opening
         the door and then seeing Raban and Fremea wounded.  Confused he
         isn't sure why a library calm one second now is suddenly in some
         form of magical fire and fog?  Could it be illusions or some trap
         set to stop thieves?  It just seems wrong to set fire to books.
         His mind flashes to one town his family visited where a small
         library of only a hundred books and many scrolls suddenly went
         up in flames.  The town's records and life stories were lost in
         one 5 minute fire. Kiet wonders what all could be missing
         knowledge wise from this fire.  He reaches for his rope and
         wonders if he could pull books but books are hard to lasso. Even
         so it would take too much time.  He could leap in and grab books
         but that fog seems a bit odd to him.  For a second or two Kiet
         becomes leery of any action.] 

        [Raban get to his feet as Ben'dar slams the door and Fremea ends
         her quick speech.  He dusts off his hands and touches his wound
         to check it is light but seems to have stopped bleeding.  He feels
         sad he couldn't have warned the others a second before the daggers
         went off.  His height did help to detect their movement but if he
         wasn't there then maybe Fremea could've been hurt alot more.
         Raban's memory goes to several noble homes he has entertained in.
         Many such homes had libraries of books of the mundane poetry to
         the richly coveted magical or historical tomes.  He then recalls
         this door had to be unlocked.  Obviously a room that had something
         important in it.  It seems A'kril the noble who didn't act very
         noble like, didn't want anyone to take his books or enter the
         library.]

        [Unali seeing the danger looks back down the hall to ensure this
         isn't some elaborate distraction.  But she sees no one coming
         or going.  The security on this door is very lax with only
         one key that Balrog could've probably picked with his eyes closed.
         Why would A'kril keep books here and not in some vault? It
         could be this contains less priority books and scrolls of
         magical or historical nature.  From her angle she didn't see
         the blades fly but sees the smoke and fog.  Fog she has seen
         before, Choking Moisture, the same that Z'leyra and others
         have used in the past.  That would make the room hard to enter
         even without the fire.  Unsure of what to do she helps Ben'dar
         secure the door and looks to the others for activity.]

        [Caladan is shocked to hear Fremea and Ben'dar.  He could expect
         it from Ben'dar.  It is in the Zen'da way.  But Fremea a person
         of magic should respect tomes and books?  He glances at both with
         a confused look.  If the High Elder needs information it is duty to
         save it.  He steps forward and approaches the door. He glances at
         Raban and wonders why he didn't charge into the room to get books.
         He saw the flames but they could be avoided. After all a wizard of
         fire like himself isn't afraid of fire.  But the smoke or was it
         fog looked different.  That could be tricky depending on what it
         was.  Caladan considers his actions and spells.  He could change
         into a large winged beast and stop the spells that way or
         just case some spell.]

        [In a blur Arawn sees the daggers fly toward him and stab lightly
         into him.  Then he is pulled away by someone, he doesn't know
         away from the door and the next instant the door is slammed shut
         by Ben'dar.  In the second it took for that he saw flame and the
         fog.  Clearly 2 of the wards he detected are those spells.  That
         might leave one or two wards not seen or detected or blocked by
         the visible effects of the other spells.  Shock from the damage,
         doubt from lack of detection, grief for not reacting so fast,
         sadness for the destruction and finally anger tears through
         Arawn's being in an instant.  The rage inside him becomes dark
         like a thunder cloud in his mind and soul.  This isn't right!
         Who would destroy books in such a careless fashion? A'kril didn't
         want these things found and looted.  Either he was too paranoid
         to let the information loose or with his death this room self
         destructed.  But why now and not then?  Clearly when the door was
         opened and some magical word or threat not given the wards
         activated.  Faster than even his reflexes could have done anything
         about.  He glares at Ben'dar with disbelief and then confusion at
         Frema's comments.  He has to teach her that anger and rage will
         only lead to bad things.  Yet in the back of his mind he knows he
         has crossed the line with his own rage in this event.  His parents
         wouldn't approve but this situation is critical.  Inside the room
         could be thousands of years of lost information that society could
         use.  If that knowledge was good or bad would be second to just
         the information. The information in those dusty old books could
         be more valuable than any vault or armory.  He considers his
         actions and knows he could try various spells.  All have some
         form of working but would they get all the books?  The books are
         facing the east and west walls not the south wall to the door.
         So any chance of those spells would be difficult without entering
         the room itself to perform them.  The risk to the party is too
         great to enter and attack the spells.  With Z'leyra not here to
         help dispel the chance is slim of avoiding the magic.  How long
         would they last, minutes could destroy the entire set.  No, Arawn
         must act now.]

        [Arawn recalls what his parents have always told him.  That he is
         special and unique.  He thought it was his Alfar status but odd
         things happen even to him in his life.  He recalls the time he was
         chased by some beast in the Slow Lands near the Balance Marshes.
         It chased him to a rift in the ground 20 feet wide.  But one minute
         he is looking back to hear the howl of the beast and the next he
         is across safe.  He always thought it was gods helping him.  But
         he knew that gods were limited in their powers even in the Upper
         World.  There were rules to apply to all and not all powers
         applies in every region.  In the instant of the memory flash he
         recalls how he got this place.  His memory was vague there as
         well.  He wonders if there is some connection there.  But there
         will be time later to think on that.  Now he must save the books
         from those who would see them destroyed.  He tried before to
         pray to his parents for help and blessing in this place.  He
         isn't sure he can reach them here with this purified place of
         magic. In the great archives of some of his cosmology teachings
         he has learned that some people, rare ones, can do anything.
         His parents always said some gods allow them to do things as a
         wish for them or a whim on the gods.  But Arawn doubted even
         that.  The rumors of the multi-verse are disregarded by the gods
         mostly but Arawn believes there is more to life than his parents
         and teachers have told him.  Now he wonders if that doubt will
         help him in this situation.  To risk the very lives of the party
         around him is it worth these old books?]

        [Arawn closes his eyes and tries to concentrate as the others
         seem to plan their next move.  He begins to draw away his
         senses.  The smell of the others goes away.  The vision behind
         his eye lids fade to darkness.  the hearing of others seems to
         fade to whispers and then nothingness.  The touch of his wound
         and armor fades. Arawn becomes one with his surrounding but also
         becomes no where at all.  He clears his mind, a trait his
         Druid teachers have taught him before.  He then forms a picture
         of the library in his mind's eye.  The layout of the room.  The
         books where they should be.  His mind wanders to the thought
         of betraying A'kril and his death.  The regret he couldn't do
         anything then but maybe he can do something now. He tosses
         that thought aside and begins to mentally chant some arcane
         words and prayers.  Time seems to slow around him and yet
         speed up at the same time.  His mental layout of the room
         is guess work but seems to clarify when his mind's eye shifts.
         He sees books and scrolls on shelves and the flame roaring
         through the books.  Most are already destroyed.  But there
         is something else in the room.  It seems books are also losing
         shape as if disintegrating to other magic.  Arawn wonders
         if it is a destruction spell.  Foul and cruel magic indeed.]

        [Arawn desires and wishes the fire stop burning the books and to
         safeguard the books.  He wishes them to move from their location
         to safety.  He wishes only good things for the scrolls of
         information.  He pleads for his parents to help him redeem
         himself by saving A'kri's past and maybe the Middle World's
         future.  Doubt fills his mind as he wonders if by saving these
         books he'll free some foul magic not known to humans that could
         destroy them.  Could Arawn be the link in the prophecy to unleash
         this great plaque?

        [All these mental things go through Arawn in the span of nano 
         seconds.  In real life only 4 more seconds pass.  Arawn grips
         his hands in a tight fist to release the energy he is trying
         to convey to the gods.  The instant his hand tightens the
         instant he collapses to the floor.]

        [As the others look tot he door to wait out the spells they hear
        Arawn hit the ground.  All turn around in shock as if Arawn is
        wounded by some poison.  Raban, Unali and Fremea rush to his side
        and find his body is warm as if from some radiant heat.  Fremea
        blinks in confusion as his normal aura has changed.  It is a dark
        black blue.  Fremea has seen that aura on those who would be evil,
        magic casters and normals alike.  What has happened to Arawn to
        cause such anger and darkness?]

       [From behind Unali a gush of air is felt.  She twists thinking it
        is Raban moving near her.  But when she looks behind her she gasps
        in surprise.  The others also look toward the south wall and on the
        carpet are dozens of books and scrolls.  They just suddenly appeared
        there and some are on fire.]

       [Confused by this new sudden turn of events it takes a full second
        for folks to react.  Leery it is another trap a connection between
        Arawn and the new books seems to dawn on them.  Some grab cloaks
        and blankets and begin to draw them out.  But Caladan who has
        planed his own move has built up spell energy.  He had hoped to
        open the door and push back the magic with the spell and let the
        others enter and grab as much books as they can.  But now for some
        reason he doesn't understand they seem to be here in front of them.
        He draws his hand up and finishes the magical words.  Suddenly from
        his hand a great wind blows and toward the south wall.  Unali is
        knocked back flat on the ground and rolls to the side.  Fremea is
        tossed forward and begins to flap wildly toward the right side of
        the wind.  Raban stands still but hair of everyone else begins to
        blow wildly. Suddenly the powerful wind flips books and scrolls
        open.  The wind pounds the flames down and down.  Two seconds later
        the flames are all doused out.  Raban helps Unali up and with
        his strength guides her to the north wall to stand and wait out
        Caladan's wind spell duration.  Arawn remains on the ground
        unconscious.  Twenty seconds later the wind begins to die down as
        well as the fire but now a cloud of dust seems to float down tot
        he floor as some books seem to have gone to dust.]

       [Five seconds later Arawn's eyes open after some water is given
        to him.  By now his heat has died down and he sits up but
        in a much weakened state.  He feels drained of energy.  Fremea
        looks at his aura again and finds it normal.  He looks around
        a bit confused and wonders what happened.  When he sees Caladan
        smile and point behind him he looks and smiles.  It seems his
        prayers were answered but at a price to his life energy.  He
        could've killed the party with some big failure but they
        don't need to know that.]

       Caladan: "Sorry about that folks.  I figured we could get the
         flames and fog up against one wall maybe and we could
         go in and get them.  But somehow they got here.  Now what
         the heck happened and how did they get here?"

        [Ben'dar shakes his head and doesn't like this new turn of magical
         events.  Give him a book to kill but not one that suddenly
         appears in front of him.]

        [The party approach the books slowly and inspect them and the
         scrolls.  They seem delicate and old.  Some have burnt marks.
         Some are completely destroyed by fire.  Others are blotted by
         ash and smeared.  Others when picked up oddly disintegrate into
         dust as if the paper is so ancient it can't exist anymore.
         That or some foul magic destroyed them.  Some are intact but
         the majority is gone forever.  The intact ones are gently bagged
         up and gathered.  A couple minutes later the crackle of fire
         isn't heard from the library.  Caladan cracks the door open
         and look sin.  It seems the fire and spells are gone.  As the
         others gather up books he opens it further and ready to jump
         away stands in the door.  But nothing happens.  Fremea glances
         over and walks over.  She senses nothing magical in the room
         anymore.  The smoke and dust cloud is intense.  The fog seems
         gone and the spells have ended.  It seems the wards are over.
         Fremea stays put but Caladan gently enters.  Fremea tries to
         warn the bold Zen'da but he continues.  He walks up and down
         the aisles and looks grim.]

        Caladan: "Ashes, Dust.  Tattered pages.  Nothing is left.  It
          seems either this room was empty or those outside are it.
          I don't understand how they got out there.  What a great
          loss to this world.  

        [Caladan looks around and finds the library devoid of anything
         else as Fremea remains in the threshold.  The room's magic is
         gone and now are the treasures.]

        Actions? Comments?

        Next Update...Friday...

        GM: Thought this was going to be a small update.  But I was able
            to fill it up.  I was impressed with Arawn's emailed actions.
            The mechanics he could explain but its not my place.  I only
            gave what was seen or thought.  A very unique alternative
            indeed.  Because the books were more or less saved there was
            no need for further actions for this room.  The deal is done.
            So I'd like to figure the books would be taken to the main room
            and left with Z'leyra.  If anyone doesn't want this then let me
            know.  This means the first level is fully explored.  This would
            mean that the lower level could be explored before going up (I
            assume the lower was the next objective?).  So for friday's
            update I'll move the party toward the lower level and stop when
            needed if this is acceptable.

        GM: Now a word on the last update.  With a PBEM one is limited on
            time.  We could spend literally weeks on a 2 second game
            time span wondering what to do.  I could've stopped at the
            locked door and asked what then.  Actions done.  Depending
            on those then the door opened and nothing found without
            looking in.  Day later the door opened and the spells
            activated.  Little would've prevented them and because
            of that I went where I did.  I know caution can only do
            so much and that would take time.  I figure all the actions
            could've sent us to the end of this month just figuring
            out alternatives to this room.  But that to me slows
            things down.  I accepted all actions but do we need to
            spend weeks on figuring out something that would likely
            not have been stopped?  I figure as GM I have to move
            the action a bit as best I could.  In a table game we
            would have the time to do it in brief time.  But in a pbem
            time takes weeks and months.  Some of us recall the summer
            spent on Clima with just an hour's of action?  A bit
            long for a guy that would be later killed. :)  So as GM
            I have to move up to a point that players can react without
            going nano second by nano second.  This speeds up the
            time and adventure to a level I think is better than
            bogging it down.  I hope this is acceptable style.  If
            not give me feedback.  I'll accept it.  I know that
            folks would be cautious more than now but I also can
            accept pre actions for rooms.  Just keep that in mind
            of caution for next time.  Fool me once.  Fool me twice
            won't happen and I won't expect that of the characters
            now.  So we'll move on as this room is pretty much solved.
            Good work Arawn!

        GM: I'll go into detail on the books and scrolls later.  I
            had actually planned treasure of a less amount.  But this
            unique solving might have gotten more than I originally
            planned.  So need to go and redo that part of the treasure.
            Of course nothing could be read as the language is quite
            unknown to anyone in the party.  So the contents and
            details could take years to learn anyway.  



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        I--------------------------------------------------I   Row
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         12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
            Rm A.     Rm B.     Rm. C   Rm D.       Rm. E  
        I--------------------------------------------------I   Row
        I  [**]   I  [*...*] I  [**]  I   [**]  I  ##  ##  I    A
        I         I          I        I         I  ##  ##  I    B
        :         :       ###I   *    I* *    * I  ##  ##  I    C
        I  * * *  I  $      #I *###*  I###   ## I  ##  ##  I    D
        I  #####  I  $      #I  ###   I###   ## I  ##  ##  I    E
        I  #####  I       ###I *###*  I* *   *  I  ##  ##  I    F
        I  * * *  I@        @I   *    I         I  ##  ##  I    G
        :        oI@        @I       @I@        I          I    H
        I#       oI@        @I\      @I@        I@         I    I
        I#___/\___I____/\____I_\__/\__I__/\_[--]I___/\_____I    J
        I                                        Library   I    K
        :                   North Hallway                  :    L
        I_____/\_________/\_________________/\_______/\____I    M








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