EyeOfChaos/ChapterThree

Chapter Three - Shadows Above

Thu-Fri, Oct 10-11 2002

• This space intentionally left blank. Seriously. NOTHING HAPPENED.

Sat, Oct 12 2002

• Sacramento, Part Vier.
  • The Return of Granny and the Glass of Water. Poor Dale; at least he'll have that pen for a day or two.
  • Cult of the Serpent: "Don't call us, we definitely won't be calling you--especially not with anything remotely resembling advice. Wink. Nudge."
• Magical noisemakers, missing cats, artifact hunters, 1337 h4x0rz, mortal peril, and (at long last) the Astral Plane.
  • Someone (three someones, to be exact) tosses a bag of WTF into Meredith's backyard. Q: What do rose petals, salt, iron shavings, and a half-eaten communion wafer have in common? A: Oh, look! Your cat's been stolen.
    • Rett and Cylene trace the thieves' past activities to a classy Athens hotel; Cylene engages in a fair bit of mind-rapine, while Rett explains to the desk clerk that he is not, in fact, in town for the Furry convention--whatever that is.
    • The cat (and its nappers) cross the Oregon border doing 85 MPH.
    • Reid, assisted by Meredith's psychic connection to his cat, learns the dangers of using valued possessions in Entropy magic. Meanwhile, Amundsen goes on a chat room and demonstrates her fluency in 13375|>34|<. She is no longer allowed to chastise Meredith for his apparent lack of moral uprightness. Pot, meet kettle.
      • What she told them was *almost* true. Sufficiently advanced cybernetics are indistinguishable from magic?
    • Everyone decides it's a really good idea to attempt to rescue their cat remotely. This idea doesn't look so good after the shooting starts.
    • The h4x0rz finally take Amundsen's advice and call the cops. When the party finally arrives in Eugene, the cops and mages are in a standoff, allowing the party to sneak by and pick up the cat without much further difficulty.
  • On the car ride back, Reid discovers a certain bag in his pocket. This is definitely not a really bad sign.
  • A possessor of Real Ultimate Power waylays the party, and Things Get Hairy.
    • Kinslayer: "I will be taking possession of that cat now."
    • Kinslayer: "Come to think of it, maybe I'll just flip out and kill you all."
    • Meredith: "Damn, I'm awesome." *snaps fingers*
    • The party, the cat, and a blue 1997 Toyota Camry are speedily introduced to the Astral Plane. Reid fears for his backup violin.

Dream Realm, Days 1-8

• Martial arts or marital arts?
  • Misunderstandings, cultural exchange, and double entendres abound. Special guest BawMahNow-er: JeffBrenion. Kelptastic!
• Oddly helpful unicorn-men and oddly sentient fox-bears.
• Cat.... of.... LIGHTNING! Should we retroactively name him "Zot"?
• Blue 1997 Toyota Camry = passage to elven lands + shopping spree (we hope)! SO GOOD!

Dream Realm, Days 8-9

• So. Much. Shopping. The party now owns everything from Cans of Whoop-Ass to the Mind-Rape Kama Sutra. Ph34r.
• The party's going to see the Elves!
  • The "Archivist" (read--"Espionage") House warmly welcomes the travelers (and their dear friend, Professor Meredith, whom they've known for . . . what, 15 days now?) to the Elvish lands, inviting them (and, by grudging extension, their horned guide) to a dinner party, a small gathering of friends. Anyone else concerned?
  • Dinner. Most of the party manages not to cough up too much information. Rett tells of trains, planes, and automobiles, and makes it abundantly clear that he is a sensei, not a hentai. (why does this keep happening to me!?) Meredith loses.

Dream Realm, Day 10

• Death threats! Freud would have a field day with Edward Reid.
• It comes to Reid's attention that he is now a necromancer. (As if he needed another reason for the party to want him dead . . .)
• The party meets Nolorian, quite possibly the most badass living mage in the Vale. He is awesome.
• It comes to Rett's attention that he's got Issues. (Not to mention a tracking spell, which Nolorien eernts.) The score, for those of you keeping track at home, is now 30-Love Emissary.

Dream Realm, Day 11

• More different death threats!
  • DM talks to self!
  • One oddly helpful unicorn-man forgets what he was going to say. The Morning Kingdom is not amused.
• The party makes Nolorian cry.
• Amundsen wanders off into the Wilderness to hunt for bricks and abandoned arsenals. Featuring a dramatic comeback performance by the King Squirrel!
• Nolorian pulls an all-nighter. Look, shiny protection spells!

Dream Realm, Day 12

• Quoth the Wilderness: Ask, and ye shall Receive. Amundsen and Rett are Unsettled.
• Coach Rett makes Amundsen sad. This, in turn, makes Coach Rett sad. See if he ever pseudo-confides-with-much-hemming-and-hawing in Amundsen again!
• StephGrush prematurely ends the campaign. SEE EyeOfChaos/AprilOneUniverse
  • Yes, this has been confirmed to be a(n awesome) April Fools' Day prank. You may now breathe.
• THE PARTY ENTERS THE VASSEN WASTES.
  • For Meredith's amusement: it's been 17 days since the Silver City fell.

DR 13: Vassen Wastes, Day 2

• Look! Horsies!

DR 14-20: Vassen Wastes, Days 3-9

• Party gets temporarily mindraped. Cameo appearance by the April 1st ending!
• More elves. They ain't doin' too good.
• The Second Ward: The cat still is.
• The Third Ward: Reid tosses his stash.
• Everyone is so very sleep-depped.
• Hey, it's the guy from that song!
• The guy from that song is awakened (yet). He even gets a horse.
• THE PARTY ENTERS THE NIGHTMARE REALM. (It may, fittingly, be Halloween on the Real Plane--confirmation, anyone?)
• omg wtf shadow-dragons cliffhanger otp

Nightmare Realm, Days 1-3?

• The party sucks at fighting shadow-dragons. At least they suck less at falling to their deaths!!!1
• Shadow creatures should be vulnerable to light, yeah? Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
• (Unending) Legions of Nightmare troops = bad things to fall on.
• Meredith's drake a splode.
• Door to Volen's castle -- now with more tentacles! No more planar weapons or Dust of Souls for us.
• More different zombie elves. The Hunting Party may be beyond help.
  • Decent people shouldn't think too much about that.
• WWII-era scientists are not like that guy from A Wrinkle in Time, really.
• At last, the party meets the Lord of Night. He's...bemused to see us?
• Cabin fever, telepathic conference calls, 17-sided polygons of horse blood, and the Song That Never Ends. Did we mention "cabin fever?"
• Amundsen attempts to psychoanalyze the Lord of Night.
• Volen decides to give the party to his torturer, for lack of anything else interesting to do with 'em.

Nightmare Realm, Days 3-4??

• Official Nightmare Torture Session #1. Details are unsuitable for public consumption.
• The Lord of Night gives the party's weapons back, in an attempt to prove a point that is (intentionally) lost on Amundsen.
• Everyone gets a crash course in situational ethics, courtesy of the Lord of Night and a mortal plot to bring about 9/11 with a side order of Chernobyl. Much angst ensues.
• It seems that the Lord of Night is of two minds about his brother. A path to victory, or an elaborate ruse? Meanwhile, C.S. Lewis turns over in his grave on general principles.
• The party sacrifices its principles for the East Coast. The East Coast better damn well be thankful.
  • I like how no one has pointed out to me that Illinois is not technically the east coast. But "east coast" is much like "entire eastern half of the United States."
  • It should be noted that the number of principles sacrificed varied widely by party member, from "none" to "most of them" to "what principles?".
• To summarize: Best. Session. Evar. Oh, and the DM is a bastard; but you knew that already.
• The party plays Kill Doctor...Really Pretty Unlucky.
• Party proceeds to trap a fey-wolf, flee a blob, hang out with the Lord of Night, and free Kaiel (the guy from the song) during a late SuperMovieNight? session. No squirrels this time, though.
• The party fails to reclaim Reid's stash, then fails to play leapfrog with a pair of teleporting Goblets of EERNT. Amundsen discovers that even with additional vowels, barbecue sauce makes poor burn ointment.
• Amundsen and Rett play teeball. A lot. Attempts to be overly cute are curtailed when they realize that pissing off the walls of a Nightmare Castle is probably not a good way to remain healthy.
• Amundsen lays the verbal smack-down on the Lord of Night. Truly, it is Awe-Inspiring; made more so by the fact that he storms off rather than slaughtering the party on the spot. Score one for the visiting team!
• Cylene gets lost in a zombie-elf. She reassures herself that the party is, in fact, human.
• Zombie-elf herding, courtesy of Kaiel and the Jewel of the Western Sea.
• More angst: Amundsen attempts to psychoanalyze her fellow party members. Cylene's respect for Coach Rett continues to decrease . . .

Nightmare Realm, Day 5? (when is it, anyway?)

• More different Volen! Apparently it's a good thing that Pandora's Box wasn't thrown into the sea.
• Holy Shit. (NeedsRewriting)
• (a sketchy attempt at summarizing follows, but it was a lot of stuff)
  • Party continues their efforts to get their stuff out of a magically-locked room, succeeds in blowing up the room and possibly its occupants. Volen is so very unamused.
  • (needs more stuff...)

Dream Realm, Day 26

• Clothing! Medical attention! Food! Sleep!
• Apparently, there really are armies from the Morning Kingdom after the Elves. That darn Emissary.
• There's no place like home!