(G234 13/03/2015 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, MI) 30

(G234 13/03/2015 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, MI) 30

DAY 94 (mon) cont ..

Mioen did take some of the others back into the hulk to check out how strong the Vidiian defences were
but thought better of it when she saw they were still armed and dangerous.

So the Tereshkova returned to Voyager and arrived back 1930 hours ship time.

They had managed to capture Belleth the Vidiian surgeon and rescued the following:

4 Bedean males
2 Bedean females
2 Numiri males
3 Babj-ijo females
Captain Akar - a Xeon mercenary

Everyone reported to the medical bay on arrival and kept the Doctor very busy for the rest of the night
as most of them were injured or ill.

While he was getting patched up Kirk was visited by Ensign Munro who came in to rib him in a friendly
sort of way, along the lines of 'Started any wars lately?'

Mioen didn't like this sort of behaviour at all though and 'suggested' to Munro that she be more humble.
It must have worked because Munro was nicer to Kirk, then smiled and left.


DAY 95 (tue)

Kirk was still in med bay when Ensign Kim was bought in at 0500 hours. He was tired and concerned for
Tom Paris. He had just been interrogated for two days straight by the Banean authorities who thought
that Tom had murdered an eminent scientist called Tolen Ren.

As a result of this Voyager entered orbit around the Banean home system not long after.

At 1700 hours Kirk was discharged from medbay and went to the messhall to get something to eat. Here
he bumped into Munro again, who was still very humble. She told him that she was about to take the
Aeroshuttle out on a mission to the Numiri home system but could say no more than that.

That evening Mioen practiced her Astral Projection powers, a new ability she had only recently mastered.
After she'd followed some people around and noseyed into some cabins (including Seska) she spent the rest
of the evening doing some drawings.

Kirk worked on his pet projects.

At 2000 hours there was a red alert and since neither of them were assigned to duty yet they stayed in
their cabins. From what was reported to them via the internal messaging system Voyager was attacked
by two Numiri warships but that Chakotay used an 'Old Maquis Trick' on them and disabled their engines.

At 2100 hours the Red Alert was stopped.


DAY 96 (wed)

At 0700 Mioen reported to a Communications Course and spent the rest of the day in training, while Ensign
Kirk reported for duty at the Deck 6 Armoury.

At 1600 hours though he was ordered to report to Tuvok who had a mission for him. Here he also met Captain
Aker the Xeon mercenary.

Below is a transcript of some of the briefing:

''
While I prepare the case for the defence of Tom Paris I have also been looking at gathering clandestine
evidence from the Numiri home system. Twenty-four hours ago I sent out Ensign Munro and the Aeroshuttle
to meet a contact at a Numiri colony planet called Navamore. This was a Banean spy called Harvin Hala.
This contact had told us that a Numiri intelligent agent that he knew of would be able to give the name
of the Banean traitor that had framed Paris.

From there the Aeroshuttle traveled, in disguise, to the home system of Jastronel. Twelve hours ago
I was contacted by Hala to regretfully inform me that the shuttle and its crew had been captured.

I need you to go to Navamore, contact Hala and arrange to get to Jastronel. You will have to not only
find the Numiri intelligent agent, but also rescue the crew of the Aeroshuttle.

I know I am asking a lot of you. But from your profile and track record I feel you are a good choice
for this type of mission. Take Captain Akar with you and the Tereshkova.

Captain Akar is familiar with the Numiri and will prove useful to you.

If you succeed in this I will recommend you once more become the commander of the Aeroshuttle.

There is one more thing I should tell you. I suspect that the Aeroshuttle crew were betrayed by an
agent working for Hala. Keep alert for signs of treachery when he prepares you for the mission to
Jastronel.
''

They didn't waste any time in kiting out the Tereshkova again and getting to the Navamore Trade Station,
arriving at 1800 hours Voyager time.

They then met up with Harvin Hala at a hotel that seemed to be being used as a base of operations for a
Banean spy ring. Hala was in disguise as a Numiri.

He offered them refreshments and went over the plan:


''
This is all very cloak and dagger I'm afraid. It's a dreadful shame your previous crew were captured
and I suspect treachery played a part somewhere. I will be sending you with some of my own agents this
time. I'll introduce you to them later.
The Numari are desperate for the weapons tech that was being developed by Ren and will stop at nothing
to get it. Using your Tom Paris as a scapegoat is exactly how they like to operate.

We are sure the brains behind the scheme is an intelligence officer called Major Jonahh Midscht.
Currently he is in the Loss Shadler Castle attending a meeting of army chiefs. Get to him though and you'll
be able to squeeze the name of his agents out of him.

He'll be in the process of squeezing your crew I should think, so the sooner you can get to them the
better. From our spy satellite reports I can tell you that your shuttle is close to the castle.

Once I've introduced you to the others I'll go over the details of the plan ...
''

The other spies were introduced to them, all Banean's that were disguised as Numiri:

Arvik Ariel - Subspace radio operator (male)
Bras Gorom  - Explosives (male)
Treem Carin - Sniper (male)
Wijy Kone   - Communications (female)
Yona Hoom   - Heavy Weapons (male)

The final part of the preparation was to disguise Kirk and Akar as Numiri. This involved lying down in
a machine that altered them physically to look more like the lizard skinned Numiri. They would visually
appear to be Numiri for about a week now and even fool simple medical checks. A medical scanner would
show them up as spies though.

Feeling groggy after the change they went back to the docks and boarded a Banean stealth shuttle at
2300 hours. They were soon in low orbit over the Numiri home world, getting ready to make their jump.

DAY 96 (thu)

They used self deploying halo jump shutes. They were not the easiest things to get to grips with and
they had only received five minutes training but both Kirk and Akar managed adequately and landed in the
snow without any mishap.

Bras Gorom approached them and said,
'Did you see where Arvik landed?'

They found Arvik Ariel dead in some trees, his shute had deployed but his neck was broken. Wijy Kone
took his radio and they made their way to a foresters hut. They were high up on the side of a steep
snowy mountain but the hut provided them enough shelter to get some sleep in.

At 0100 hours Wijy checked the subspace radio and reported it had been broken beyond repair.
Kirk tried his comms badge 'Kirk to Aeroshuttle!'
But Wijy slapped his hands away, 'Has that been security checked? Is is safe? You'll have an entire
Numiri regiment down on us!'
'Oh yea, I suppose', grumbled Kirk.

0600 hours
After a brief rest they headed down to the village. As they were walking down suddenly Akar slumped
into the snow and had a vision...

''
You are in a darkened room. A shadowy figure enters holding a gun. You cannot see their face.
You step backwards in fear and hold your hands up in surrender. The figure pulls the curtains
across the window to their right hand side and shoots!
You slump to the floor and then darkness..
''

Akar awoke with a start. When the others asked what happened she relayed her dream. Kirk helped
her up and they continued on their way.

Once on the main road the going was easier and they saw a lot of military traffic going up and
down the snow covered road, even this early in the morning.

0700 hours
The Banean agents they were with told them that the contact was within the tavern at the centre
of the village. They passed through a checkpoint and gave over their papers. Everything passed
inspection.

It was still too early for the tavern to be open so they walked around the village and saw the
big castle further up the valley and the cable car station that was the only way to reach it.

The village itself was small and made up just a dozen or so houses around the tavern, townhall
and a few shops. The rest of the buildings were warehouses and sheds that had a military feel
to them.

They followed the road a little around the castle to the north, but as they were being nearly
run over by trucks every time one passed they turned back. They found an early morning bakery
in the town square to have breakfast in.

0930 hours
The tavern was now open. Kirk and Aker entered, leaving the Banean spies outside. It was already
quite busy with numiri soldiers and locals drinking and eating breakfast. It was entered via
a set of steps that lead down into its main room.
Their contact was a Numiri female called Yernah that would be wearing a green dress with an
orange flower. She would be serving drinks.

Kirk spotted her, but had not been given a password so he went back outside and talked to
Bras who told him,
'We have a situation here.'
'Oh yeah?'
Treem Carin was dead, his body tucked in behind a pile of wood. Kirk decided to leave that
for now and with the password went back into the tavern and approached Yernah.

Before he could do that though he had to sit down as he had a vision:

''
You are sat at a desk. You sense someone behind you but are too afraid to turn around. A gruff
deep voice behind you whispers 'Now you die!' and you feel hands around your neck. You struggle
but the hands are too strong. You pass out and know no more...
''

Once he'd recovered from that he greeted Yernah with the correct password, but just as she was about
to start talking to him and Akar an officer and four soldiers entered the tavern.
The officer stood at the top of the stairs and shouted,
'Everyone stay where they are! We are searching for some deserters, please have your papers ready for
inspection!'
Kirk and Akar decided to wait at their table, but when the officer, a Major, checked their papers
he yelled at them, 'Ok you two, come with me!'
Kirk protested but they were to hand over their weapons. Instead Kirk dropped a grenade at the officers
feet and made a dash for the kitchen.

Two of the officer's soldiers and several more who were in the tavern and armed went after him and a bloody
firefight ensued. Numiri weapons are phasers, but they have no stun setting and the pulses explode on impact
leaving holes in concrete, wood, flesh, anything that they hit.

Akar stayed at her table, dodging left and right, ducking behind tables and things and being impossible to
hit as she took out one soldier after another with her two phase pistols. But the numiri soldiers realised how
agile she was and stepped back to throw grenades at her. After a couple of injuries from this she joined
Kirk in his dash across the kitchen and out the back door.

The firefight was brutal and bloody. They ran out into the back yard, shooting and throwing grenades. They
were both injured from the return fire now and in need of an escape route. From what they found outside though
they were jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire!

(G235 20/03/2015 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, Mira, Guru)

(G235 20/03/2015 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, Mira, Guru)

[GM note : All players present so back to the main game!]

DAY 226  (23 Marpenoth)(October) cont...

So where was I? A yes, the fight at the 'Monastery of the Ebon Dome'. To recap then, we were here in
the Plane of Shadows, following a trail of evil that had started at the temple of Mystra in Weyloon,
Cormyr and lead us into the Vast Swamp and the Lost Refuge.
Eager to rescue the people kidnapped by the followers of evil gods Cyric and Shar, we were now deep
into the Plane of Shadows. The party consisted of myself, Rollo, a druid, my cousin Sylvia, a cleric,
a halfling rogue called Mirabella and a boisterous paladin called Gurudor.
Mirabella had recently contracted lycanthropy, but had yet to manifest itself.

Right oh then. Fighting.

Sylvia took a moment to drink a healing potion since all her magic was now gone, or most of it anyway
and certainly all the powerful stuff. The bat swarm was still being an annoyance though and nibbling
away at both of us.

As I was picking bats out of my hair I saw Gurudor's horse jump in through a window and then the paladin
himself. I directed my army of crocodiles and lions to join him in the attack on the denizens of this area.

Mirabella killed the person she was fighting and I stepped back, waited until everyone was clear and wiped
out the swarm of bats with a Frost Breath spell. A few stunned bats survived and flapped off to do whatever
stunned bats do and no longer played a part in the battle.

Outside the two lions caught the teifling runner as he tried to enter the building via another entrance.
The pulled him down and partially ate him before they unsummoned.

It was all rather chaotic and confusing in the darkness, but from shouts and shining lights we established
that all our foes were now dead except for the woman who was making a run for it all the way around the
north side of the building.

Gurudor caught up with her on his horse and leapt off as she ran down the east side. She cast a spell on
the horse and attacked our paladin. Gurudor swung but she ran off again.

Unluckily for her though I had just rounded the north east corner and was just within range to use my
last powerful spell - Hypothermia. She froze to the spot like an icy statue, stone dead.

The fight was over then. We gathered and searched the bodies. There were four human guards, the 'Howler'
beast, the Teifling that had been snacked on by lions and the human woman that I'd frozen.

In their quarters we found some books and two parchments.

The first of revealed that the woman I'd just iced was called Ethar and the letter read:

"Most honored Watchful Skull, Blackwill Akhmelere,

Greetings from your bloody hand, Skull Servant Ethar. As expected, the Sharrans hide their secrets well, but I
did discover something that might lead us to understanding their ultimate plan. We aid them in their ritual to
create a field of dead magic over the Vast Swamp. Obviously, this is to their advantage as only Shadow magic works
within these spaces, but claiming the swamp as a base of operations seems foolish. This incongruity bothered me,
and I prayed to the Black Sun to grant me knowledge of their plans. I received no vision, but while living here
in one of their old monasteries I discovered the piece of parchment I’ve attached with this letter, praise be to
Cyric. I believe it to be the writings of a monk that once lived in the Monastery of the Ebon Dome.

It seems the Sharrans have a secret Roll of Years. Of its origin or accuracy, I can say nothing, but some names
seem uncannily close to the history we have witnessed – perhaps even more so than those penned by the Lost Sage,
Augathra the Mad. You can see that the Black Chronology seems to span a mere 34 years, but perhaps there is more
not revealed by this scrap of parchment. Reading the “Book of the Black” might explain more and tell us what the
Sharrans truly plan.

I could not find more writings like this one despite a week of searching. I made subtle inquiries with the
Sharrans and Despayr. Despayr seemed to know nothing, but with his kind, it is always hard to tell. The other
Sharrans said they did not know what I meant, but talked about how the monks at this monastery went mad – but
I sensed some wariness in their postures.

I think we need to find this Book of the Black and "
''

The next parchment read:

''
The shadows fall properly and others signs make it more clear. At long last, the Black Chronology is
coming to fruition.
I trust in the shadows that dance at the edge of my sight, for Shar enfolds me in her dark embrace.  I can with
some authority claim that this year, 750, is indeed the Year of the Lost King.  I know that the events prophesied in
the Book of the Black will soon come to pass.

Behold the Roll of Years and its Shadow.  In due time we shall all bear witness to the unfolding Shar’s greatest work.
''

There then followed a long list of dates.

What in the name of sanity were these people up to? A field of dead magic in the Vast Swamp? This woman Ethar
was a cleric of Cyric then and even she didn't know what the Shar lot were up to. Who was Despayr? What was
his kind? A feeling of dread began to burn into my heart.

In the teiflings room (his name had been Zertharmas) we found a book on Mystra that he had been
reading and annotating. One of the notes read:

''
You think so, do you? Won't you be surprised when it all unravels? Note to self; DIscover
how dead magic affects your powers. Ethar will no doubt be useless. Ask Despayr? his offer
is tempting, but how would Cyric look upon it? Perhaps a consultation with the fiendish
powers is in order?
''

The woman's room was quite plush and well appointed. In the room there was a chest that Mira opened.
She had to dodge a blob of acid as it was shot at her though.

From the eastern side of the building a trail lead down to a black void on the other side of which
we could see another gloomy building lit by a single lantern.

We were all exhausted from our second round of combat in this unholy place but at least the area
was clear now and we could get some decent rest.

Gurudor insisted on dealing with the bodies first though and built a funeral pyre and burnt them.
I would have liked to have had a look at the teifling, but at least I had a good poke about inside
the Howler.

The rest of the day was spent bandaging wounds and repairing arms and armour. I spent a lot of time
scanning and reading sections of the books that we had looted from our slain enemies rooms. Some
were just nonsense but a few of them were pretty good books on magic, the planes, and fiends.

DAY 227 (24 Marpenoth)

Once Sylvia was awake she used most of her magic to heal everyone, including those that had been
hit by draining spells. Once everyone was healed though we decided to wait another day.

I spent some of the day dissecting and drawing what was left of the Howler and the Kir-Lanan guards, the
flappy things that had attacked us when we had first arrived.

I spent the rest of the day reading. The others mainly just seemed to relax and eat their way though
the monastery's food supplies.

Quote #5

(G232 27/02/2015 via Roll20 - MI(GM), JF) (SWN 1)

(G232 27/02/2015 via Roll20 - MI(GM), JF) (SWN 1)

[GM note : As AP was not playing we had a quick game of Stars Without Numbers with MI as the GM. This is JF
still doing the write up though.]

Meanwhile, in another place...

This tale of adventures in time and space begins on a quiet little planet called Luminus. It was technologically
advanced enough to be putting ships out into deep space and to be colonising and exploiting nearby systems.

It was ruled by an Empress, a monarch at the head of a very rigid social structure much like the Victorian period
of Great Britain. Our tale concerns a young university professor of Astrophysics who was working on an orbital
facility above the huge jungle planet of G6 in the Bodem system. His name was Professor Kramp Montrino.

He was there on behalf of a university back on Luminus to conduct field research in really complex space science
stuff. The Luminans were an industrious lot and not held back by any concerns of environment or harming it,
the orbital colony was there to gather resources and send them back to the home planet without any concern other
than how fast it could be done.

The orbital, then, was a space station called 'Tripod' and its primary purpose was to exploit the unique layers of
gases surrounding G6. It's secondary function was as a base for scientific research. The space station was watched
over by an AI called Galactron.

G6 was what was known as in the region as a 'legendary planet', consisting of a very large but life supporting
atmosphere and inhospitable jungle everywhere on the surface except at the equator which was desert. The unusual
atmosphere of the planet was so deep that it made it appear to be the size of a small gas giant from the outside.

The middle layer of the atmosphere was of the most interest to the Luminans as it contained a series of gases
unknown the them. The outer layer was harvested for MES treatments (Psychic Mutation) and the manufacture of
battle drugs. This layer also attracted a criminal element to the planet who were known as R.A.T's to the
locals and an ever present danger.

Tripod was positioned in the middle layer. Montrino was part of a research team that worked for the company that
owned the station, Lakeland Asset Acquirement. The team consisted of Senior Professor Yankrup Brainquip, Junior
Professor Kramp Montrino and eight students.

Their primary research was into a mysterious gas that could produce chemical reactions that interfered
with gravity.

Montrino found Professor Brainquip to be loud, smelly, obnoxious and in possession of a big dirty beard.
He longed to rid himself of Brainquip and lead the team himself.

The students that he could be bothered to identify as individuals were Lance Wixom, a mature student and
former maintenance guy looking to improve himself, Ashley, a dark skinned remote islander that would often
plagiarise the other students and had three boyfriends and finally Ruben Sheard , a fat young man who
was lazy but creative, who also had a fear of dogs and other hairy beings.

(day 1)

Our tale begins with Montrino waking up in the cabin he shared with his hated boss Brainquip. Montrino
ground his teeth, he couldn't stand the Senior Professor's snoring and every night in the cabin was
a torment. They'd been here a month already and he was fit to throw himself out of an airlock.

He made his way to the lab area where they were running a long series of tests on the canisters of
middle layer gas. As always he was the first to arrive at the lab and as a plan had finally formed in
his head as to how to get rid of Brainquip he put it into action.

Step one was to tamper with a gas canister and put it in the rack where Brainquip, who was always
last to arrive, would be the one to take it and run the experiments on. Brainquip would not notice
the tampering, trigger the safety system and look a fool in front of the students.

Step two would then to expose Brainquip as the incompetent oaf he really was to their superiors back
at the university and get him fired. And then - arise Sir Montrino!

And so, the students came in one after the other. Ashley was first, being half an hour early, but
was tired and rubbing her eyes. Ruben didn't turn up at all.
Brainquip was last as always and went into his office to eat his large greasy breakfast.

Now, Montrino's plan required everyone to be here, so locating Ruben was of great importance.
He tried him on his communicator, but got no answer. Lance, when questioned, said that Ruben
had not come back to their cabin the night before.

Montrino tried the security systems and found some CCTV of Ruben in 'Hangar Bay 6' four hours
previously (the time on Tripod would have been 0600 hours).

With Ruben out of the picture and having to think on his feet Montrino pretended the canister
he was working on was a dud and put it in the defect area and took the one that would have been
Ruben's.

Hoping no one spotted what he was up to he then got to work. It wasn't long before Brainquip
requested Montrino to come into his office. The canny Junior Professor took in Brainquip's
canister and placed it on the desk. It wasn't the canister that interested the Senior
Professor though.
He had some work for Montrino,
'A surface team have found some interesting things in a cave down on the planet. We need to send
someone down there. Take two students with you. Remember your bio suits. You'll be out of our usual
field but I'm sure you can handle it. There are lots of reports about the caves, you'll need to read up
on them.'
Dumbfounded Montrino asked, 'What's the budget?'
'We'll see. Put in a request with the station for what you think you'll need.'
'I'll get on it right away.'

Montrino left his work on the gases for the rest of the day and read the reports from the cave. They showed
pictures of fossils, mainly local domesticated animals, but some were of parts of a human skull. If these
bones were 'pre-scream' then they could be valuable, especially to religious types such as the 'faithful'.

He selected Lance and Ashley to come with him. Lance merely said 'Very well.' and Ashley had fallen asleep
at her desk, but seemed to be ok with the assignment.

Montrino gathered together their equipment from stores, including enviro-suits, picks and shovels, rations,
a hover vehicle, side arms, monoblades, climbing equipment, a climbing droid, supply crates and an emergency
beacon.

They were also assigned two security guards called Peceen and Pomme and a glider craft with a female pilot
called Elizabeth.

(day 2)

Ashley slept in on the morning of the mission but once she turned up they were all ready to go. The
glider craft took them down to the planet and across the desert regions of the equator and then into
the jungles with its massive forests, some trees growning as astonishing tall as five kilometres.

They landed in a clearing of a military camp. The camp consisted only of tents and there was a large
one covering the cave entrance they were to investigate.

They team reported to Sergeant Rowan, who told them they were having trouble with the natives so
they were to keep their eyes open for trouble. He scribbled a map of the caves for them and off
they went.

It was a journey of two kilometres underground to get to the archeological site. They went past
several junctions and the tunnels had a feel of a giant insect hive.
Deeper into the tunnels they could smell sulphur and an analysis of the gases showed that their
were substances present that would choke them to death if they breathed too much of it, so they used
their breathing apparatus for the last leg of the journey making careful note of the fact they
only had air for six hours.

It took one hour to get there and as they cautiously shone their torches into the large cavern
before them they saw an area covered in the bones of something like twenty bodies. It looked
like a battle ground.

They didn't have too much time to hang about though and they started digging out the bones and
putting them into boxes. They were not trained archeologists but did as best as they could.

Montrino took lots of photographs first and as he did so, a criminal scheme entered his head.
He carefully excluded two bodies from the main photographs and took some ones of his own to
document the location of the two 'special' bodies and proof that they belonged to the main
dig. He then put the two bodies in a separate box.

It so happened that Montrino's brother in law was a gentleman known as Mad Jim 'Knuckles' Trendle
and could probably handle such stolen artifacts.

Montrino realised he would need Ashley and Lance in on the scheme. Ashley needed no persuasion at
all, but Lance was skeptical. In the end though they agreed on a 30/30/40 split, with Montrino
getting the 40. He felt this was rather unfair since it was his idea and it would be him that
found a buyer, but Ashley did say that she knew a good place on the station to hide the bones
so the students were at least contributing something. He supposed he could always doublecross
them later.

They shook hands on it and headed back up to the surface. On the way Peceen shot at some
small bugs in the tunnels. Montrino disliked harming wildlife but took a few live samples
of the small creatures.

As they arrived at the surface they could hear sounds of fighting. They advanced cautiously
to the tent flap. Humming sounds, gun fire, screams of pain, but no shouting could be heard
from outside.

Nervously Montrino opened the tent flap and looked out. He could see a big flying bug doing
battle with a tank and another giant bug ripping up Sergeant Rowan's tent, while a third
was fighting a group of soldiers.

Not knowing what else to do, they started shooting at the bugs, starting with one that
had decided to attack the glider craft they had come in on. They were not expert marksmen
but enough hits were scored on the creature to kill it.

They then began to shoot at the one attacking the tent and managed to scare it off.

As the battle ended they exited the tent and helped with the clean up. One soldier was
dead and another was injured. Montrino was beginning to remember why he hated field
work so much!

(G233 06/03/2015 via Roll20 - MI(GM), AP, JF)(5e 1)

(G233 06/03/2015 via Roll20 - MI(GM), AP, JF)(5e 1)

[GM note : Mira missed this game so MI GM'd a session of 5th edition. This is Rollo (JF) doing the write
up though.]

Well, just before I get back to all that, on the other side of the page I'll quickly recount a bit of some
story that has been a camp fire tale for us over the last few days. This is a tale that Sylvia knows, but
how she comes to know it and the people involved I have no idea. I've never heard of Riverbek either and
she won't divulge where in the world it is. She may well be making it all up, but it has at least been
keeping us amused. And so to begin...

This is the story of two ner'do'wells. The first was a half orc barbarian known as Skeldrog and the other
was a Teifling Bard called Random Hasserteeb.

Skeldrog, or Drog to his friends, was a straight forward sort of chap and somewhat of a folk hero from
where he came from. Random styled himself as a sort of diplomat and bard, but his real profession was
that of burglar. He was always planning and scheming, was greedy and light fingered, but much of what he
stole went towards feeding and clothing his wife and eight children so perhaps he wasn't all bad.

Sylvia seemed to know all the members of his family. His wife was called Rita, a woman who wove baskets
and their children were Tulip, Wyvern, Naga, Tifter, Dewi, Giff, Fanny and Bootle. Tulip was the oldest
at fifteen and Bootle was just two months old.

Rita was also the sister of a man called Kaleb, who ran the Crusty Crab Inn in the town of Riverbek. This
establishment also served as the headquarters of the local Thieves' Guild.

(day 1)

So, Drog and Random were very much partners in crime. Random was the 'brains' of the outfit and Drog was
the brawn. As they often did our two protagonists were in the Crab drinking a couple of beers and trying
to come up with ways of making money that didn't involved anything like work or direct employment.

Random scribbled a list in his notebook:

* James's Farm - burnt down recently by goblins - might be stuff left - crates of weapons ..
* North west in mnts - ruined town - taken in a pair of wanted crims with bountys on their heads. sanctuary may have riches
* Fairy Grove - guarded by a unicorn, and pixies and centaurs - has pixie dust
* Hag Guilde to the north with two sons
* Goblins are a nuisance on the roads
* Labyrinth to the north with very powerful guardians
* Grasslands to the north
* not much to do in Riverbek....
* Cyclops to north of cherry blossom

They had a good giggle about the idea of harassing pixies for their dust but in the end they agreed it might not
be such a bad idea since their was good gold to be made from the dust. If they could sneak in under the nose of
the unicorn then it would be easy money.

Goblins or pixies? They tossed a coin. Pixies.

They would need a virgin to sing in a clearing to attract the pixies so towards that end Random came up with a plan to
disguise their activity as a camping trip and co-opted his daughter Dewi, who was eight years old, into the scheme.
She invited along her friend and neighbour a fourteen year old half-elven lass called Vira.

Random also took some baskets from his wife to keep the captured pixies in.

And so, it was no long before they had set off from Riverbek, the two hoodlums and two little girls off on a
camping trip. There was a light rain, but they were sheltered in the forest and they followed animal tracks
until the came across a line of mushrooms. Drog reckoned this was a boundary or druid circle that marked the
border of the Unicorn's Land.

Random girded his lions and stepped over the mushrooms. Suddenly it was summery and warm and there was no
rain. Random, a creature born of evil, felt his chest tighten and his breathing was more difficult but other
than that he was unaffected.

They traveled on until it got dark and made a camp fire. The adults divided up the night into two watches.
During his watch Drog heard a troll screaming in the night for a good half an hour, but other than that things
were uneventful.

(day 2)

The sun rose and after breakfast the girls went to pick flowers and look for spiders. Drog hunted out a suitable
clearing and they moved to there to carry our their pixie luring scheme.

The girls entered, shooed in by Random, but Vira was hit by a small poison dart no bigger than a needle!
Drog was hit too, then Dewi. The dart made her fall to the ground and go to sleep. Small shapes flitted through
the shadows of the under bush. These were sprites, more aggressive than pixies and very territorial.

Next Vira was hit again and fell asleep. Random began to play his lute and sing to magically inspire Drog
who then went to attack the sprites. He flung his javelins at them and managed to pin one to a tree and kill
it. The others turned invisible and fled while Drog hurled javelins about, one narrowly missing Random's head
making him duck and curse.

The girls woke up after a short while and Drog climbed the tree where his javelin had lodged. While up the
tree though he spotted another clearing and they decided to move off to that one.

This new clearing had an ancient old tree in the middle with a little spring tinkling from between its roots.
As Random approached he noticed it had a sort of face on its trunk.

For want of any better plan he started to play a song on his lute and this had the strange effect of making
the tree start to hum. Humming also seemed to come out of the earth.
As Random continued to play the face on the tree seemed to come to life as if waking up from a deep sleep.
'Hello Treeface', said Random
'Hello Horned One', came the very slow reply.
'Know where there is any gold?', asked Random, 'I have a big family to feed.'
'Gold....hummmmmmm.... not gold.'
'Silver? Gems? Anything valuable?'
'Hmmm...if value.....'

The conversation was very slow and ponderous with the tree. Drog interrupted,
'There are people coming!'
Random hissed and motioned for them all to hide behind the tree.

An orcish hunting party approached, one riding a wolf, two more on foot and a forth skulking in the
bushes. They spotted the campers though and Drog shrugged then went over to talk to them.

Random heard the tree mutter, 'Intruders.....', as its branches began to move as if in a wind.

The skulking orc was making to sneak up on those beside the tree and as he got closer he brandished
an axe. This had the effect of making a large root suddenly come out of the ground, grab the orc and
slam him to the ground.

Random decided to choose a side in this battle and drawing his rapier cried,
'I am friend of the trees! Aiee!'
He then followed this yell with a charge at the stricken orc.

The others perhaps mistook him for a satyr, a much more challenging enemy than a Teifling footpad
and hesitated giving Drog enough time to set about them. The ent (for such it surely must have been)
hurled rocks at the orcs. Drog swung his axe and killed the wolf, then again and disemboweled the
orc leader.
The leader flew into a berserker rage but slipped and fell on his own entrails. The other two made
a run for it, but Drog cut them down and slew them also.

After the combat, Drog looted and moved the bodies while Random sang a soothing song to the kids.
Vira was rather traumatized, but Rita was just like her old man and loved a bit of chaos and blood
letting.
The ent too appreciated the help and the song and a root came up out of the ground and handed Random
a glass bulb with a magic fire glowing within it with a soft light.

They rested and then decided to head back, laden down with the weapons and armour of the orcs. Drog
found a short cut and they arrived back at Riverbek that evening. The girls were returned to their
mothers and the partners in crime divided up the spoils.

Quote #4

(G231 13/02/2015 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, MI) 29

(G231 13/02/2015  via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, MI) 29

ACTION REPORT : DERELICT SPACE SHIP : BANEAN SYSTEM : ID #AA950224

REPORT AUTHOR : Crewman Lydia Anderson

Continued ...

The next chamber we entered seemed to be some sort of medical facility with six items that looked like stasis
pods. The pods contained sleeping Baneans and Numaris.

Ensign Kirk powered and activated the Fatima AI and asked her for information on the pods, but they were not
technology that she recognised having been put here by the Vidiians after she had been powered off.

Kirk took a look over things himself with his tricorder but was reluctant to touch them without the proper
training. He contacted the Doctor on Voyager but we did not get specific advice, only to capture a Vidiian
alive if possible to help open the pods.

There were several exits from this chamber and a supply cupboard to the 'east'. A quick search of the cupboard
turned up various medical items and what appeared to be a portable motorbike.

The next chamber we searched was to the 'north'. It was cold, about 5 DegC, and full of alien corpses.
To the 'south' of the medical room was a corridor full of doors. None of them could be opened with a tricorder.

Ensign Kirk set his phase pistol to wide beam and we burned through the first door. Our thinking was that these
were holding cells for the Vidiian victims and this turned out to be the case. The first cell contained a humanoid
female who identified herself as Captain Akar.
The next cell contained two Banean beauticians and the next, three Babi Ijo.

Mioen sent out a subspace message to Voyager:
'We have rescued prisoners, we certainly need more transport.'
The reply was:
'Try and get them out if possible. Voyager rather busy. Lets us know when you are ready to return. Tuvok.'

The next cell held a Norlot.

The next cell held some sort of powerful snake-humanoid creature that attacked us. It seemed to have powers of
invisibility and regeneration. Also, the smaller powered Vidiian Harvesters did little damage to it.
It rampaged out of its cell and attacked everyone in the medical room. Ensign Kirk and Captain Akar were badly
injured by its claws but the massed firepower of the Star Fleet crew and the escaped prisoners eventually killed
it.

After the fight we felt the lack of a properly medically trained person as Kirk was in dire need of first aid but
the only person with good enough training to help him was one of the Banean beauticians.

While he was healed as best we could, Mioen explored to the 'west' and made contact with a Vidiian hiding there
who identified himself as 'Belleth.'

Mioen gathered together some of the less injured, including myself, Parsons and the Norlot to follow Belleth as
he retreated down a corridor that turned to the 'north' back towards the loading bays.

Mioen tried to use her powers of persuasion on the Vidiian to come and surrender to us, but he was too nervous
and continued to retreat.

We were then attacked by one of the remaining Vidiian Infiltrators who killed the Norlot and put Parsons out
of action. I managed to injure the Infiltrator badly enough to make him flee.

We did have Belleth though, and took him back to the medical chamber. Belleth was a Vidiian doctor and knew how
to open the stasis pods so we ordered him to do so. After he had done that Mioen stunned him with her phaser.

The prisoner, non-combatants and wounded were taken back to the Tereshkova and got ready for departure. Mioen
talked to Fatima back at the loading bay, asking her if she had any control over life support. The AI did not
though and whatever plan Mioen had could not progress further.

(G230 06/02/2015 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, Mira, Guru)

(G230 06/02/2015  via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, Mira, Guru)

And then I was up again! Having a cleric in the group seems to be essential in these God's forsaken Plane of
Shadows. It's not a pleasant sensation being beaten into unconsciousness, but at least it didn't last long.

I grunted a rhino grunt by way of thanks to Sylvia and backed off from the battle to get my breath back.
I was still badly injured and I wanted to turn back into a human to get more comfortable, but I couldn't
remember how wounds worked. I had a great big open wound still on my flanks, almost a metre long. If I
changed back would the injury still be as big? I shuddered and stayed as a rhino.
(Incidentally it turned out I was wrong, as I learned later, if I'd changed back then the wound would have
shrunk down with me.)

Meanwhile good old Sylvia had also healed Gurudor who then leapt to the attack and went for the priestess
or witch or whoever it was that had attacked me.

In return she summoned up more of those fire breathing hound things. To counter attack them though I summoned
up four more crocodiles (for a new personal best and total of eight!). Needless to say, things were getting
crowded around here.

Sylvia cast Bull's Strength on Gurudor and he set to work. The woman fled and the battle flowed into another
room. We all gave chase as she leapt out of a window and into the darkness.

Mirabella was back in the fray now and followed the woman. Gurudor jumped out of the window after her and
summoned up his paladin's steed and rode round to a southern building.

I healed myself up a bit, turned into a human at last, and joined Sylvia and Badger going cautiously down
some steps to the other building where we thought the woman had run to. With the crocodiles charging ahead
we entered the first room. Mirabella was hit by a bolt of green bile and she was sickened.

While all that went on, Gurudor appeared at a window looking over the ears of his horse. I was not entirely
sure what his plan was.

The gang of crocodiles swarmed further in and attacked some of the critters within. I summoned up more. You
can't have too many crocodiles. You think you can. But you can't.

Gurudor continued peaking in windows and reported seeing my crocs fighting with a man and a great big
creature.

I now had ten crocodiles on the strength and they were tearing into the place, chasing the women and all
the other denizens of the rooms within. It was chaos.

The main fight was now between two men and the crocs, and further in, the woman and another being (a teifling
it was thought) fighting crocs and Mirabella fighting the big beast that we could now see had quills on its
back. As if that wasn't enough though, someone cast Swarm of Bats on me and Sylvia and we fled towards where
Mirabella was. Thankfully by the time we got there the quill beast was dispatched, practically suffocated to death
by the weight of crocodiles on it.
Gurudor was outside shooting at targets though the window.

Crocodiles were beginning to unsummon though so I finally decided to go for something different and summoned
some lions which I sent after the woman and the teifling. Meanwhile the other crocodiles were tearing the man
who had fought alongside the quill beast to pieces. Being a Master of Nature is truly awesome, I could feel my
power growing with every moment of the battle.