Gateway Chronicle - November 1999

THE GATEWAY CHRONICLE
November 1999

Link to October 1999 pictures!
Link to the November 6, 1999 pictures!

STRONGHOLD IS COMING!

December 11 and 12, 1999 will mark the second year that the December Gateway session has been at the Stronghold manor house in Oregon, Illinois. If you weren't there last year (or have blocked it from your memory) pictures of the event can be found in the photo archive accessible through the Gateway website at http:\\www.jcn.com\tdowd (and keep an eye out for new images from a stash Tom just found...) Last year's session marked the coronation of Arthon Jurel-Blacksteel and the beginning of the Empire story arc. (Yes, it was only a year ago.) This year promises a very different experience.
    Due to cost overruns last year we have unfortunately been forced to raise the game fee to $40 per person. This fee is necessary just to cover room, board and food for the overnight session. (Fortunately, other expenses like additional costuming and props is being covered by the kind donations of staff and players.) Some of you have already kicked in money toward the session (thanks!) and of course that money still adds toward the full fee.
    If you have not let Dawn (ElvenDawn@excite.com) know about your attendance in December please do so immediately. We need a full house to pull off what we plan so recruit away!

WARSTORIES: October 1999

After the political problems between King Jurel and General Winterborne had been resolved in northern Kaleth, many of the Rams Head there journeyed to join their brethren in the south. There they joined in the fight to push the Empire out of western Vathos and off the lands of Kaleth. Since the Imperials thought a truce was in effect, the initial assaults by the Kaleth forces proved to be quite devastating.
    After these successes, Turan (Curt Martin) dispatched the Rams Head members upon a pair of Expeditions. Hunter (Vicki Martin) Sgt. Roderick (Mike Malony) Beryel (Mike's friend?) Orinara (Pat Skyhorse) Orim (Mike Skyhorse) and Esmay (Lis Shoenberger) were dispatched to capture an Imperial supply caravan. Hunter's skills allowed her group to bypass its rear guard and eventually get ahead of the slow moving wagons. Then under the expert guidance of Sgt. Roderick, the Rams Headers executed an ambush and laid the Imperial guards low by sword, arrow, and magic. Men under the command of Knight Commander Westlake then took custody of the supplies while the Rams Headers marched back toward their base camp.
    Meanwhile, Sarah (Kristen Pierson) Autumn (Dawn Nystul) Kantor (Tony Hrubes) Knight Commander Owl (Corrie Hrubes) Reynn (Rob Nicholls) and Malachi (Jason Rownd) were sent to investigate a suspected Empire stronghold. Along the way they encountered a strange mist creature that eventually turned itself into a large red stone. Eventually this group came upon a manor house that had been appropriated by an Imperial necromancer and his guards. They were using local villagers to dig up corpses from the manor's graveyard for the necromancer to animate. While Autumn used her incredible archery to fell the necromancer, Malachi was able to use magic to set his zombies ablaze. The rest of the party dealt with the remaining guards. After freeing the villagers, the party set out to return to the base camp.
    Neither party returned to the campsite, for in their path they found Fallow Spire, the ancient home of the renowned Zavyen. Many were puzzled by this appearance, since Fallow Spire was supposed to be in northern Zurek, not western Vathos. But even stranger sights awaited them upon entering the tower, as the Rams Head members were met by an uncomfortably lucid and powerful Segial (Doug Tabb). They were then in turn introduced to their "host" and new lord of Fallow Spire - a recently restored member of the Undying known as Tarranar (Tom Dowd). Tarranar had been cast down long ago by the other Undying for unknown crimes, but had been resurrected by members of the Rams Head. He possessed great powers as well as an intense hatred of the Empire and announced his intention of using the Rams Head to see to its destruction. While many had doubts about this, the Rams Head chose not to object or challenge the Undying. Especially since he was surrounded by a number of "friends", including the changed Segial, a construct called Corbin (Rob Wilson) and a demonspawn assassin known as Kariel (Chad Brinkley).
Tarranar announced his intention to send the Rams Head membership on a number of Expeditions against the Empire. However, Jacko (Lou Klozik) upset his plans by taking a number of people off on a personal portal. Apparently, a dark elf had murdered the household of Baroness Rhianna (Eileen Malony) and stolen her family. Jacko took Sarah, Kantor, Owl, Hunter, and Reman (Marc Blumberg) to recover them. After escaping from a dark pit and a group of ogres, the party finally found themselves dining with the dark elf in question, Sabrae. After much negotiating, the Rams Headers finally gained the return of Rhianna's children, though one of the terms was that Kantr had to stay with the dark elf. Sabrae also returned the body of Rhianna's husband, who she claimed had killed himself. She then provided a translocation scroll that allowed the party to return the children to their home. Eldred, the keeper of the White Gates, was there tending to Rhianna's shattered mind. He took charge of the children and sent the party back to Fallow Spire.
    Meanwhile Segial led an Expedition which included Sebastian Kerrigan (Brian Curley) and Esmay against a supply post of the Empire. Kerrigan led the local people in a general uprising against their Imperial oppressors while a Lector of the Empire confronted Segial and Esmay. He demanded to know why the truce had been broken and asked them, as mages, to make decisions on behalf of Kaleth. This discussion quickly broke down and the party returned to Fallow Spire.
    The Undying took a group himself to dispose of a person so good at slaying people that even the Empire feared him, despite the fact this man was working for them. The Rams Head members, which included Turan, bravely fought their way through the Imperial defenders which allowed Tarranar to slay his target.
    Since things had progressed so well on these portals, the Undying decided not to punish Jacko for his audacity. Tarranar also offered up a large number of magic items to the Rams Head to help further their war against the Empire. In this manner Sir Swift (Rich Grey) ended up the magic sword he had sought for so long.
    Other news came to light as the Rams Head awaited the next group of portals. First, many notice that Autumn was covered with strange markings that she claimed was "Wood Elf war paint". It was latter suggested that with the Twilight of Magic, the non-human races were turning into natural things. Wood elves were becoming trees, dwarves to stone, and draekor were becoming fire. All that Autumn knew was that she was becoming weaker and weaker.
    Another noteworthy item was that Sebastian Kerrigan arrived at Fallow Spire in possession of the Reliquary of Mox. In lieu of his year of service to Galen, the once Black Gatekeeper had released him provided he kept the Reliquary until she came for it. This became harder to do when Sarah caught sight of it and vigorously claimed that the Reliquary was "hers". Her protests and demands became so great that the Undying put up a magical barrier between her and Kerrigan.
    Then came the time for another set of portals. Segial took Turan, Liam (Kevin Stein) Stammel (Flake Grendel) Ivan (James Silverstein) and Hunter to retrieve or destroy a weapon that the Empire was searching for. The found themselves in a vast cave complex were large numbers of Imperial soldiers had been slain. Ivan used his powers to speak with the dead and the party was warned a giggling little girl that stalked through the halls. The party encountered this "girl" three times, defeating her with greater difficulty each time. After the third time, the child asked the party if they wanted Despair (the name of the weapon they were searching for). After a moment of silence, Hunter replied "Yes". Whereupon the girl shifted into demonic form and wielded Despair against the party. Fortunately, the group was able to defeat the demon again and it faded away, taking the sword with it.
    Tarranar took Kerrigan, Esmay, Autumn, Swift, Zebadash (James Citta) and Reynn in search of "something" he desired. They came to a crystal cave that housed one of the Menhirs that maintained the Twilight of Magic. While a group of Imperials was busily trying to drain the lake that held the Menhir, a Lector was gleefully torturing an Angel impaled upon a stake. However, upon the party's arrival, the Lector and the Undying slammed into each other with magical force and departed the cavern. This left the Rams Headers to finish off the Imperials and rescue the angel. Upon its removal from the stake, the angel rose up in the glory of the new Dain, which did not sit well with Autumn. The angel and the party exchanged a few words, but it became apparent that "Dain's Glory" was accelerating Autumn's transformation into a tree. The angel agreed to transport them back to Fallow Spire.
    This, however, proved to be quite painful as Fallow Spire had collapsed into ruin after Sarah "ate" the essence of Zaveyn that maintained the tower. While this curbed her desire for the Reliquary, it meant that Autumn's party appeared buried in rubble. In the course of being excavated, Autumn had two of her limbs "snapped" like branches, their ends oozing sap, not blood. Upon learning that normal healing could do nothing for her, Kerrigan called upon the power of Mox within the Reliquary to restore her. Sickened by the evil taint now within her, Autumn gave her true name to Reman so that he could restore her to normal.
    At this point the armies of General Winterborne arrived on the scene and after some explanations, the Rams Head joined his forces to finish off what was left of the Empire on Kaleth.

WAR STORIES: November 1999
(From the Nov 6, 1999 session)

Having pushed the Empire from Kaleth soil, the Rams Head was gathered at Morrigan's Ring as it had been so many times in the past. Unlike the past, however, this time the Rams Head found that the sacred ring and much of the Kerrigan estate were being torn down. The cause was simple... Tarranar had returned and was still intent on using the Rams Head to destroy the Empire. With the power of Fallow Spire having been devoured by Sarah, the Undying required a new base of operations... Morrigan's Ring. He enslaved the local folk and was using them to rebuild Fallow Spire. Despite Terranar's assurance that he would not work them to death, this naturally did not sit well with Sebastian Kerrigan and he stormed out to stop his people. However, while under the Undying's control, stopping a local from doing their work resulted in their death. At a loss for what to do, Kerrigan refrained from interfering further.
    Tarranar now began his campaign to bring about the end of the Empire. First, he sent an Expedition to destroy a scrying tower that informed the Empire about the movements of its enemies. Kayla (Jo Ann Ciszewski), Esmay, Lord FitzRobert (Mike Shoenberger) Gehren (Mike Skyhorse) and Tiberius (Dan Silver) were sent to do this. They fought there way into a storm-hammered tower and past a strange combination lock to the scrying chamber at its top. There they battled a pair of Black Monks and eventually destroyed the strange mechanisms there. Tiberius began to kill the apparently helpless diviners, for which Lord FitzRobert took him to task. Their work done, the party fled the tower just as a giant sea serpent began to smash it into rubble.
    Tarranar then sent another Expedition including Aladremmory-Bex (Doug Tabb) Caladan (Stan Laff), and Turan to bargain with "the Crone" for an item which would nullify some of the protections in the Keep of the Undying. The party fought their way through creatures of moss and muck to reach the Crone's home in a dismal swamp. The Crone agree to give them the item Tarranar desired, in return for their aid in removing a troll which prevented her from gathering herbs in a portion of the swamp. The party found the troll, but instead of fighting it, discovered that it was guarding a torn stuffed animal. The party was able to convince the troll to let them repair the doll, after which the troll turned into a small girl. Caladan took the girl under his protection and the group returned to Morrigan's Ring.
    Meanwhile, Dreams Laughing (Dave Simpkins) had become concerned about his teacher and mentor, Risisin Oreth (Dave Simpkins). His spirit guide informed him that the Undying's manipulations of Morrigan's Ring had endangered Risisin's life. Dreams Laughing gathered some of the Rams Head including Autumn, Kerrigan, Knight Commander Owl, Andor (Rob Wilson) Meredith (Eileen Malony) and Tiberius to help him "map" the shadow roads that would lead to Risisin. Many of these brave souls lost their way while exploring the shadow roads, but were found and recovered by a mysterious figure known as Ghast (Alex Grey). Ghast then spent the rest of his time going about making offers to members of the Rams Head, which upset Andor and Meredith greatly.
    Hunter then received a note from an unseen source. She recruited Kayla, Turan, Gehren, Kariel, and Caladan to accompany her on a special Expedition to rescue Kantor. They came upon a Dainite sanctuary that had been despoiled by Dark Elves. In true Dark Elf fashion, the party members were subjected to a number of moral and ethical "tests". In true Rams Head fashion, the party rejected the choices they were offered and came up with their own solution... combat. Hunter soon discovered that the leader of these Dark Elves was none other than Sabrae. After failing to bend Hunter to her views, Sabrae ordered Hunter's execution. A Dark Elven Bladesong adept came forward to do the deed, but Hunter called forth her own blade and the battle was joined, ending with Hunter's victory. Shocked, Sabrae sought to escape but was cut down by Hunter before she could do so. The party then found and freed Kantor as well as all the other slaves within the place. Any Dark Elves were either slain or escaped.
    While Hunter was assembling her party, Tarranar announced it was time to assault the Keep of the Undying in the very heart of the Empire. Stammel and Ivan (who had been possessed by the spirit of the pantheist Saint Bax) had been summoned by the gods and could not assist. Therefore, this task fell to Alad, Gwenneth (Melinda Theilbar) Esmay, Sarah, and Lord FitzRobert. Tarranar gave them a special word that, if spoken in the right place, would undo the spells that maintained his Undying enemies. After giving each of them a "taste" of his being, the rogue Undying sent them into the Empire. The Rams Head party did well until they came to an underground lake, where a guardian spirit defeated and translocated both Alad and FitzRobert. Sarah was able to use her abilities to slow the spirit down while Gwenneth and Esmay found a boat the trio escaped onto the strange waters. Rather than chance stirring up something unpleasant by using the oars, Sarah offered up her dress to be used as a makeshift sail.
    Back at Morrigan's Ring, Alad despaired that the rest of his party was doomed to die in the Empire. The mysterious Ghast now stepped forward and offered to "help", which Alad accepted. The demonspawn was returned to the Keep of the Undying, but with his demon side virtually in control. This gave Alad the strength to defeat large numbers of Imperial guards and rejoin with Sarah, Esmay, and Gwenneth. Together they found the right place and spoke the word. The magical revenge of Tarranar was released and the Keep of the Undying fell to ruin. The party returned to Morrigan's Ring where Tarranar, apparently true to his word, crumbled to dust now that the Undying and the Empire had been defeated.
    Meanwhile, Dreams Laughing had assembled a map of the shadow roads that led to Risisin. He took Autumn, Hunter, Kayla, Tiberius, and Esmay along these roads to release his mentor. The first shadow road led them to a chasm where spider-spirits were under attack by vile gnomes. The party defeated the gnomes which allowed the spiders to finish repairing the road. With the job complete, the spiders flowed into one and gave each of the party members a small sphere to help protect them on the shadow roads. The party then traveled to a crossroad where they found a third of Risisin's spirit.
    The second shadow road led to a huge and ugly beast that was devouring the roadway. Its thick armor withstood the efforts of the rest of the party, but Dreams Laughing was able to delivered the fatal blow with his quarterstaff. With the creature's defeat, the road was restored and the party found yet another crossroad and another portion of Risisin.
    The third shadow road led to place where a mischievous spirit had knotted several roads together so that travelers would come to him. The party played games with it and eventually convinced it to restore the roads in exchange for a gift from each of them. In this way the party reached the final crossroad and Risisin's spirit was restored.
    While Risisin was being saved, Ivan/Bax recruited Stammel, Gehren, Alad, and Gwenneth to accompany him on an Expedition to the hidden leader of the Druids. Fighting their way through wolves, elements, and a great beast of nature the party finally arrived at the World Tree. It was dead but had a young sapling now growing alongside it. Ivan/Bax negotiated a deal with the Druid leader and returned to perform a special pantheist ceremony.
    Prior to the return of Ivan's party, however, Prelate Kedrick (Tom Dowd) and King Jurel (Chad Brinkley) met with the rest of the Rams Head. The Prelate attempted to explain the nature of the universe and the place of the new Dain within it. Kedrick said that there was an Architect, a being of power that had not only created the world but the pantheon as well. The new Dain, having failed to make headway with the pantheon, went to the Architect for help. The Architect gave to Dain the Torus of Creation, an item that allowed Dain to reshape the world. Fueled by the prayers of the "common man", Dain would overtime use the Torus to rid the world of magic and non-humans. Kedrick was apologetic but firm in his belief that this was Dain's will. Understanding that this would undoubtedly lead to attacks upon not just Dainites but the Menhirs that maintained the Twilight of Magic, Kedrick explained that the "faithful" and the Menhirs would be moving into the newly green Desolation, now to be called Haven. Moving the Menhirs would concentrate their power, thus lifting the Twilight from the rest of the world but imposing a completely magic-free zone within Haven. Unless the prayers of the common man changed, Kedrick explained, the rest of the world would slowly become like Haven. Kedrick and the faithful then departed to move the Menhirs, an act that restored magic to the rest of the land, effectively ending the Twilight of Magic.
    Ivan's party returned at this time to find heroes to perform a ceremony that would bring and bind the Pantheon to the World of Man. When told Kedrick's story, Ivan/Bax countered that Dain had not been given the Torus of Creation, but had stolen it instead. This news prompted a number of the Rams Head to participate in the ritual, including Alad, Gwenneth, Stammel, FitzRobert, Kayla, and Esmay. Each participant entreated a member of the Pantheon and made a small offering to them, with some interesting results. Kayla was transformed into an actual dwarf. Alad was transformed into a human being. And Stammel was actually slain, but restored by Ivan/Bax. With the completion of the ritual, the gods of the Pantheon were returned and bound to our world.
    Lastly, Hunter organized a party to go through Morrigan's Ring to Paralor, land of the High Elves. However, once within sight of the city, they could tell something was wrong. The once bright crystal spires were cracked and smoking. A group of Dark Elves with odd machines were destroying the roads. While the rest of her party urged for a retreat, the sight stunned Hunter long enough for a party of Dark Elves to find them and attack. Despite her Bladesong ability, Hunter was shot with a hand cannon and would have died but for Gehren who stabilized her. Dreams Laughing, who had taken Risisin's place on this side of Morrigan's Ring, negotiated the party's release. The Dark Elves agreed to let them go but warned that the roads to Paralor were now closed.

POV: Gwenneth
(written by Melinda Theilbar)

"I give to you a taste of my wrath."
    The Undying touched me, and I felt the unfamiliar emotion spread through me like a sickness. I didn't think I would be able to bear it, but a moment later it felt natural, as if a part of me had embraced his vengence and taken it as my own. I wanted to hurt the Empire, make them pay for all they had done. I wanted to kill a hundred of them for every hopeless face and every dead man I had seen over the past two years. They deserved more than death; they deserved anguish. They deserved to know... Then even that faded. I shivered as I realized what I had been thinking and almost stumbled as Alad put his hand on my shoulder and urged me through the portal.
    We were dreadfully outmatched. Even with the Empire's watchtower gone and most of their troops elsewhere, the minimal defenses left were enough to kill us. If not for Esmay's quick thinking, she, Sara, and I would be at the bottom of a lake of monsters. If not for the terrible price Alad was willing to pay to come back and help us, the Empire's soldiers would have killed us before we could reach our goal.
    In all the time I have known him, Alad has never frightened me. Until that day. I didn't know I was in love with him until I thought I saw him die, and I didn't know what it meant to love him until I saw him again. I would have stayed despite the changes, but now, by the grace of Amagon, Alad is fully human, and we have nothing to fear. The Empire is destroyed, Tyrranor the Undying is dead, Kaleth's magic has been restored, and I am finally going home.
    All is well, but for reasons I can't explain, I am frightened. Perhaps I have only now realized how awful the past year has been. Perhaps I will be well after I have had a chance to see my family and rest. Or perhaps the real work has only begun. I have met a man who believes all mages are evil. I know there was a time when most people believed that, and I fear it may return. The Empire was evil. The Empire used magic. It is not a long walk from there to the conclusion that magic is evil. I have seen a world without magic, and even if I were not a mage, it would have disgusted and frightened me. The new Daine has the power to make our world that way if enough of the people pray for it.
    Perhaps someone should tell them that a lord, two mages, a demon-spawn, and a young woman who claims the most evil thing I know of as a part of her, dealt the Empire its final blow.

TIBERIOUS
(written by Dan Silver)

Although I awoke as a slave
the dark angel came to save
the day, he who lurks in the night
which you should take care or receive his smite
with the capability to smell
souls deserving the fate of hell
when the boy, Darius is in fright
it is the killer, the demonspawn who wins the fight
and sara who is confused and distraught
is safer now in the care of the juggernaut
unless you are wanting your own funeral
should be weary of the mighty Karial

NEW RULES TIDBIT

From now on, when Stabilize is used to keep a character alive so that he or she can be Raised in the subsequent Between Time (such as just occurred to Hunter) the dead character cannot be played in the following session.

FROM THE FRONT DESK

If you've been listening carefully over the last few months you've probably heard the sound of a keyboard being beaten into submission. In preparation for the new Millennia and the madness it may bring, Alex has been taking the scalpel and sewing needle to the entire set of Gateway rules. You saw some of the teaser re-writes a few months ago, and you should be seeing more shortly. Keep an eye out (but don't show it to me...)
    Alex has also been working on the Legacy rules, which are a cool new twists that gives you certain "bennies" for retiring your long-term, experienced characters. Watch for those soon.
    In other areas, Flake and Tom have noticed many players growing slack in filling out their end-of-game Between Time forms and/or the web-based Between Time forms. This information is crucial to the game staff and makes our lives much easier when prepping the next sessions. We know there's been some time and place confusion with relation to the last few sessions and can tell you that will be stabilizing, but we still need everyone to pitch in and fill out the paperwork. Also, if for some reason Flake was unable to get a Player List together for a session please put your Favorite Player/NPC votes on the back of you Between Time form. At the October Game only 10 people actually voted.
    Speaking of Favorite Players:

OCTOBER
    Poe (Brian Curley)
    Segial (Doug Tabb)
    Karial (Chad Brinkley)

NOVEMBER 6th
    Alad (Doug Tabb)
    Tiberious (Dan Silver)
    Caladan (Stan Laff)
    Hunter (Vicki Martin)
Congrats to all!

-Tom and Alex, et. al.

This edition of the Gateway Chronicle was created by:

War Stories - Rob Nicholls
POVs: Dan Silver, Melinda Theilbar
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@aol.com)
Game Coordinator: Dawn Nystul (ElvenDawn@aol.com)
Archivist and Chief Gnarly Dude: Dan Grendel (udun@aol.com)
Webmaster: Doug Tabb (dougtabb@aol.com)
Food Coordinator: Kelly Jordine (whimsykell@aol.com)