THE
GATEWAY CHRONICLE
September 1999
Link to August 1999 pictures!
WAR STORIES: August 1999
Having
deciding to attack the Imperial forces entrenched in Western Vathos, the Rams
Head continued to camp about the newly repaired Crusader Citadel in Argoth. A
few days later, while making preparations for the assault, a “point of
terrible glowing darkness” appeared above the Citadel, spitting soul-chilling
winds and terrible lightening. Before anything could be done, several of the
Rams Head members were pulled away from Kaleth.
Those that fell victim to this “sphere of infinite
darkness” found themselves floating in a gray misty nothingness that later
found to be Limbo. For a time, small groups of the Rams Head floated about until
they were attacked by “demons”. But these strange creatures were defeated
and the Rams Head gathered upon an island in the grayish mists. There Segial (Doug
Tabb) explained that they had apparently been the ensnared by a “tangent
gate”, undoubtedly another magical attack by the Empire. But it was either
poorly cast or had insufficient power and thus was out of control. It was then
that the Rams Head met their host upon the island, an enigmatic merchant named
Ezrik (Alex Gray).
Ezrik informed the Rams Head
that they were in Limbo, near a city called Neverwhen. He explained that Limbo
was the gray void that separates all the possible worlds and Neverwhen is were
souls “lost in Limbo” gather for eternity. Fortunately, all the members of
the Rams Head gave the city a wide berth. Ezrik explained that through his
powers of Tarotmancy, he could travel through Limbo to trade on various worlds.
When he noticed the plight of the Rams Head, he used his powers to create the
island upon which they stood.
Ezrik could normally transport
others through Limbo, but only two or three at a time. With over thirty members
of the Rams Head present, it would take far too long for Ezrik to send everyone
home. Worse yet, Ezrik informed everyone that the longer they stayed, the harder
it would become to go back. However, there was another possibility. Ezeck, ever
the merchant, offered the use of his services. The Tarotmancer had a number of
cards representing different people, places, and things. For 50 gold each, he
could send an expedition to what was pictured. He also offered to pay 50 gold to
anyone who would go through the cards and recover items for him to sell later.
This offer spurred a confusing
riot of activity by Rams Head members, with expeditions literally going off in
all directions. Andor the Crusader (Rob Wilson) led a party including
Kayla (JoAnne Ciszewski), Zebadash (James Citta), Esmay (Lis
Shoenberger) and the Dainite Priestess Mina (Corrie Hrubes) off to
save a cursed temple. To their dismay, they discovered the place was the abode
of a nameless evil god and learned that blood-drinking babies were the least of
the abominations there. The expedition eventually returned, but lost Mina in the
process.
Another expedition was led by Sebastian Poe-Kerrigan (Brian
Curley) to find a knight from a non-magical world. Though Ezrik warned that
his friend the knight was probably dead, the expedition set out in search of him
anyway. Kerrigan found the knight’s grave, and over the protests of fellow
party members such as Drea (Lori Ralston) the corpse was recovered and
returned to the camp outside Neverwhen. Kerrigan explained that his intention
was to resurrect the knight so that he could help in the war against the Empire.
But when Ivan (James Silverstein) discovered that the knight’s soul was
resting in the paradise of its faith, the idea of resurrection was rejected.
Malachi (Jason Rownd)
organized a group to go after a spell-book. However, the card for this
expedition failed, and the party members found themselves as ghosts amongst the
others upon Ezeck’s island. When this was discovered, another card was used to
send Malachi’s group to a new place from which they could return in phase with
everyone else.
Still others decided to
adventure without the benefit of company. Despite warnings from Ezrik about not
wandering out into the mists, Stammel (Dan Grendel) created a duplicate
of himself and did just that. He promptly fell unconscious and did not rouse
despite all of Gwen’s (Kelly Jordine) efforts to make him do so. Ivan
summoned a beautiful spirit to go in search of Stammel, but it turns out the
spirit was a succubus (Eileen Malony). Both Ivan and Stammel had to do a
“favor” for the creature in exchange for Stammel’s safe return.
The priest Simon (Bob Hollister) also stepped into
the mists while Segial, believing he had traveled through Limbo before, summoned
a “gate” and he too vanished into the cloudy gray depths. This prompted
Korinth (Dave Simkins) to lead an expedition through a card to “The
Hunter”. After being paid for his services, the Hunter sent Korinth’s party
after Simon while he went after Segial himself. Simon was rescued from a strange
and unsettling world where people wore clothing called “geens” and the
guards were blue-uniformed men wielding non-magical hand-cannons. Segial
appeared in an alternate Kaleth, where the Empire had won the war. As a “great
and powerful mage”, he lived there for six months (his time) in the lap of
luxury before the Hunter retrieved him. Segial returned to the Rams Head in
better attire and with more “interesting” things in his bag.
Meanwhile, Reynn (Rob Nicholls) finally showed up at
the island from the gray mists of Limbo. Upon learning the nature of the
situation from Caladyn (Stan Laff) he organized an expedition to go
through a card to see an Oracle. With Gehren’s warrior-priest brother Orim (Mike
Skyehorse) Charleston (Dan Silver) Paxton (Jason Herr) and the
healer Gweneth (Melinda Theilbar) Reynn met with the tattooed Oracle
called Omen in a circle of stones. Omen agreed to consult the spirits in order
to find out how the Rams Head could all go home. Reynn and his party defended
Omen from unfriendly spirits while he did this. Afterwards, Omen informed them
that they would need the help of an extremely powerful mage and a huge ransom in
order to get home. He also said that their world was rapidly approaching a
crossroads; he unfortunately could not or would not be more specific.
Reynn’s party returned and
informed the rest of the Rams Head of what they had discovered. Ezrik had a card
picturing a mage he said was extremely powerful; Stammel and Caladyn went
through to meet with him. Korinth led another expedition for Ezrik and returned
with a silver flute. Zebadash and others went in search of a bracelet, but found
only mist. Tabitha (Cindy Busch) and Swift (Rich Gray) went to a
storeroom for needed supplies, after which Swift began ransacking the place in
search of treasure. And Esmay (Lis Shoenberger) took a group in search of
an item called the Magician’s Chalice.
During this time several strangers appeared at the Rams
Head. One was a young apprentice named Pip (Dawn Nystul) who had been
flung into Limbo by a wayward spell. Caladyn agreed to take the boy under his
wing.
Another stranger was a woman named Stranee Adeen (Corrie
Hrubes) who apparently was a Limbo-traversing merchant like Ezeck. She
accepted services as well as gold, for after spending a short time with her out
amongst the bushes, Kerrigan was in possession of a Healing potion. It was at
this time that Segial started the rumor that Stranee was actually undead.|
Later a third stranger
appeared. Described as being of “indeterminate character and bathing
habits”, this individual introduced himself as Thresh and was interested in
buy various body fluids “for the collection”. Undoubtedly swayed by the idea
of the ransom that Omen spoke of, several members of the Rams Head sold him
samples of their saliva.
Caladyn and Stammel returned from their meeting. They
reported that the mage would help them return to Kaleth using the remains of the
portal that brought them to Limbo. His price was a collection of five stones in
the possession of Ezeck.
Ezeck, who until this time had
been a gracious host, became a hard-core bargainer. He explained that the mage
had been seeking those stones for half a century and much bad blood existed
between the two of them. Ezrik would accept no less than 200 gold or a permanent
magical item for each stone. When asked about accepting service in lieu of
payment, he gravely replied that he did not think anyone would agree to the
services he would require for a stone.
Reynn set about gathering the required ransom, but found
that after paying for the previous portals, many were loath to part with what
little wealth remained to them. However, some did offer up their last gold piece
or even their most treasured magical item. Faolain (Barb Laff) much to
the annoyance of Reynn, got the exchange off to a start by trading six months
service for the stone called Justice. Gold, platinum, gems, and jewelry all went
to purchase the stones labeled Sobriety, Truth, and Focus. Korinth traded a
non-magical hand-cannon from the strange world for the fifth stone, called
Unity.
Stones in hand, Caladyn and Stammel returned to the mage to
begin the process of getting the Rams Head back to Kaleth. Meanwhile, Segial and
Stranee developed a liking to one another and began questioning people about
their opinions regarding successful relationships.
Also during this time, Ivan led an expedition to complete a
personal quest… delivering a message to the long-missing Volo, first Innkeeper
of the Rams Head Tavern. To his shock and horror, Ivan found the still-living
heads of Volo and Drexus Shendari being tortured by the Black Gatekeeper, Gaelen
(Dawn Nystul). Galen agreed to release Volo and let Ivan deliver his
message, in exchange for Ivan’s life. Ivan agreed and was able to put Volo’s
soul to rest. Galen then summoned Sebastian Kerrigan to her side and called due
a debt of service he had made with her during her last visit to the Rams Head.
Galen handed him a nameless baneblade and ordered him to kill Ivan, which he
did. The other members of Ivan’s expedition returned his body to the Rams Head
in Limbo.
Caladyn and Stammel returned, announcing that the mage was
preparing the necessary spells and that the Rams Head’s remaining time in
Limbo was hopefully short. At this time, Esmay’s expedition returned, sorely
battered and beaten. When Reynn asked about the Chalice, Esmay replied that they
had left it to “the vampires”. Reynn felt it was unnecessary to question her
further.
After this, it was discovered that Ivan was beyond even
Alejandro’s (Jon Marcus) ability to resurrect, since the baneblade had
destroyed most of his soul. The Rams Head had a card from Ezrik that led to a
temple of great healing power, but no funds left to pay for Ivan’s
resurrection. But Segial provided a strange device from his bag, rumored to be a
Chronolabe, that served as payment and Ivan was indeed restored.
With that, the bulk of the Rams Head returned through the
“tangent gate” to almost the exact time and place from whence they left,
taking Pip and Stranee Adeen with them. Faolain stayed behind to fulfill her
oath of service to Ezeck, while Reynn and Simon stayed to have the Tarotmancer
make certain cards. Reynn intended to have Ezrik do a portrait of him, so that
trade could be established between the two wily merchants. Simon, on the other
hand, desired a portrait of his god Ammagon. Apparently, Simon had questions
that he desired to ask of his god directly.
STRONGHOLD: ARE YOU READY?
We are...almost. Stronghold `99 promises to be even
bigger and more spectacular than last year, but we need your help. Planning and
plotting is well underway, but there’s one more “p” we need to maximize
our insidious plan – players. Those of you who are planning to attend need to
let Dawn know as soon as possible. Obviously, the more the merrier, and to that
end we need you to beat the bushes for new players, or old one’s who haven’t
been around in a while, that want to enjoy the fun with us. Stronghold is begin
enough to fit as many players as we can throw at, so start recruiting now.
The other thing we need is volunteers, not only for all or
part of the session, but for before it as well. We’ll need help gathering
props, making costumes, devising and constructing traps...uh, entertainment for
the event, as well as in areas we’ve only begun to think about. If you’ve
got time to help out please let Dawn know as well.
STRONGHOLD `99 is at the Stronghold fortified manor house in
Oregon Illinois. It is an overnight event beginning on Saturday, December 11th
and continuing on through the afternoon of Sunday, December 12th. The site fee
is expected to be $40, which should include most if not all food as well as
bunkhouse style lodging.
DOING YOUR PART
You’ve probably noticed the Chronicle is a little
short this time.
Well, there’s no Rumor Mill (you’ll get enough gossip
in-game) but there are also no Points of View. Why? We didn’t receive any for
this issue. Its been said by many players that the Chronicle is the one way they’re
able to stay in touch with everything that’s going on in the game. Well, the
only way everything that’s going on in the game is going to be in the
Chronicle is if you put it there. Rob “martyr” Nicholls was kind enough to
volunteer to pick up the responsibility of putting together the War Stories
section every month, but we need more people to pitch in. We could use
game-relevant poems, (very) short stories, character profiles, points of view,
or pretty much anything related you thing other players would find interesting.
So please, pitch in. Let Tom (GatewayGM@aol.com) know what
you are interested in contributing, and you are on your way.
LOCATION IS EVERYTHING
We love the Hollywood House, especially its new floor,
but we are still actively looking for new and exciting locations to hold the
Gateway game. We’ve been looking for a while now, and though we’ve found one
or two interesting locations (read: expensive) we need more options. So, since
simple begging hasn’t worked we’re going to resort to bribery – if you
find a location that we use in a game we’ll give you Karma (the cooler the
place the more Karma you get) and if the place is really cool we
may even kick in an extra special gift or two (Wanna magic sword? Special power?
Now’s your chance!) Ain’t we shameless?
Now there’s no excuse. Find a place. Get stuff. It’s the
American way.
AND YOUR FAVORITE PLAYERS WERE...
...for the August 1999 Session -
Ivan (James Silverstein)
Segial (Doug Tabb)
Caladan (Stan Laff)
And your favorite NPCs (in multiple roles) for the second month in a row were Dawn Nytsul and Corrie Hrubes
Congrats all!
This edition of the Gateway Chronicle was created by:
Rob NichollsWar Stories –
The Gateway Chronicles Staff
Creator and Gamemaster: Alex Grey (neverwhen@earthlink.net)
Gateway Chronicles (c) 1999 Alex Grey