Gateway Chronicle - January 2000

THE GATEWAY CHRONICLE
January 2000

Link to the November 20, 1999 pictures!
Link to the Stronghold `99 Set A pictures, and Set B pictures!

WAR STORIES: November 20, 1999

The enigmatic Robin Goodfellow (Aaron Loeb) had invited the membership of the Rams Head Tavern to his home in the newly formed town of Amik. Robin had founded this place as a haven for bards and scholars and wished to celebrate its creation with his fellow adventurers. However, the Rams Headers found things quite amiss when they got there. As they walked the streets to Robin's house, they saw flowers growing backward into seeds, flags waving to different breezes, and people seemingly frozen in place.
        However, the cause of such strangeness was clear upon reaching Robin's house, where it was found that Zayven (Alex Grey) Master of the Grey Gates and Wizard of Fairie, was waiting to greet the bard's guests. When everyone had arrived, Zayven revealed his purpose. Robin apparently had begged Zayven to do something to stop the loss of legend from the lands of Kaleth, so Zayven had brought a "mystery box" for the Rams Head. The strange and dangerous mage asked all of the Tavern's members to relate "their" tale and then asked if they wanted his mystery box. A majority agreed that they did want it, though Andor the Crusader (Rob Wilson) tried to object. However, before he could make his speech, he mysteriously fell unconscious. He was revived later with no apparent ill effects.
    Robin Goodfellow appeared at this point, thanked Zayven for his efforts, and proceeded to open the "mystery box". It contained several strange items that Robin said could be used to open portals. Robin then established himself as Gatekeeper for the day. His first petitioners were Miette (Margaret Landreth) and Thorn (Dawn Nystul) who, having gotten very drunk from Zayven's wine, desired to go on a portal for "wealth and excitement". They convinced Gwenneth (Melinda Thielbar) to go with them, which prompted Alad (Doug Tabb) and Andor to go along as "sober swordsmen". However, Thorn and Miette got far more than they bargained for as they appeared atop the treasure pile of an enormous dragon. Fortunately, the creature was asleep, but began to awake when Thorn scooped up some loot. Just the gaze of its eyes was hot enough to cause the party to perspire as if they were in a furnace. They wisely took this opportunity to use their Word of Recall, returning to Amik.
    Meanwhile, Cassandra (Anita MacHamer) Turan (Curt Martin) and a third person feel victim to the "zombie sickness", a new disease of Man. Gehren (Mike Skyhorse) Ximene (Pat Skyhorse) and Nikomu (Darci Stratton) combined their herbalist abilities to determine a cure. Through the generous cooperation of others, they gathered the necessary ingredients: spit of a liar from Stammel (Flake Grendel) the tooth of a man once dead from Alejandro (Jon Marcus) a universal healing potion from Ximene, and hair of a virgin (name withheld by request). These were given to Caladyn (Stan Laff) so he could use his alchemy skills to combine them into a cure. He disappeared into a room to conduct the work in private, with Breta (Vicki Martin) standing guard outside.
    Shortly thereafter, Sgt. Roderick (Mike Malony) found Reynn (Rob Nicholls) dying in a secluded corner of the house. Several healers were called and were able to save the merchant's life. Reynn explained that someone he thought was Liam (Kevin Stein) lured him away under the pretense of buying a gift for Miette. The fake Liam then stabbed Reynn with a poisoned dagger and left him to die. The assassin also left a vial of something in Reynn's hand and a note saying "For Miette" attached to the piece of jewelry he had seemed interested in buying.
    Reynn went in search of Caladyn to have him identify the liquid in the vial, only to find that the alchemist had been mysteriously kidnapped. Realizing that Caladyn was needed to save those afflicted with the zombie sickness, Reynn asked Robin for a "portal of desire" to find the missing mage. Kayla (Jo Ann Ciszewski) Ivan/Bax (James Silverstein) and Swift (Rich Gray) all asked to go with Reynn. Just as this party left, another portal opened and a white-faced Caladyn reappeared. Caladyn would not say where he had been, but he did have the cure in hand.
    Meanwhile, the party that went in search of Caladyn found themselves atop a pile of dragon treasure, the same one described by Thorn and Miette. There was the huge dragon glaring down at them. After recovering from the shock of not being instantly burnt to ash, the party realized that another figure was with them on the pile. This was the trickster god Vanosh, who explained that he had planned to leave the party to fry, except that Ivan/Bax was working for him and good help was hard to find. So he offered a deal... he would let the party live if they agreed to make up a story of having a grand adventure, then each of them would do some "trick" in Vanosh's name. These consisted of Reynn screwing someone on a deal, Kayla abandoning her party on a portal, Swifty leaving his troops at a crucial time, etc. Before any further discussion could take place, Swift complained about not having a "real" adventure. The Trickster obliged by having several dog-headed creatures erupt out of the treasure pile and come forward to attack. Most of the party decided enough was enough and used their Word of Recall to escape, much to Swifty's disappointment and Vanosh's displeasure.
    During this time, Gehren, Ximene, and Commander Owl (Corrie Hrubes) went upon a portal to plant a seed from the "mystery box". For this they needed pure water, pure sunlight, and pure earth. The spirit of a lake in Zurek offered to give the party the water they needed if they convinced a nearby town to stop "killing her children" (fish). Using many tales, the destruction of Thallarin among them, The Rams Headers convinced the townsfolk to move to another location for the greater good. The part was then sent to a mountaintop were an old man was spending many agonizing hours in meditation, waiting for dawn. When it appeared, the old man appeared to catch the first ray of sunlight in his mouth, which he then spat out as a crystal for the party to take. The party was then whisked to an archdruid in a forest grove, who said they could plant the seed in his pure earth if they passed a test. He then changed them into the animal of their choice and allowed them to revel in the glory of nature. He then offered to turn them back, which the party agreed to, though some very reluctantly. By their agreement, the party passed the test. The seed was planted in the pure earth of the grove, drenched in the pure water of the lake, and bathed in the pure light from the crystal. The ground erupted and a huge creature of earth and plants formed before their eyes. Again the party was transported, this time to the barren battlefields of Western Vathos, where much of the brutal fighting with the Empire had taken place. The huge creature waved its hand and the lands began to heal. He then thanked the party and returned them to Amik.
    A short time later an "emissary" of the Turendar arrived, looking to slay Alejandro. Ivan/Bax and Andor intervened and a compromise was reached. A portal was sent to retrieve an artifact from a priest of Vanosh, which would be given to the Turendar in exchange for leaving Alejandro alone. However, the priest of Vanosh had swallowed the item to make himself immortal and was naturally loath to give it up. However, he agreed that if the party told a good enough joke, he would give them the artifact. Several jokes were offered, but none were good enough until Alad told one so "off color" that the priest stared at him with amazement and then spat out the artifact. The priest then promptly died.
    Another item in the "mystery box" was a candlestick holder. Malachi (Jason Rownd) Arthur (Joshua Rowe) Simon (Bob Hollister) and Breta were sent on this portal. Their appearance in a lord's manor caused his son to flee. The party tracked him down and demanded to know the source of his terror. It was learned that the boy had become involved with a cult of Xiandro and was afraid that the party had been sent to kill him for not attending the ritual that was going on that night. Using some heavy-handed threats, the Rams Headers convince the boy to lead them to the ritual site, a temple hidden under a local butcher shop. Breta and Arthur quickly overpowered the guarding cultists and the lord's son led them to a secret entrance. Here the party could hear chanting from inside. Malachi determined from this that the ritual was almost over. Upon his advice, Breta had the group wait until the ceremony was over and any conjured demon had gone home. The party then broke in and subdued the villainous priest and his townsfolk followers, only to find out that the cultists had successfully sacrificed a baby to a demon because the ritual had not been interrupted.
    Malachi decided that this was unacceptable and used his powers of Chronomancy to bend time back to the moment outside the secret entrance. This time, the Rams Headers immediately broke down the door and attacked. Simon called upon his god for strength and closed the portal before the demon could escape with the baby. Malachi and Arthur ignored the attacking townsfolk and concentrated on slaying the demon while Breta kept the priest at bay. She then directed the rest of the attack and the party eventually put down the cultists. However, as they were about to leave, the back wall exploded and a new demon emerged, demanding its sacrifice. This new demon, who called itself the Black One, claimed that if it could not have the babe that the incompetent priest of Xiandro would do. Malachi was all for letting the priest get his due, but the others would have none of it. Yet before Arthur could attack the Black One, Simon stepped forward and offered to be the sacrifice. The demon snapped him up and they disappeared. The cultists were turned over to the lord for trial and the party returned to Amik. Ivan/Bax later explained that Simon had been released from Hell and was raised up to be with his god, Ammagon.
    Meanwhile Lord FitzRobert (Mike Shoenberger) organized another portal, taking Gwenneth, Reynn, and Charleston Jr. (Dan Silver) with him. They discovered the extremely well hidden and heavily trapped bolthole of a former lector of the Empire. Apparently the Imperials had found this wayward lector and trapped within his own bolthole several decades earlier. This had driven him mad and he was in no condition to listen to the pleas of the Rams Headers. The party decided to attempt a rescue and barely fought through a quartet of guardians to the lector. If not for the skills of Charleston and Gwenneth, this effort would not have succeeded. The party was able to return with Lector Null and agreed to use some of the treasure they found to pay for his long recovery at Wellspring.
    Gehren, Kayla, Thorn, and Zebadash (James Citta) also went on a portal. This took them into the seemingly endless bowels of the earth in search of the Dwarves. The party was attacked while crossing a precarious rope bridge, causing Gehren and Thorn to fall into the mists below. Fortunately, they returned to Amik. Kayla and Zebadash returned later, with Kayla in a most depressed state. She said they had found the Dwarves, but despite the end of the war and the Twilight of Magic, the hardy folk had decided not to return to the world.
    As if enough had not occurred that day, Ivan/Bax informed the Rams Head that a pair of pantheist gods was coming to visit. Robin begged everyone to be on his or her best behavior and to show the proper respect. The Rams Head members had no trouble doing so as Mordekar (Alex Grey) Elder God of War, and Talos (Tom Dowd) God of Secrets, arrived. Mordekar demanded cups of blood and asked those warriors present to drink with him. Many, including Alad and Swift, did so. Andor was asked, but he refused. Mordekar then had Glory, the sword used by Commander Owl, brought forward. Apparently this blade was an artifact of his and the God of War was not happy that it had been "silenced". Talos restored the blade at Mordekar's request. Mordekar then had Owl and Captain Korinth (Dave Simkins) duel to see which one was more "worthy" to use Glory. Korinth won, but claimed that Owl was actually the better candidate. Mordekar relented and left Glory in Owl's hands.
    Mordekar then spent time with Thorn and Miette while Talos invited the mages and scholars to ask him questions. Soon Mordekar asked for volunteers to "bear his seed" and found these in Cassandra and Faolain (Barb Laff). This caused Talos to chuckle and state that he had won some sort of bet. Talos then spent several minutes whispering to the somberly clad Lady Rhianna (Eileen Malony) about something.
    Eventually, the gods decided to leave and things might have ended peacefully, but Swift was incensed that Cassandra had been "violated" by Mordekar. Swift actually challenged the Elder God of War to a duel, which was accepted. Swift died an instant later. This brought Cassandra to tears and she secluded herself. She was later found dead, the unborn child of War having been ripped from her womb. Ivan/Bax found this to be a terrible omen and was determine to find out who (or what) had stolen the child. Meanwhile, Alad and Gwenneth agreed to stay with Faolain and help her through her pregnancy.

WAR STORIES: Stronghold `99 (Dec. 14, 1999)
(as told by Hunter, aka Vicki Martin)

We were called by Dreams Laughing to a strange place. There, we were met by a man named Garilon who told us of the manor of Mox. He said Mox was working on bringing himself back to life and that we had to stop him.
    By torch and lantern light, we skirted the manor and set up a safe place with a big fire not too far away. There, we would send out expeditions to clear out the manor so that we could find what we needed to defeat and destroy Mox once and for all.
    As we waited, Garilon told us we needed to find ourselves a leader. 'General' Turan and Captain Owl were nearly unanimously voted as camp and expedition leaders. They chose 8 others to assist them and lead expeditions to the Manor. Kithkrian's spirit appeared at the fire and spoke with several people, including me and Owl.
    Liam asked the Falcon Guardsmen to guard the perimeter as the first groups went out. Several times things seemed to move in the trees, but we chose to watch rather than rush into unknown dark woods to fight. Three troglodytes showed up later but were easily slain.
    I was selected to go with a group later to the manor. Kayla sent me to the manor to ask for something, I forgot what, and I disappeared and reappeared half an hour later as myself five years before. Those other five years seemed a dream. I did not have my Bladesong abilities and still wielded the two handed sword. I was confused as were the other members of the Ramshead when I couldn't remember things I should have known. Kithkirian told me that I was not as I should have been, but that didn't help much.
    I went into the manor with Kantr, and a bunch of others who I can't remember went into the room of lost souls. It was a room with portraits all over the walls. Each one had a name. Kantr wouldn't let us touch anything, but he did insist on opening the box that got "I'm a thief" printed on his forehead in blood. He then said we had to have other people investigate and we didn't get to do anything there. We went to the library where they bored me with all the stuff they knew that didn't make any sense to me.
    Back at the fire, we kept seeing fleeting spirits or just feeling them which was almost worse. The camp was attacked by a whole group of troglodytes. Vrexir taunted them and they attacked. We defeated them all, but I was knocked unconscious. Thankfully, I was healed afterwards and sat by the fire.
    Caladan also returned a younger version of himself. The two of us pondered if perhaps we were the only sane ones and if perhaps the rest was all an illusion. Just as we were discussing that, I disappeared again and reappeared as normal.
    After that, Kithkirian and Dreams Laughing told me of Sara. She was a vessel for Mox, a doorway without a door, no way to keep anything out or anything in. They believed her soul was trapped someplace within the house and that we could save her if we could only find it. It would also help to destroy Mox because he could not come back in her.
    So, back in the manor we went and found Poe and Galen yelling at each other in front of the manor. Robin was trying to intervene and I stepped in front of him to keep him from killing her. I feel sorry for Galen, really. She has no one to trust.
    We finally got back inside the manor. I found Kithkirian and he seemed very weak. His song was fading. He told me he was using his strength to help Sara fight the influence of Mox and that I needed to help her. I gave her my turtle necklace to hold, to remind her of the things she was trying to find.
    Risisin led us upstairs to Mox's bedroom. It was him, Sara, Owl and Liam. We fought swords that fought without wielders and smashed them. There was a mannikin on the bed which Risisin told us not to touch and we didn't. Risisin searched the room and Liam and I stood by not touching anything. He found Mox's journal, I think.
    Later, we went to the top of the tower. Kithkirian was weakening more and more the longer he stayed around the manor. He led us to a room with two magical circles. There was a demon in one and a raven in the other. The demon pleaded with us to set it free. The raven also wished to be free and Sara freed it.
    All around the room was lots of arcane stuff. The demon talked about being a man and wanting to see his wife, Gretchen who was the Gretchen we know. They finally found her and brought her up to see him. While they were looking, Malachai and Jacko were reading out loud from a book on summoning and stuff.
    Gretchen came up with Alad and Gwenneth and there was this whole family thing going on that I don't really understand so I left and went back downstairs.
    I saw Kithkirian being attacked by an evil spirit. It left him and turned to Sara. When I shouted to her to remember, it turned to me and grabbed me by the throat.
    When I woke up, he was gone and I was surrounded by concerned friends.
    So, we were sitting in the foyer waiting for something to do. A spirit emerged and started fighting with Risisin and Owl and Fitzrobert. Turan and I went to help and he and Owl killed it but not before it had made Risisin and Fitzrobert unconscious.
    Somewhere in there, Owl had this conversation with one of the darker faerie and he pushed all her buttons until she slapped him. It was pretty darn funny.
    Anyway, apparently, they finally destroyed the demon upstairs, but at the cost of Malachai's life. We got the box that we believed held Sara's memories or something. The only problem was that we couldn't open the box. Nikomu talked to her staff (don't ask me, I don't understand it either) and it told her that it could only be opened by a betrayer or something like that so Risisin gave it to Galen who, big surprise, opened it without a problem.
    Inside was a heart. Not a heart shape, mind you, but a heart. The only problem was, how to get it back into Sara without killing her. Though Kithkirian was gone, I could still hear him occasionally and he told me that Mox could not have removed Sara's heart without killing her and he had to have had help. We had found all the tools required to do it, but even Caladan said he was unable to help. We realized that perhaps, one of the souls in the portraits could help.
    So, I, Robin, Sara, Caladan, Esmay, the now raised Malachai, Reman Risisn and Galen tromped up to the room of lost souls. We were trying to figure out who of the pictures would be the most likely one to be able to do open heart surgery. Robin tried this guy surrounded by toys. We knew you had to say the name in the picture three times, but we didn't realize that it would then allow the spirit to posses the body of the person who had said the name. Robin became the annoying mayor of toy town and we had to deal with him until the magic subsided.
    We finally narrowed our choices down to a demon. He was a torturer extrordinaire and could keep a victim alive better than anyone. We knew he could do what needed to be done, but we had to convince him to do what had to be done and not kill Sara. Caladan said the demon's name three times and was possessed by him. It was very creepy. It was bloody and messy but when it was over, the demon was gone and Sarah's real heart was back where it belonged and the cold black thing that had been there was back in the box.
    Having solved that problem, we turned our attention to the rest of the unsolved riddles in the castle. There were four ghosts in the kitchen who needed specific items to be at peace. There were also several champions of the Legion of the Damned who had to be defeated to solve a puzzle there. We managed to find the skull of the one ghost and bury it, putting him at peace, we found the matching candle stick for another ghost, a third wanted the demon in the tower dead which had already been done and the fourth wanted its unfinished treatise. As we got them what they wished, they gave us information on the whereabouts of the items we needed to defeat Mox once and for all.
    We then headed downstairs to face the Legion champions. They all had bottles and Turan had defeated one already and Caladan another. What we learned later was that one of the Champions had been our friend, Morkoth. He was the one Caladan defeated.
    The first champion we summoned was a dark elf. I accepted the challenge, but he was much too powerful even for my armed with Bladesong. Owl summoned a demonspawn woman who Turan said was very very powerful, but she made short work of her. Next was a slight woman who Xander defeated very quickly. Apparently, she was very weak against magic. That left us a Dreakor who Robin finally beat with Owl's sword. The dark elf was still a problem because no one who had already defeated one of the champions could fight again. We decided to go defeat the guardian of the treasure room in the hopes of finding something there that would protect me against the dark elf so I could kick his ass.
    The guardian was a fierce warrior and smart. It was a skeletal apparition that stayed in a tiny corridor that reflected magic. Only one person could attack it at a time. It took Turan down but not until after he had done it a huge amount of damage and Owl finally destroyed it. Those of us who were still awake, entered a room full of treasure. There were a whole lot of pretty shiny things and stuff, most of which wasn't any good to me, although the others seemed to be a lot more excited.
    Malachai and Caladan took the stuff to see what was magical and what was not. It was decided that the treasure would be split as evenly as possible amongst those who were there. Some items, of course, would naturally be useable only by certain people, but that's a lot of magic stuff I don't quite understand.
    So, I got bored. Robin was rushing to try to get things ready to destroy Mox because the time it had to be done by was near at hand. He sent me all around the manor house fetching this and that and this person and that so that he could do what last needed to be done.
    There was one item left unaccounted for. It was a reliquary of Mox down in the bottom of the catacombs. I was told it was being guarded by a dead god. Bored of being Robin's errand boy, I went with Turan, Kayla (who finally defeated the dark elf and said it was really easy, damn her) Owl, Kantr, Bax, Xander and Gheran. I certainly felt humbled by the experience. We first fought ten suits of armor. They fought honorably and so did we. We made short work of them. In another room, there was a champion of some god who I don't remember. Bax was the first through the door so he ended up taking the challenge. Thankfully, he's on good terms with his gods and they helped him out. It was a very close battle, but Bax finally won. Hooray for our side. We got a key. After the fight, the gods took back their gifts and Bax was pretty messed up, but Xander called on an angel to help him which makes no sense to me, but it worked so I won't complain.
    Then, we went to the fourth level which was where they key fit and went down to another level. There was a huge pit that Kayla and Turan didn't see and fell into. Turan threw up his grappling hook and they climbed back out. The rest of us skirted the pit.
    The next room held a clear pool of what looked like water. We got to thinking that perhaps these were elemental levels and the pool had been air. Xander tried to summon a water elemental. It came, but it was really pissed about being summoned and not in the least bit obedient. It tried to suffocate Xander. Bax helped him but the elemental wouldn't let him go unless he promised never ever to summon another elemental. Xander made the only choice he could.
    Turan and I checked out the trap door at the bottom of the pool, but the idea of all that water rushing by us down that opening seemed a little more danger than we wanted to deal with so we left it alone.
    The next room was more sets of armor. This time, when we wounded them, they'd go back to a room of fire and get rebuilt. We didn't think that was terribly fair so we ganged up on them and Kayla prevented the wounded ones from retreating. Except for that part where Gheran shot Turan and I in the back with magic arrows, even piercing Turan's armor, the battle went well. I don't know how many times I've told him that he has to get Sure shot.
    After that, we foiled a lot of traps and stuff and got to the next level where there was this woman god there. I mean, I guess she was a god. After knocking most of us out, she apparently (from what I've been told) said she knew what we'd come for and wanted to know who wanted to ask for it. Bax tried, but she refused. Turan tried and she made him disappear.
    Bax helped us all back up and had the item we needed. On our way up, we chipped out the last mannikin needed for the destruction of Mox.
    Back in the manor, they were in the middle of the ritual to summon and bind Mox. I only know this because I heard Malachai and Jacko reading it. They summoned him, bound him, and then destroyed him. I know he's really gone because Kithkirian told me so. He'll never be able to return unless the boy who was him becomes corrupt and I'm thinking we'll all make damn sure that doesn't happen.
    No one has seen Turan. I wonder where he is.

FROM THE FRONT DESK

Between the January and February games there's going to be a roughly five-year jump forward in the Gateway timeline. Rightly so, this both excites and terrifies some people (the Gamemasters included.) One of the major things that's going to happen is that each player's stories are going to move forward five-years-so its time to really think about what you've been wanting to do with your characters since we're just going to make it happen. That said, there are a great number of things that could happen in the January session to affect your intentions and directions, so be prepared.
There are also going to be a number of characters retiring (and thanks again to all you who volunteered.) It has, unfortunately, gotten to the point where some characters are just so powerful they overshadow entire groups of lesser-strength characters. That's principally the fault of the rules (3+ years! Who knew?!?) and the upcoming revisions and corrections should address a lot of that for the future.
Some of you have asked about recent favorite characters and players. Here they are!

NOVEMBER 20th
PCs: Miet (Margaret Landreth), Cassandra (Anita Machammer), and Swift (Rich Gray?)
NPCs: Brian Curley, Kevin Stein, Tom Dowd

STRONGHOLD `99
Well see, here's the problem. Only one person at Stronghold voted for "Favorites" - Tony Hrubes - so we gave him the XP. Congrats Tony, and shame on the rest of you. As we've said before, if there's no voting sheet please use the back of your check out sheet.

That's it for this month. Soon the January mayhem begins. Wish us luck-we wish it to you as well.

Tom and Alex

This edition of the Gateway Chronicle was created by:
    War Stories - Rob Nicholls, Vicki Martin
    Chronicle Logo - Doug Tabb
    Layout, Production, and additional writing: Tom Dowd

The Gateway Chronicles Staff
    Creator and Gamemaster: Alex Grey (neverwhen@earthlink.net)
    Gamemaster, blah, blah, blah. : Tom Dowd (GatewayGM@ix.netcom.com)
    Game Coordinator: Dawn Nystul (ElvenDawn@excite.com)
    Archivist and Grandmaster Flash: Dan Grendel (spiceweasel@home.com)
    Webmaster: Doug Tabb (dougtabb@aol.com)
    Food Coordinator: Kelly Jordine (whimsykell@aol.com)