The Campaign Builder's Guild

Well, 160 sessions in the Steel Isle Game is nothing to be ashamed of.  And since then, I have been working on the eventual Collegium Arcana game.  This is probably set to start in Late June.  Here is the first taste. 

The Collegium Arcana game is set in the Islip level of the school of the same name, in Stenron, capital of the Grey March.  The players take the place of Dexdemitan (First cycle, or Cycle one) students, and will play out the campaign primarily as students in this school.  They will start as 11-12 year olds, or their racial equivalents.  The play centers around their coming to the school, and will include in-class time (bits and pieces of it), field trips and labs and study, as well as a number of sub-plots.  As the game goes on, there will be more actual drops into 'non-school' settings, with more quest-situations.  If you prefer a bit more flavor, this is the chance to play out the part of a student in the largest School of Magic in Celtricia, learning about magic, but also playing in a huge, ancient boarding school, making friends and enemies, choosing what types of magic to learn, later choosing fraternities and orders and networking with senior members of the school.

The game is set for bi-weekly sessions, and there will be between-game orders for players to respond to an myself to finish in many situations.  This will often include rolls for grades, private information searches, etc.


After deliberation and conversation with a few regular gamers, there will not be a set mechanic for making time pass quicker, though that option will come up far more than in most other GuildSchool games.  There will be time skips, but only when everyone has finished a section, though, if players miss a session, there may a skip as we won't make everyone else wait.  The in-between period will be used to cover some of that. Based on past campaign arcs, this system is best built for longer games, so we are embracing that. If it turns out to be yet another game that goes on and on, what is the negative in it? Also, due to the way we play our online games, this should to some degree allow for PC's to come in later or take a break if they wish.


[ooc]

Introduction...(also linked (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/65548854/Collegium%20Arcana%2C%20Introduction))


"Hierophant Warlock, Warlock, High Warden, Warden, Keeper, These are the upper ranks of the Collegium, " intoned the balding klaxik from his wide, low desk.  He is elderly, thickset, and more than a little paunchy in his grey, quilted teaching robe and ochre sash, covered in gold and silver emblems.  The hall is high, and  dark, lit by copper sonces avery 20 feet or so, and symbols of elements and other less settled images cover the left and right walls.  You and almost a hundred other First Year students sit in rows, on black mats.  By the amount of shuffling and the constant changing of position, you are also not the only one who cannot get comfortable.  By contrast, the Klaxik sitting behind the desk seems completely at ease.

The klaxik's wizened eyes slowly move across the room, filled with mainly young faces, perhaps slightly more female than male.  " You will learn quickly to see the color of the robe and the sash quickly, "  he laughs a bit, a dry, basso chuckle coming from just below his luxurient, brass and silver colored mustache.  "Very, very quickly.  It becomes second nature, fear not."


"Below those ranks, you have Senior Enchanters, Junior Enchanters, Neophye Enchanters, and then the student ranks."

He lifts his right arm, pointing to the crossed wands in bas-relief behind him.  There is a flare in the bas-relief... "Here, on your first day, it will appear that there is too much to possibly learn.  But as you see,  thousands of other students in the classes above you seem to negotiate the intricasies."   Behind the barrel-shaped educator, the crossed wanded heraldry, with the flame above it, shines a cold silver.

"Your early studies will be learning what you need to learn," he again chuckles, " You cannot learn until you understand what you do not know.  Before anything, you need to understand the basics of where each conduit leads, where the sources of power for our spells comes from.  Many of you feel some of it, but you don't undertand where it comes from.  This is why one of your first classes is this, the Sources of Magic"  A little murmur again from the students, in their students grey robes.  "Most of you that have done anything don't realize it, but what you have done is Wild Magic, which does not use a conduit, just the raw spirit energy from yourself.  This is, " he sniffs, "barely magic." 

He points to the walls,"Aeromancy, Pyromancy, Hydromancy and Geomancy, these will be some of your first studies."  As he says each word, a picture on the wall flares or rumbles, whistles and gurgles. "This will be followed by some study of the conduit to the Wells of Life and Death, then the Font of Entropy on the Eighth House and the Font of Logic on the First."  He draws a breath as symbols farther down the walls sizzle and flare, and notices a murmur through the flat-roofed chanber.  He stops his obviously well-rehearsed and probably well used speech, raking the room with a suddenly sharp gaze.  "Study begins now, boys and girls.  You are no longer waiting for classes to start., so listen well."

He clears his throat.  "Now then.  Your last areas of study will be on Animism, Mentalism, Necromancy, and Artifice."  His voice regains the pedantic flow it had possessed earlier, as he warms back into the subject.  "And," he chuckles, "One never knows   A new conduit may be discovered."

He stands from behind the desk.  "Now then, the void is the first idea you must understand, the nothingness that our Waking Dream swims in, and also where the Houses and Stations exist.  Celtricia, as well has her moons and suns, Tribin and Gerin, and the other planets and stars do not exist in it physically, but the whole of this existence is contained in the ether that is the void.  Think of the whole existence you can see and feel as one another construct in the void.  A Warlock named Gerol used to call the Waking Dream the Prime Station, and if that idea helps you understand it, use it."   

He gestures upwards, and in front of his desk a sparkling, huge panorama appears, pulsing, a strange orrery of moving lights in a field of grey, with a green globe in the center.  Maybe four arms across, you see a smaller white globe rotates around the top, and a black and grey one at the nadir.  other smaller spheres rotate around, and a few sparkling, ephemeral lines copnnect some of them.  The room gasps as it springs to vision, huge and beautiful.  Again, the basso chuckle.  "For your later knowlege, to connect some dots...this is a mentalist spell, a projection, but it uses a lot of Artifice, as this spell is being projected from another item."


"Now, this is just a representation, " he says as he nearly waddles forward.  "It makes it pretty clear of the relationships bewtween these different sources.  But the reality is actually far more complicated...which is the last thing we need today."  This gets a few chuckles from the students...nervous chuckles, from many quarters.

He steps into it, and touches the center globe, the largest one.  "Here is the Waking Dream, which, as I said, you can think of as the Prime Station.  It is, egotistically enough, where we are."  He chuckles, and then points to the white sphere slowly rotating at the top.  The projection being arms high, the House of Life is a few TwoHand over his finger.    "This, at the top,  is the House of Life, where the Well of life is the central power source, and the font of all souls that come back through the cycle.  Spells that use direct Life energy come from here"  He moves to the bottom.  " Here is the three-leveled House of Death, and on the bottom layer, called Zevashopal, is the Well of Death, the source of death magic."  There is some shudders, as everyone has heard of rumors of this foul type of magic.  He shakes his head, admonishingly " You have to learn it, as you can't fight it or confront it if you don't know it, understand it."  All eyes are glued to him now, "In this place, in this life you will be leading, the greatest sin is ignorance.  The investigative method is about that, the search for knowledge in a logical way with provable results."

He moves to the right side and points down, and a smaller, blue-green globe flares.  "This is the House of Water, an original source of the power of Hydromancy in the Void.  The Endless Ocean is found here, depth without end..."  He moves his hand upward, and most students can see a small smile through the projection magic he stands in.  " There is a brown and grey circle here that is hard to see, the House of Earth.  Here, when one is trained, they can pull energy from the Most Solid."  The Klaxik's voice starts to achieve a cadence; he has said these words before.  "Here, the slightly red sphere that moves around this Ruby one is the Third Station, which now houses the Perfect Flame, the Forge of Fire...in the Age of Legends, the House of Fire was destroyed, and while we know not how, the source of Pyromancy was found millenia later here.  Near it, but closer to the Waking Dream, this white and blue sphere is the Second Station.  Similat to the House of Fire...and some hypothesize it was part of the same incident...the Second Station now houses the Uttermost Infinite Sky, where we pull the power for Aeromancy."

He moves back out, and in the middle, pointing to the far left of the strange, projected orrery.  This ruby and black sphere, where the Third Station rotates around, is called the Eighth Station, though..." and he chuckes again, "certain forces have called the Eighth House in the past, even naming their organizations after that term.   It is here that the Well of Entropy lies, the force that pushes the void and all matter apart."

He walks  across to the other side of the magnificent projection.   "Now, this white and black sphere is the First Station, sometimes called the House of Order, not surprisingly near the opposite from the Eighth Station...this is where we access the Well of Order, powering spells that bind and remove random chance."

He steps back, out of the swimming, multidimensional projection, but it is still between him and the students.  The low, pedantic tone continues.  "You note, of course, that many of these power are in opposition, and in different quadrants on our representations...but the small lines moving from these opposites and through the Waking Dream.  This is because, through using certain 'sympathetic' mindsets, a caster can access some of this conduit."


"Now, we go through these sources first, as they make the most logical sense to those learning the Woo.  Elements, as well as Life and death, are somewhat normal concepts.  Order and Entropy are also not that hard to grasp.  But there are a few other conduits that have been discovered to interesting power sources, " he moves back to the projection, pointing up to the House of Life.  Then draws a direct, perfectly straight line to the Waking Dream.  "in the middle of this Conduit from the House of Life is a small construct we have found, that houses the Animal Oversoul, which is connected to the House of Life.  Some call this the Tenth Station, though, unlike the others we've spoken about today, no one really knows where exactly it is or what it looks like."

Another murmur comes up.  You see students start looking side to side, seeking the same puzzlement they feel themselves.  The klaxik teacher stops, and cocks his balding head.  "Yes, from the school of magic we call Animism...spells and charms that affect and communicate with animals and birds, and also they allow the caster to take on abilities of the...", he stops and notes the reaction to his explanation, and purses his lips.

"Well", he says in a softer voice, "that wasn't it."  He steps through and in front of the blue and black projection, then looks side to side for a second, as a little tension seems to build.  He turns to the front row of mainly young faces, then to the second row.  Settling in front of a  tiny, brown-haired Hobyt lass of maybe eleven seasons (and sadly enough you note, maybe some orcash blood as well), he starts gently, " And what do they call you?"

The small girl looks at first as if she might be choosing between running and vomiting.  You can understand the feeling, though.  "Sarabee, Sir"...she blurts out softly.  Her hair is cut very short, and she pulls it out of her face as she tries to formulate words.

"No, no...I am a Warden...Call me Warden Frimak, Sarabee" he interrupts, trying to be gentle.  "If you do not know a name or rank of a member of the Collegium, it is always safest to call them 'Maester'."  He looks around, then back down, his shaggy eyebrows not hiding the active, seraching eyes.  " Now, can you enlighten this poor, ignorant professor as to where I might have already started confusing my new students?  Just because confusion is bound to happen does not mean we have to start with it."

"The students wonder, " says a thin, high voice, ...male, though...from the center front, slightly behind the round Warden. "if you do not know how this Tenth Station looks like...do you actually know how the others look?"  The class looks to the source of bravery , at a small goblic boy, thin and fairly swimming in his robe, who sits in the front.  Nodding heads around, so it seems this was at least some source of the consternation.  The boy stops, then continues, "...Or so I see it, Warden Frimak."

The wide, balding klaxik nods.  "Hurrrm...yes, well, that is a question, and no doubt."  He moves back out of the rows of students, and makes towards the huge, projected orrery.  "I understand that many of you, maybe all of you, know some bits and pieces of this from your churches and temples."   He sighs, looks up at the ceiling and turns, right in front of the projection, "We have conduits to these power sources, and there have powerful casters that have been to some of these places.  Some few who study here have seen the House of Life, or the House of Earth, or the Eighth Station.  this, too, is in front of you.  Magical research, applying the rigors of research and testing to your studies, can bring you to this level, if you work at it."  He looks at the students slowly, locking eyes with as many faces as he can. 


"You can see what you could only dream about before, if you can learn."

Then he turns back and walks into the projected orrery again.  " Now then, we have a few more sources to go over in today's introductory overview.  And we did go over the easier, logical ones first.  Now, it gets a bit more interesting."  He smiles through the beard and mustache as he says the last.

"Mentalist magic, spells that affect the mind, or spells that control." He stops and points to a thin, pulsing segment.  "On this line, between the Third Station and the House of Entropy, is the Sixth Station.  This is another very small, barely understood void-location, where we have found the Collective Mind, which the Vicorians called the "Uwis", or, "Overmind".  Many, many spells use a component of Mentalist Woo, so pay very careful attention to your classes in this type of Magic."

He points up again, towards the top of the projections, and shakes his head.  "You know, it is obvious some fool Omwo~ or human made this projection."  He snaps his fingers, and a silver pointer, almost a span long, appears in his hand.   He uses the silver length, as it sparkles and reflects the strange orrery, to point back up to point back up at the House of Life, Pulsing White and Silver.  "Also on the House of Life, at a higher level of this Tiered Source, is a strange edifice...yes, it has been seen...where all the spirits that fly from the Well of Life seem to stream through, and where the source of all Restorative magic flows." 

He points back down to the House of Death, at the bottom, not hard for the klaxik.  "Note this black and green sphere, it actually rotates closely around the House of Death, always between the Waking Dream and the Well of Death.  Here we have found what could be technically considered the Soul Filter.  In earlier times, it was considered to be part of the Well of Death."  He stops and looks out at the nearly silent, hundred pairs of eyes.  " I speak here of the source of Necromancy, one of the more dangerous branches of magic."  an audibly indrawing of breath from the students here, as he continues.  "Many historical creatures of nightmare get their grains of truth here, and some of the greatest enemies of civilizations used their as their primary source of terrible power." His voice is lower, and the lights in the room seem to dim a bit.  "But," the warden says as he cocks his head slightly, "almost all spells that try to raise the dead and certainly, all the spells that shrive the spirit use some necromancy.  So you must learn this discipline, if you wish to protect those souls that pass on to the House of Death."

"The last source of major magic comes from the Fifth Station, here", he says pointing to a gleaming silver and yellow orb, very close to the Waking Dream in the center.  "The Fifth Station lies on a direct line at all times between the House of Earth and the Third Station.  As far as current theories can deduce, and this is an area of current study, hotly discoursed, somehow, ancient energy from the creation of the Void and the Waking Dream, is collected here, and can be sourced for the magic of Artifice."

Again a murmur comes up, and the portly Warden nods from a profile position, holding the silver rod behind him with both hands.  "Oh, yes, children.  Depending on what particular Douhis you were raised in or with, your version of the Song Of Creation will be very different, but all agree that there was such a Song and event, and this Woo of Artifice, as far as research can tell, is powered from the distant echoes of the Song.  Much as I mentioned with Mentalist magic, Artifice is used to place magic into items, and as such is used constantly."


He clears his throat, and turns. He taps his desk with the rod, and suddenly, the huge, projected blue and black orb winks out.  "The reading you need to do for tonight on today's lecture is in Beaumont's 'Guide to the Spheres', read chapter's one and two.  It's a bit dated, but most of it agrees with this cursory overview we started today.  Do make sure you read this, Dexies, since your head will be filled with other knowledge later on and this might keep it fresh.  Now, The green schedule, you are going to Ponce Hall, Room 2, for Spellcasting Basics.  The yellow schedule is going to Penult Hall, in the basement, for the Overview of the History of Magic, and the Grey Schedule is going to Dilvish Hall, for Mathematics."

As the sound of a hundred-odd robes scraping off mats ensues, he bellows, "And I will see you all tomorrow, where we start with the Well of Life.!!!  Dismissed!"

[/ooc]

and this is an intro thread, so anyone can post if there are any remarks or questions. 

How do the gartier looks like?

Quote from: BasnetI
How do the gartier looks like?

They are bugbears, but they are slightly more intelligent that humans on average and given to irony and sarcasm.  Covered in a coarse, short hair, though they can grow beards, with long ears and on top of their heads the hair is even thicker and spikey.  brown, red, blonde bugbears all exist.
they average 6.5-8' tall, with long, thick canine fangs that protrude a bit, though somehow, very few of them lisp.  Very muscular, they do run slightly to fat. Female bugbears have much less body hair, though a pretty thorough fuzz, and less spikey on top.

Rockin'.

I am getting a PhD; perhaps this game is going to be too painfully familiar for me to actually play, lol.

I remember this being described as "Hogwarts Goes to Hell" at one point, but knowing how these games go, I think the similarities will start and end with the setting--a school for magic-users. I'm starting to get an idea for my character, but really, as I've learned before in Celtricia games, at lot of it will have to wait until my stats (especially my social rolls) have been done.

It is kind of ironic, though; my plan for what to do if anything happened to Moss in the Steel Isle game was to make a magic user, as I've never done a proper one before in Celtricia.

I think I've said it before, but I really do like that magical power is called "woo" (http://www.skepdic.com/woowoo.html).

Yes.  JoMalley called it, "Hogwarts goes to Hell". 
Most of the EXPmods are pretty mediocre at first, but you have the chance to improve them as you take classes.

Posting to declare my interest.  I am notoriously poor with numbers, but I've been watching Celtricia shenanigans for quite a while with interest.

Hmm.
Next question...how many people is maximum?  This is partially online, partially play by post.

Fascinating. Is there a way I could be involved from a purely PbP perspective?

Quote from: Tangent_Jaerc
Fascinating. Is there a way I could be involved from a purely PbP perspective?

Let me think...it may be possible...the more I work at this, the more I am seeing the importance of the PbP side.   Sort of like the PbP sets up the live stuff.

Still working along on this tangent online campaign.  Pretty much set up the first and some of the second 'semester' (which lasts 3 goesi, 180 days)' as well as a lot of the game structure stuff and the longer term plot lines.

Also working on drill down for the other dexdemit classes, right now involved with spell casting basics.  I like how this is a game vehicle, but also an exercise in verbalizing and sharing and continued formalizing of the way spells really work.  Especially as the fluff and crunch synergize.

Still need to do History of Magic, to go along with the Spellcasting basics and Sources of The Woo, for semester one.

We have also worked it out for Exp Mods, so that since all guilds are supposed to teach their abilities, all the beginning characters have very poor exp mods, but they won' t just gain raw exp in the game, they will also increase their exp mods based on their classes chosen and performance over the semesters.

Link to WIP first day of 'Spellcasting Basics'  (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/66501260/Spellcasting%20Basics%20Class%2C%20First%20Day) class.

Still a WIP, but Limetom wanted me to get the Social ACQ chart up, so here it is...this is the skeleton and place holder of the character creation page (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/66880993/Character%20Creation%20-%20Collegium%20Arcana%20Game) for the game.

Ok, cor some reason, that was a failure.  Formatting blew up in my face.

This page is also a WIP, but is moving along nicely.  The Soc AQ and base race charts are already up.

http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/66960599/Collegium%20Arcana%20Base%20Character%20Creation

Next major class done.

First day of Spellcasting Basics (link to original here (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/66501260/Spellcasting%20Basics%20Class%2C%20First%20Day)).


[ooc]
Spellcasting Basics

The circular room is dark, full of shadows, and the noise of some thirty students is noticeable.   The seating is on circular benches, arranged concentrically and slightly descending as they close on the center stage.  The instructor at the bottom is surrounded on all sides.  Beneath you, the circular bench is unyielding and smooth.

The small amount of light comes from orange braziers in four opposite quadrants of the circular room, and a similar brazier hanging some three dovar above the floor of the center.   The shadows are black, brown or orange tinged from the smoky braziers, and the room smells of pine and dreddle, dry and earthy mixed.   The darkness is a shock compared to the bright lit, ornamental facade outside.


"So, what does it mean to cast a 'spell'?", comes the voice with a tiny, barely detectable lisp from the middle of the circle below.   "No, seriously, you have to start from the beginning.  Before we fly, there is much groundwork and understanding you have to have.  A spell can be thought of in many ways, but really, a spell has to be thought of as an effect and the way to produce it; so the first thing you must understand is that you must create or cast a spell with the end in mind."

The robed figure is large, furry, with a huge oval fanged head, a Gartier, but the greying fur and wilting ears betray him as older.  Still, more than a dovhab above a dovar tall, so much taller than all but the tallest man.   

"As I am sure you heard in the History of the Woo class, our theories are that back in the beginning, everyone did spells the same way some of you have been; pulling power directly from yourself, from what we call 'Spirit'.  It is the first sign that there may be some future for you in the world of arcane study.  But we also call using pure Spirit to be Wild Magic."

He turns and faces the other direction, towards a group of Ogrillite students sitting together.

"Now, histories of the Age of Legends agree on some few things and, of course, the details often agree far less.  The Planars' Amerer and Pablar, as well as the Devilkin Duke Belial, are the most commonly associated with showing the early Omwo~ the secret to accessing the Void-borne sources of power...but the point, for us, is that there are sources of power in the void that can be tapped that are very effective in powering a spell, if the effect of the spell is sympathetic, or in line, with the source."

The elder Gartier looks up and around, his huge eyes seemingly undisturbed.  " Does this make sense to everyone?"  he looks around and sees some nods and the guttural sounds of agreement resonate in a few corners.  Suitable encouraged, he continues.

"It's sort of like a recipe, in some ways.  You figure what you want something to taste like, and get the ingredients that will effect that taste and texture, then you create a set of instructions on how to use them and what order.  Using the Woo properly is sort of like this; you want to be a master chef capable of using this recipes and really once you get good at this, you can even move things around to better create the exact effect in the place and time you are in."

His hands come out, palms up as he turns, "So imagine I am casting a fire spell...this is an easy, basic example...and instead of pulling a day's work of energy from myself, and trying to create or effect fire using spirit from me that has nothing to do with fire, I instead use a more effective source. I create a conduit to the Third Station and pull power directly from the Perfect Flame....and because of the affinity, using the Perfect Flame in a fire spell, I can use a lot less personal spirit to create the same effect."

Then, on cue, the Brazier above the dimly-lit room flares, and spits white sparks, brightening the room and giving a noise like water hitting a hot skillet.  The flare grows, and the room goes from dimly lit orange and fuzzy brown to white-lit, shadows in stark black.  There are involuntary gasps , then, it fades, leaving the room seeming darker than before.

The Gartier chuckles softly, but deeply, breaking the tension.  "It is a good example.  Technically, what I did is use some of my own energy to start the spell, but instead of using all that I would had to in powering that myself, I pulled energy from the Perfect Flame to replace much of what I would have had to.  If you can imagine a more complicated working, the idea is the same.  Whatever the process required to create an effect, use ingredients that represent them.  If a working is affecting perception, the Collective Mind from the Sixth Station is needed, if we wanted to add some controlling elements to the same working, we'd hold that conduit to the Sixth Station in our heads but also open one from the First Station, the Font of Logic, and use some of both."

He turns his huge frame around, and cocks his head, and chuckles in the semi-darkness again.  "That is a lot of thought to chew on for your first day of class.  I will leave you with the fact that the more powerful the spell, the more void ingredients are needed to effect it; and that no one can create the amount of personal energy needed to cast them.  Your reading for tomorrow is from Castor Excel's original manual for his students, "The art of the Woo".  Read chapter one. it's simple and hopefully will get you in the right frame of mind tomorrow.  Dismissed!"[/ooc]

Continuing onward, with the somewhat rebuilt history of the Collegium Arcana (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/51990358/Collegium%20Arcana-Guild%20History), the largest School of magic in Celtricia.


[ooc]
Find and Foster the Magic,

Discover and Decipher the Magic,

Control and Own the Magic.

-Precepts of the Collegium Arcana






In the murky depths of time, and for countless years of written history, harnessing the void-borne powers that some call the Way, that the ancient Omwo~ called Wou~, and is often now called 'The Woo', was a suprassing rarity.    Not because there were more or less people (in proportion) that might be able to touch the Void, but because for literally thousands of years, teaching this ability was very strictly controlled.  And this inhibition is part of the story and underpinnings of the Collegium. 

But in those earliest days, the Omwo~ were servants and helpmates of the Planars, collaborating in their works and if not privy, at least present in some of the greatest Void-Sourced makings in the history of Celtricia.  The mightiest of the early Omwo~,  Dilvish and Abros Naweo and their ilk, fought the creatures of Anthraxus when he refused the Accords of Presence with their surpassing spellcraft.

The Omwo~ of the elder day, the Age of Legend, carefully kept this teaching to Vanir only at first, then Imo and Huet.  Then, when Pablar's Toys, the Humans, appeared, they were kept away from this teaching, with the punishment of death to any who gave the brazen animals such a gift.  Being so close to the planarborn, the antecedent Omwo~ felt that it was their birthright they would be giving up.

This basic pattern, of a race or group being slowly let into the circle, then trying to keep everyone else out, seems to be imprinted into the genetic hardware of every group in Celtricia.  For  thousands of years and through the rise and fall of culture and country, the Way and the Woo were kept to the upper nobiity and the most senior of the temple hierarchy, and in many cases, only the void-sensitive would be (and still are) inducted to the upper levels of a church


The Collegium Arcana did not, contrary to the official position of that group; begin cleanly with a single origination point. Back in the Middle Celtrician Interregnum, Many countries had some variation of an official mage's guild. They did come together into a few different groups, but contrary to the Guild's official stance, it is not a clear fact that they have been one unified group for 2100 years.   As with any group organized around the collection of knowledge, there are many antecedent organizations, and the first city documents bearing the name "Collegium Arcana" go back to about -100 RON.  Claims from before that belong to times where guilds and organizations bore different names and purposes.  There is also the issue that there are long-lived Omwo~ who belonged to earlier clotures and groupings, and their later inclusion into the collegium gives some credit to the claims that a earlier guild was, in fact, the earlier form of the same Collegium. 


As with many organizations, there were earlier guilds of magic that were powerful, and other organizing of magical folk.  Ambretton, Vicoria, and Seau, as well as later Venolvia and the City-State of Winter (Stenron of a thousand years past) all were civilizations where the the guilds of magic impacted the lives of the mighty.   

Yet the Collegium Arcana's rise to prominence has been entangled and knotted to an increase in the amount of people taught to use the void-sourced power in toto; and part of this came from the Collegium itself.  Previously, the 'Woo' (as access to the personal conduit connecting a caster to the Void sourced powers has been called by casters for millenia) was only taught to those of upper classes or nobility; a jealously guarded secret, a set of secret societies within the already rarified air of nobility.  It was part of the mechanism for keeping power in the Age of Legends and the Age of Heroes.  Of course there were exceptions, but they were rare.

The Collegium Arcana, by contrast, in their early incarnations, realized that there was power that could be gained not just by keeping magic from everyone, but by trying to have more Casters than anyone else.  Thus, they changed the ancient paradigm and no matter the ills and evils ascribed to them by their critics and detractors, they are centrally involved with the theme of more and more void-sensitives being taught.  Magic, once very rare and strange and secret for millenia, has become more and more known and approachable.  This, by itself, has caused a huge shift in the social world, and has helped fuel the upstart guilds and mercantile classes that now vie with the nobility of most states for control..   


The formal history of this magical organization goes back to Winterloo, as Stenron was called before the Kingbreaker Jon Stenron came and passed to the Lower Well.  The original Campus was a large tower just south of the Western Godstraat.

Some of the earliest buildings from about the time of the founding of the Theocracy of Nebler (year one in the Reckoning of Nebler) were once the School of Art and Magic founded by the Imagancer Goodeval, including the round Gallery with offices and the later built tower by the Sytiul river.

Currently, however, they do enjoy a position that only a few Churches can claim, and without the competition. The Collegium Arcana has offices in every major city In Northern Celtricia, as well as in most towns. They have a seat in the government of Orbi, a council seat in the Theocracy of Gorntar, and a council seat in the Grey March, as well. They control commerce in many areas, and are wealthy beyond the reach of kings.



Those who join up with this group will never be in need of finding aid in any civilized location. And the guild rewards loyalty, though it does not accept split loyalties. But it is a very bondede existence, as the Collegium considers itself to be the first priority in most cases.

The Central office of the Collegium has been in Orbi for over 150 years (back in 739 RON). Archmage Hier Effen moved it from the ancient quarters in Stenron at the invitation of The Arcanic Table of Orbi. There had been a Guild of Magic in the Stenron location long before the Interegnum, and the Mother-College was ther from the start, so this move was historic. 

This is still something of a sore issue, for though the Mageocracy of Orbi seems to be a perfect fit for the Collegium Arcana, the huge Stenron campuses have never quite let this be forgiven.

There are also many different divisions in the Guild of Mages. There are research divisions, combat divisions, political divisions, as well as different Orders , such as the Order of Flame, the Order of Water, the Order of the Kankenbite (Technocrat, Makerspeak), the Order Eosuj (of Air, White Omwo~) and more like that.

It is actually something of a joke within the less stuffy of the Collegium that any long-term member will be part of a dozen Fraternities and Orders and Brotherhoods.

Yet, not to be lost are the awards and achievements that do matter and bring awe and envy to the eyes of those that meet the holders of them.  Medals and awards for research and accomplishments that


Every guild locality has a Head Warlock, who runs it. The bigger the populaltion center, the more prestigeous the appointment. Think of them almost as fiefdoms of a secret kingdom, with the HeshianTower as the Capitol. Larger guilds also come with the headache of having Ambassador postings, sub-national and national level postings that were originally in place to smooth the bumps and make friends with the local governments, while the the Head Warlock runs the show. Every Head Warlock knows, however, that they are also their to send back reports to the HeshianTower.

Complicating this are the separate Orders within the Collegium Arcana, like the Order of Water, and the Order of Flame. These are almost fraternities, and since they are usually joined early in a mages career, you see some nepotism here. there is a lot of the 'Good Old Boys' network currently in the Collegium Arcana

Approximately thirty percent of the Collegium's membership is 'homegrown'. The guild's mission to find talented children and take them in to give them a comfortable life befitting their talent (and fostering fanatical loyalty) is one of the three precepts of the Collegium. These 'homegrown' members tend to give their entire lives to the cause.

Teens or adults who join the guild later need to be sponsored, and the sponsoring member is responsible for them for a full cycle, but also gains bonuses based on how their sponsored fledglings perform later in their career.

Though the younger children are still shown more magic than in almost any other venue, the real training starts when they Join the Islip, the four or five year training that forms the foundation of their skills.  While preferably done young (normally as the subject enters adolescence) , there are some adults in these classes, normally those who were taught in other schools or not taught at all.

Everyone except the domestics in a particular local tower will be a guildmember. The do not hire mercenaries, rather, they depend on recruits within their own guild to learn the rudiments of combat and the Swords Arcanic is a prestigious group within the guild.[/ooc]

Looks like the remainder of this paragraph was cut off:

Quote from: LordVreeg
Yet, not to be lost are the awards and achievements that do matter and bring awe and envy to the eyes of those that meet the holders of them.  Medals and awards for research and accomplishments that

Quote from: Ghostman
Looks like the remainder of this paragraph was cut off:

Quote from: LordVreeg
Yet, not to be lost are the awards and achievements that do matter and bring awe and envy to the eyes of those that meet the holders of them.  Medals and awards for research and accomplishments that

thanks, man  will fix

The Dormitories of the Collegium Arcana
From here (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67168793/The%20Dormitories).  often better to read from the site as there are more linked terms there.
This section is one of those that helps players I the game really acclimate to the area, and the maps are being worked on right now.  What dorm the pcs start in will affect their social lives somewhat.



[ooc]The Collegium has been a boarding school for hundreds of years, and some of the schools it swallowed early in its existence had boarded as well.  Students have lived on campus and learned magic here for over a thousand years, and the layers are on top of layers in Stenron.

For the last four centuries, The Golden Square, called by the students the 'Quad' or 'GQ', a collection of four buildings surrounding a stone and lawn courtyard, has served as the main center of undergraduate living.  No road leads through it, so the carriages and wagons must go around it.  It is in the School District of the Winterloo neighborhood of Stenron, just north of the huge  Dimituam Douhol (the red Dome of Stars), across the Brandied Way, south of the Triston Hall.

Around the Golden Square are arranged four large dormitories of varying age, though none less than a few hundred years old.  It is here that students live on campus when they come to the school, it is here that they spend their first five years, and it is here that the bulk of their memories as students are comprised of, the loves and raw passions of pre adulthoods married to these ancient halls that have witnessed centuries of student lives, loves, and learning.

 

The oldest of the buildings was a interregnum manse, owned by a Klaxik family, the Worseteners, and this building, while not the biggest, is the desired spot for upper classmen, since the rooms are bigger and better appointed, and the fireplaces are larger.  Called 'Brenic Hall' officially , for the family that gifted it to the early Collegium, or 'The Bren' by students who lived there or wanted to, this is a sprawling old place, with a maze-like interior, with low, dark corridors exploding into giant, marple-floored dining rooms, with preserved but ancient dark drapes on huge windows, and the afore-mentioned huge fireplaces in huge rooms.   The outside is a grey brick with some wood trim.  Sometimes tripping over furniture that does not match, and over ancient rugs, past paintings in ancient styles and globes with magiced candles within them, Brenic has some sixty-plus bedrooms that each normally house three or four students, except a few small prize rooms on the top level that are shared by two, coveted by Upperclassmen. The regular  rooms are high and have bunked beds, upstairs, the rooms are smaller, but private, and with a good amount of storage.   Unofficially, students pledged to the Arcanic Swords branch of the Collegium has had a hold on these rooms for a few generations of man.  

Opposite Brenic Hall is the squat, castellated monstrosity known as "Totalkak Hall" (or colloquially, as 'Toad Hall').  Built in 717/718 RON, it was build specifically to be a dormitory.  It is a three story building with five story ends, known as the East Butt and West Butt.  This dormitory is somewhat Spartan, with plain white plaster walls and simple large study areas under both 'Butts'.  This dormitory does not hold heat well, either, tough in the cold marcher winter.  Many Dexies (first year students)  end up here.  There are some 450 rooms, each made for four human-sized students.   Though there are garderobes on every level, the only bathrooms with real tubs and such are in the basement.

North Hall is at the North side of the quad, a square building that was once an administration building for the city, built back in 390 RON, some 500 years earlier, before the Collegium had taken so much space.  It is a brick building, with a few stained glass windows in a tower (which depict the historical end to hostilities between the State of Winter and the Igboniats) that is over a central hall, now used for meals and for study at night.  The floors are a dark Shoefel, worn but warm looking, and the walls are paneled with the same wood, and the rooms are very high, with tin ceilings.   North is often a place taller races feel more comfortable, and has almost two hundred rooms.  This is a popular dorm, and the kitchen in the basement is much, much bigger than most.  There are also 4 very large dorm rooms in North, complete with small living rooms in front, that house some ten students at a time, and the school uses these for their female students often.

On the other side of the grass and  whitish marple square from North, lies the wooden, marcher style "Kravent Hall", built for the school back in 770 RON.  Kravent is white with dark Shoefel beams, and a very high pitched roof.   The floors are heavily carpeted, and the windows very small and square.  Kravent is known for the thin corridors and the box shaped, cookie-cutter rooms.  However, one nice feature of the Kravent rooms is their tiny black iron stoves, with ornate grates, that keep each room toasty warm even in the marcher winters. Kravent's double doors are large, and have large Collegium double-wand sigils. on them, and the entry chamber is large and spacious, but often gets bogged during busy times due to the narrow corridors beyond.  Gnomic always report feeling more at home here than the other dorms, for some reason.[/ooc]

The next installment, about the life of a student in the Collegium.  This is more about mood and feel and to help the players get into character, and to understand routines and what a day is like.
This is one that also may be better read in the wiki itself, as there are a good amount of links inserted, especially on setting specific stuff.   From here (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67453694/The%20Feel%20of%20Student%20Life).
[ooc]
The Feel of Student Life


The Collegium Arcana is the largest grouping of Void-sensitives in the  entire Tale of Years.  And the Stenron Campus , while not the Mother-Chapter anymore, is still the oldest.  So the faculty often remind the students of their fortune in being a student here.  

Students in the Collegium Arcana live under some level of constant fear.  And it is based on the same fear that any high-performance school has, to some degree, fear of not being able to keep up or to stay in.  In the lower classes, they fear not being able to master any of the basic skills needed to stay at the school and being asked to leave, though Dexies and Seconds are at a very awkward social age, as well.  Later students fear being excluded from the fraternities and orders, not to mention they fear failing their difficult practical exams.  The Fifth year students often fear slipping at the last moment and being sent on their sojourns to some useless backwater like Miston or Steel Isle Town, or some fear not being asked to go onto extended graduate studies.

The students are impressed, from the first moment, of their importance to the school, and that the Collegium needs to be harsh in its requirements, but that the survival of the school is based on as many strong, loyal Arcanans in the world promoting her interests as possible.  


"The Collegium's Curriculum is centered on building the whole mage, discovering which Void-borne sources match the talents of that caster best, while also building the other talents needed for interacting with the Void-blind world as a complete person."

--High Wardem Sealina Reccic, Commencement 860


There is a small younger school, the Iumis Centrat (Held Hope, Silverwood Omwo~), where younger children who manifest the talent early are sent to from the rest of the world.  Only two to three hundred  students are sent here from the corners of the globe, so these students see things differently.  They were noticed as void-sensitive as children, and sent here.  Many larger cities have versions of it, but most students enter in as 10-13 year olds (or the equivalent).


Students are taught magical and the non-magical in the Collegium,  with classes that  deal with other cultures, other histories, politics and social graces, mathematics, literature, and some basic science, along with classes dealing with the 'Woo'.  

Classes are normally Dunsak  through Monak, with Lawsak reserved for study (or not) and Fastak being a day of study and visiting the Dou~his' of necessity.  And it is noted if students ignore the last at all, since there have not been Dou~his allowed to be built on campus for hundreds of years[1].  The Winterloo district abuts the Lower Godstraat, and thus, the students have the opportunity, probably taken for granted, of going to the oldest and largest Street of the Gods in the world.  Class starts at 8th hour and goes onto 15th hour, and the Bells from the Dimituam Douhol behind the Golden Quad are impossible to ignore.

Fashion plays a part here, as the outside world affects the current wear of the students.  The student all wear their black student robes in class, but what they wear afterwards and on Fastak  can be quite different.  

Women's fashion in Stenron (and most of the Cradle) have moved towards shinier fabrics, tighter long dresses[2] and head gear is not optional for the well dressed woman.   Longer, flowing gowns with a petticoat or whatnot is still important for more important social scenes.   The Bustiers and corsets of the last decade (that are still popular in high fashion in some of the southern areas) are considered lower class (and are still seen in the seedier districts, or when folks go slumming.)  Shoes for women are somewhat practical with almost no heel.  Winter boots are above the knee, summer shoes are open toed with lacing up the front.  Long necklaces, with little plaques are popular, so these are used by girl students often as well.

Men in Stenron always wear the Toga for formal occasions and events, a throwback to the ancient Suprosian days when it was the uniform of those who ran the previous City State of Winter[3], though there have been a few slow changes in this.  Of course, Maesters and other teachers wear their hard-earned robe and sash all about the campus, but they generally also abandon it when outside campus, though for longer trips, they generally move back into the robe.  Metal armor for either gender is looked at as gaudy and in poor taste in town, but shirts with high collars and ruffles have become the rage, along with calf-length pants and short boots with slight heels, along with a short coat.  Town armors are becoming more stylized and less protective, unless one has money to spend.

The Rule of Reach is very strictly enforced in Stenron, especially in these neighborhoods.  But the unauthorized use of magic is also strictly watched.  No one cares about a little light or warmth, but the Rule of Affect is enforced by the Marcher Court very strongly, by the Wintric Guard and the Division of Controls.  The Wintric Guards are found often in Winterloo (and in the Godastraat, the Jarminik, and the Northern Oberlin), but once one travels to the Trade District or the Isle, things are ....less governed as you move that direction.

As can be imagined, as the students start to get into their school career, they explore nore and more of the city, and while the areas around the School Neighborhood are  large and interesting, as the students reach their fourth and fifth year, trips to the Trade District, with the earthy atmosphere and multinational flavor, become hard to ignore.

Drinking is allowed on campus, but only by adults and those who are in their fifth year or later.  However, the rules in the rest of the city are more relaxed, so finding alcohol  is normally easy, but few would risk being thrown out of the Collegium.  Drug use is heavily monitored on campus, and Stenron's laws make Krrf and Shruums illegal, though getting shruums is not that difficult on the Isle or the Trade District.  Hopitup (a very weak cherry-ale made in the Grey March), Hard Target (a chocolate Stout made in the Bright Lands), and Cameror (a strong stout ale, locally made) are very popular beers, and for wines, Peorni Chias, Hobyt Inn Chias, and Tranquin Terror are very popular, though there are over a hundred wines easy to find in the Trade District.


Blue Cuisine is very prevalent here, especially the breads baked with Cheese or meat or both in them.    Various forms of Chorm are used, especially chorman-based stews.  The School neighborhood has many small bars and inns, but is pretty light on really good eateries.  In the Winterloo district, the Tarplique and the Grace neighborhoods have much better food, with some Omish and Harou restaurants.  On the campus, some of the halls have food, but the main commissary is in Regist Hall, behind North Hall.  Here, rows of tables where many generations of students have done most of their eating, books in hand.   The tables are separated by class during main meal times.




Footnotes

1.legends talk of rituals and some sort of detection magic being at the root of this. ▲
2.some long, tight dresses can be found with drawstrings or other contrivances that may look ornamental, but can open them up for movement if need be. ▲
3.Stenron was once known as Winterloo, and late, the City State of Winter. ▲[/ooc]

Here is the Experience Modifier Page (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67728553/Collegium%20Arcana%20game%20beginning%20EXPMOD%20page) for starting characters in the Collegium Arcana gamer for choosing skills and using their starting experience. Every guild or faction in the game has a Base EXPMOD for a skill, which is added to the ATTRIB EXPMOD (the native ability the character's attributes give them in learning a skill) to create the TOTAL EXPMOD the character has in that skill.

Basically, we keep levels in every skill, with them going up a tiny bit at a time. This gives the players the feel of constant movement and growth while keeping the power curve very low. Every bit of experience is multiplied by the EXPMOD the character has in that skill. And as the modified Experience chart shows, after a while it gets difficult to move up a level, the PCs can pick up sub skills and other skills, so their ability 'pool' gets wider as well as deeper. A low health character may have a .15 EXPMOD in hitpoints, and takes about 700 raw EXP to get to level 1 in HP (which means an additional 2-5 HP added to the 2 they might have started with. A high health character might have started at 3 or 4, and have an EXPMOD of .35, and need only about 300 raw experience to get to level 1. (hit points has a larger ATTRIB EXPMOD portion than many, BTW).

More on EXPMODS here (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/28719411/Experience%20Modifiers%20and%20Base%20skill%20amounts).

As you can see by the chart, there are over 300 skills to choose from. And while that sounds daunting, and does allow for very different starting characters, all skills nest into up to 4 levels of skills and subskills. You always have to have a higher level in a parent skill than the subskill, so with only 3k experience to spend, the PCs will choose mainly from the 90+ basic commonality 1 skills.

So either the math is all wonky on the page, or the formulas for attributive modifiers have all changed. For instance, Basic Actor is listed as "in-9-.01/ch9-.015" when it's given as "((IN-9)*0.010)+((CH-9)*0.015)" elsewhere. It's easy to figure out if you know what's what, but I think it might be confusing to the uninitiated.

Damn...will look.

*Updates, pages fixed, working on maps for School neighborhood, physical descriptions.
first three play 'sections' mapped out, four if we include character creation. 
I have also been putting time and effort into the Gigantic Godstraat Neighborhoods of Stenron, since this will come into play regularly.

As mentioned, play will be mainly PbP and one-on-one IRC, in between the bi-weekly group sessions.  The group sessions will represent more mainstream timestamps, such as the end of a semester, a dance, a special lecture, where the in between stuff may be as mundane as choosing classes or rolling to see how well a paper is written or meeting a crush in the hallway, or perhaps a meeting with a Warden...or as deep as searching for a hidden library, gallivanting through the Grace of Water district, or joining one of the hidden Orders.   

I am hoping to get a rolling, staggered start in the next 10 days.

Will be back on roll20 tonight, working on other parts, like the later sessions, but am happy to work on characters tonight as well.   Rincewind has already started his, as has Matt.

A couple of random questions:

What's the in-game date were starting on?

Do we get any free XP in skills? Here I'm specifically thinking of language skills or Guild Lore or the like that we've gotten in previous games.

Quote from: limetom
A couple of random questions:

What's the in-game date were starting on?

Do we get any free XP in skills? Here I'm specifically thinking of language skills or Guild Lore or the like that we've gotten in previous games.

Damn, damn good questions.
School year is to start on the Lithe, After Tokush, in 895.

Added Language starting EXP.  Guild Lore will be zero, due to the fact you are just starting in the Collegium. 

I liked your character.  Very interesting start.

oh, yes, LT?

For those of you that one to update...
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes
I did already set up a page.

So, I've got some more questions. Well, lots of questions.

First off, what sort of population distribution (as opposed to just size or an average population density) does Stenron have? I can think of several real world analogues for a city with a million-ish inhabitants, but they can have a very different character depending on how the population is actually situated. For instance, some cities have a very well defined core with suburbs surrounding them, like, say, Baltimore. Others have quite a bit of sprawl, like Honolulu. Others are all sprawl, like Phoenix. What's Stenron like?

Second, since I'm assuming in any case that Stenron is fairly large, how do average people get around? You mention at one point on the wiki a (magical?) streetlight system, but what about taxis or the like?

Moving on from questions about Stenron, I've got a couple more, mostly for background stuff for my character. What's viticulture like in the Grey March? It's pretty northerly, right? Where's it done? Is it set up like an Old World winemaking area, say, modern Bordeaux with highly specific rankings for geography and historical quality, or more like a New World winemaking area, where wines can certainly be of differing qualities, but little regulation or even recognition (outside of those in the know) goes on? Or is it like an Old World winemaking region back in the day, where people simply drank what they grew, and sold surplus if it existed? Finally, who is involved--at least in the Grey March? Do humans have a monopoly? Elves? Hobbyts? Or are there a large number of different families in control? I was thinking of having at least one side of my character's family be from one of the wealthier vintner families, but that may depend on the answers to these questions and the next one.

Could I get just some more information about Imo (High Elves) in general? Specifically, I'm looking for what role in the last few centuries (if any) they've played, and more importantly, where this has been. Are there many Imo around? Are they scattered around or do they have a specific area they all hail from? It's surely the case that you'll find a little of everything in a city so large as Stenron, but what about in the wider Grey March?

Last thing, what are elven naming traditions? Way back in the original Celtricia post (I just skimmed through it again tonight for the first time in quite a while), you talk about how Klaxik are named, but elves don't ever get mentioned. I see some elven names in Omwo~ around, but I also see more cosmopolitan names as well. In terms of Omwo~ names, are any common? Do the Imo name their children (if that's how names are assigned in Imo culture) more traditionally? Less? And speaking of that, do the Imo speak Omwo~, or do they speak one of the related languages?

Wow.  Those are some awesome questions.  I will need to do these in pieces.

Quote from: LTFirst off, what sort of population distribution (as opposed to just size or an average population density) does Stenron have? I can think of several real world analogues for a city with a million-ish inhabitants, but they can have a very different character depending on how the population is actually situated. For instance, some cities have a very well defined core with suburbs surrounding them, like, say, Baltimore. Others have quite a bit of sprawl, like Honolulu. Others are all sprawl, like Phoenix. What's Stenron like?

From the Stenron (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/14956354/Stenron%2C%20Capital%20of%20the%20Grey%20March) page...
"The Current Feel of Stenron
Today's Stenron, in 885 RON, is the most cosmopolitan city in the world, the end of the Golden Trade Route up the Tarn Bay. Some say over a million souls grace her streets and byways, from the blinded worshippers of the Candle King to the Cloistered Monks of the Banished Ordermaker.  Her borders have overtaken and swallowed former outlying townships, converting them to suburbs.  Almost a fifth of her streets are lit with artificed globes, yet there are neighborhoods that have created their own brand of Law.  Above all, Stenron is Old, so ancient that some of her temples on the Godstraat now require a dozen steps down to what was once the street-level entrance. 
Her children all play with the toy of the Decade, the Browned pig doll, and the city is so vast that the Collegium Arcana has some 5 campuses within the borders."

Stenron fills the Coriel valley (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/51852057/The%20Major%20Neighborhoods%20of%20Stenron), literally spilling up the sides of some of the mountains.  The oldest parts are the Godstraat, Jarminic, and the Lanterned district, followed by Winterloo.  These areas, along Oberlin and the Trade Quarter, are packed in, right up to each other, with only signs designating when one area is entered or left.
The other neighborhoods were actually villages in their own rights before being swallowed by Stenron's growth. So they generally have dense population centers in the center of the neighborhood, but it is less on the outsides.
Suprosia is different, once being the manor house of the Suprosians, Vanir and Imo  Omwo~ who ruled the City State of Winter Millenia ago, later a grouping of such estates, and now a neighborhood for some of the wealthiest in town. 
The Necropolis is another strange neighborhood, the ancient burial areas of Winterloo and Stenron, it was once well outside the limits, now a whole district built on honoring the dead and dealing with ancestors.   

Should be on Thursday Night, on roll20.net, Celtricia Channel.

Just got back to Boston from San Diego and St. Louis, so a little crazy, but looking forward to a night with some gaming . Should have a few players that night.

Have to answer some of limetom's questions, as well.

With the exception of the 5th and the 12th, I have nothing on Thursdays this semester, so I'll definitely be there. If not, yell at me on Facebook or something.

And with you traveling, I wasn't expecting quick answers. That and I always seem to ask the most ridiculously involved questions.

We will be on after dinner and after I put njm5 to bed.  And after I get a bottle of cote fu rhone.  Rincewind will be on as well.  We can move forward.

Blargh. If I'm on, it will be later. Subbing for my adviser's class for the next two weeks, and I'm going this week for a refresher on how it's done (last took this course 3 years ago...).

No stress, dude.   We'll see you when we do.  Bastien or llum, we can get going as well

Basneti, use the Soc ACQ chart here for the CA game.
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/66960599/Collegium%20Arcana%20Base%20Character%20Creation

done :D

Cannot wait to see.   What race?   And I won't to see how you spent that exp,..

i didn't understood exp that wll, so i'll connect tonight

Quote from: BasnetI
i didn't understood exp that wll, so i'll connect tonight

On and off right now.   Can't wait to help you out.

Quote from: LordVreeg

Quote from: BasnetI
i didn't understood exp that wll, so i'll connect tonight

On and off right now.   Can't wait to help you out.

So, that was fun last night.  I think I have to write more on the use and process of the Soc ACQ chart in character creation.  I was very gratified as to the depth we were able to create with Limetom and you (and Rincewind a few days earlier), with all the backstory that went into the youngsters.   The details like the Vintners, the bardic connections, etc, are going to go a long way.

I am still grappling with the amount of players.  I have 5 confirmed now (6 if we have Llum), and I think after that I am going to put everyone else that has mentioned it on a waiting list.

Vreeg, need to ask about the exp from languages:

when it says "INT*20 in raw EXP in Westic language" i need to use it all on westic? or can i use part of it to get lvl 1 on westic and the other part on other skills?
It goes the same with read/write and languages?

Quote from: BasnetI
Vreeg, need to ask about the exp from languages:

when it says "INT*20 in raw EXP in Westic language" i need to use it all on westic? or can i use part of it to get lvl 1 on westic and the other part on other skills?
It goes the same with read/write and languages?

SORRY, YOU GOTS TO....

Those represent speaking the current common tongue of the Cradle area...and the fact that someone taught you to read and write, sort of a prerec for this school of magic...

i mean, i can get lvl 1 with less than the bonus exp i get, so was wondering if i can use the surplus to enhance other skills

Quote from: BasnetI
i mean, i can get lvl 1 with less than the bonus exp i get, so was wondering if i can use the surplus to enhance other skills

Nope.  It represents real-life exposure.  Sorry, but good question.

Quote from: LimeTomMoving on from questions about Stenron, I've got a couple more, mostly for background stuff for my character. What's viticulture like in the Grey March? It's pretty northerly, right? Where's it done? Is it set up like an Old World winemaking area, say, modern Bordeaux with highly specific rankings for geography and historical quality, or more like a New World winemaking area, where wines can certainly be of differing qualities, but little regulation or even recognition (outside of those in the know) goes on? Or is it like an Old World winemaking region back in the day, where people simply drank what they grew, and sold surplus if it existed? Finally, who is involved--at least in the Grey March? Do humans have a monopoly? Elves? Hobbyts? Or are there a large number of different families in control? I was thinking of having at least one side of my character's family be from one of the wealthier vintner families, but that may depend on the answers to these questions and the next one.

It is sort of in between.  This is an old world, and with Magic taking some of the place of technology, so we have more advancement in economic, social, and political areas than makes sense in the real world for the technology level.  The development of a trading economy was critical in the Cradle area and others, which is based on the ability to transport goods (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/14956537/Transport%20in%20Celtricia).  

The Grey March is old, especially near Stenron (formerly Winterloo).  Winemaking is similarly old, practiced here as far back as in the days of the Suprosian Kings.  Vneersberry (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/14956664/Vneersberry) is the primary Winemaking grape in the Grey March, as it grows well almost anywhere, but most any area north of Stenron only makes good white wines, except in a few cases. In the western Coriel Valley, as well as in the areas close to the Igboniat Plains, red wines of some quality are made.
It is important to note that huge Vineyards don't exist, and that almost all winemaking is in small batches, even for the big, guild-supported vintners.  This is just due to the nature of the world, in that there are few areas immune to the introduction of dangerous beasts (Though the Coriel Valley may be the one of those exceptions).  Castel Ellis, in the North areas, makes a few great wines, as well as the western wines of the Hopiton area (near the old Igboniat areas.

There is almost ne regulation on the wines and viniculture, though wine is very popular.  Racially, the Omwo~ and the Hobyts in your area do the larger share of it, as there is still some leftovers from different families that owned property or companies, though they are all allied to different Guilds.  I will try to cement down some of those guilds in the next few days.  

...And we will be on tonight, to get the character creation stuff all lumped I together.

And maybe to answer LT's last questions.

So right now, we have llum, who is still making a character, lt, basmati, and rincewind.  I will be on tonight on roll20 , for the end of charges, then next week we have some rules and intro, followed by  the real intro the week after.

Group play will be every other week, but much of the play will be in between sessions in one on one with the gm

Quote from: LTCould I get just some more information about Imo (High Elves) in general? Specifically, I'm looking for what role in the last few centuries (if any) they've played, and more importantly, where this has been. Are there many Imo around? Are they scattered around or do they have a specific area they all hail from? It's surely the case that you'll find a little of everything in a city so large as Stenron, but what about in the wider Grey March

"Imo Omwo~ (Race) 'High Omwo~', descended from the Omwo~ that moved to the Silverwood in -6194. Almost are taught in the Scholar of Logic Method."

The Omwo~ were created as the first servants of the Planars, over 9 millennia earlier.  They were one race, then, and powerful.  The Imo, the Huet, and the Vanir are the Omwo~ that are closer in form and spirit to their ancestors.  Other Omwo~ that do not display as many of the older characteristics have more mixed blood, and probably lots of non Omwo~, as well.  Once the prime servants, Omwo~ make up 17% of the population of the Grey March (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/14956480/The%20Grey%20March), though about 7% of the world's population, and are very aware of their very diminished role in the world, despite their genetic gifts.
As the Imo are less than 10% of the world's omwo~, they are a percentage of a percentage.

The Imo are descended from the Omwo~ that settled in the Silverwood in -6194, where the population is still 75% omwo~ and 30% Imo.  So your character's history is that at some point  the family migrated to Stenron.  The Imo, Huet and Vanir all actually ran Stenron until -105 RON, when the Suprosian Family was finally deposed (after nearly a thousand years of running the city).
More later.

Some basics on the world of Celtricia


The Calendars


There are actually dozens of active calendars, most following the 6 month fashion of the elder Omwo~, or the 12 month House Wastri calender.  There are 366 days in a Celtrician year, which the Omwo~ originally separated into 6 even 60 day months, with a Lithe day in between each.  As is common in the world, things change and usage slurs terminology.   The Westic Word for month is Gosi (Go-See).  This is from the Omwo~ term Goesi,


Months used in the Reckoning of Nebler (RON).



  Winterwane   Dumutoux (the month of Ice)   Dumotux
  Spring   Toqusuh (the month of Renewal)   Tokush
  Summerwax   Tan~os (the month of Promise)   Tanos
  Summerwane   Gosiuoni (the month of Flowers)   Gosun
  Fall   Hisieohum (the month of Leaf-fall)   Hisio
  Winterwax   Dumuquisneti (the month of Hardening)   Dumoktis



Obviously, the calendar related heavily to the weather in Celtricia.  But it is important to note that there is a different calendar used in the equatorial areas, developed by the Klaxik of Barstone and popularized by the nations originally settled by House Wastri.

In the North-Western cradle areas, there is a large range of tempuratures.  The Northern Grey March has flurries from the beginning of Dumoktis to the end of Dumotux, meaning 120 days of weather that is freezing or below, spending 6 days of that averaging 15-20 degrees and often dripping below the zero mark for hawaaks ata time.  The Argussians get no snow as often as they get any, and have weather below freezing for 60 days in the worst years. 


The year 895 RON (in the Reckoning of Nebler), translates to the ninety fifth year of the Ninth century of the Common Age in Argus.  In the Grey March, the Reckoning of Nebler is used exlusively, while in Trabler, you get both the Argussian and Neblerian.  In the Silverwood, 

In most of the Cradle area (Trabler, Orbi, The Bright Lands, The Grey March, Sembina, etc.) the RON is used, and year 0 (of the Common age and of RON) was the year that the Theocracy of Nebler was founded.  It has become more typical to use the term Common Age, and to count in terms of years and centuries, particularly by the merchant guilds.


Many Omwo~ mark the year 895 RON as year 7089 Since the Founding, as the Republic of Silverwood was founded back in the Age of Legends.

The eight day week known as the Hawaak is used throughout the known Celtrician world.  The normal work week in town is five and half days in terms of what people get paid for, and what the well-to-do put in.  Your nomal business owner puts in 7 out of eight days, and of course the poor folk generally work 8 out of eight days!  The work-week is supposedly Dunsak through Harvak working 10 hours a day, then 5 hours for Monak, as the moneychangers generally call it a done Hawaak right after noon.  Fasting is normally done every Fastak for the religious.


As for the hours and the day, As Celtricia has twin suns (Gerin and Tribin), the 22 hour day has three different phases. The Night, the Day, and the Sou (Siu, White Omwo~). The Sou is the red period in the beginning and end of the day when the weaker, reddish Gerin is the only light, the 'Red Dawn'. After 58 minutes, the brighter and more yellow Tribin starts shining, giving the day a more normal cast. As the binary suns spin around each other very quickly as Celtricia spins, the end of the day, dusk, is spent with 58 minutes without Tribin again, giving Celtricia a very Red dawn and dusk, the dusk Dou being called the Na Sou.  The hours of the day are counted from here as well (evening hours are called Na Sou, daylight hours called Sou.  7 hours after the Sou is called seven Sou, for example).

Excellent summary.

Scheduling is very hard.  This Thursday, as promised, should be the last day of character creation, so we can hopefully get Llum set up (though I still cannot see LC missing the chance to play a pubescent student in Celtrician Hogwarts...).
Next Thursday, I will now be in Vegas looking at new equipment... I apologize, but it must be.  We'll have session one on 9/26, at 8:45 on roll20.net

Meanwhile, see these new notes on the Godstraat of Stenron (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/68006822/Godstraat%20of%20Stenron).  The players will end up visiting this a few times.

Llum, can we get started on your student soon?

oh, and yes, we are on tonight, on Roll20.net, for those who need character work.
for those who need a link-in, I will start on #celtricia.

Next week I will be in Vegas, but will be back the week afterwards for our first official session.

Quote from: BasnetI
i didn't understood exp that wll, so i'll connect tonight

Yo dude, you cannot make the fray?  Is that the deal?

Quote from: LordVreegScheduling is very hard.  This Thursday, as promised, should be the last day of character creation, so we can hopefully get Llum set up (though I still cannot see LC missing the chance to play a pubescent student in Celtrician Hogwarts...).

Real life jumped me in an alley. What can I say?

Have fun, and I'll check in on the thread now and then.

real life sucks that way...it really does.  keep track, it may turn out to be a game full of pubescent intrigue and inter colle politics.

i will be gone this week, in Las Vegas, but game session one is next thursday.   

well, well, well.  This Thursday is the first real session for the CA game.  The players will start playing in the common room of Toad Hall, the Dexie dorm on the GQ, after their first day of classes.  my, we are ready to go.

Good luck, my friend!  I look forward to reading the session log!

me too!

all this work, and my home desktop bites the big one. 
Going to have to find a few minutes to buy a new one and bind it into the spirit of my mind.

First session was a bit rough, Due to my having to do all the work on the ipad and Logitech keyboard, but we pulled it off.  The initial characterization was OK, and the first meeting in Toad Hall went well, and the initial dork kids shared some.
The group then got brought over to North Hall, another Dorm in the Golden Quad, but also where the main kitchens are.  Their Prefect, a slightly foppish Klaxik, brought them over then disappeared.  The group spent the rest of the time negotiating dinner, and meeting Keeper Voros, an administrator and a teacher that they will get to know later.

Ok, this is starting off well, but I just wanted to mention that I actually have one of our earliest Celtricia Players setting up their character and joining in (Nom Played with them, and maybe meanest)
Matt J was one of the guys who has played in Celtricia since 1983, he romped around in Igbar in the beginning, and played in Stenron and Miston both.  He's played a bunch of character types, and was one of the original Mysteriarchs. 


Llum and Limetom, we need to schedule our 'between' sessions.

I'm open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the usual time. Thursday or Friday would probably work best, but I can swing the others if needed.

I think Friday might happen here.
That should be good for you. 

Llum, you awake?

I've gotten the basics of the Player's Campaign (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes) page up and running.  So far some good feedback.
The First Intermezzo session is going to be based on the  first classes,
"Do make sure you read this, Dexies, since your head will be filled with other knowledge later on and this might keep it fresh.  Now, The green schedule, you are going to Ponce Hall, Room 2, for Spellcasting Basics.  The yellow schedule is going to Penult Hall, in the basement, for the Overview of the History of Magic, and the Grey Schedule is going to Dilvish Hall, for Mathamatics."  These three as well as the Sources of Magic and accessing them....

Limetom, can we get together tonight online?   We have the real game meeting tomorrow, and I want to make sure you get your intermezzo turn.

I have a class tonight, so it would either have to be very early (ending before 9:30p your time), or very late (starting after 12:30a your time). I can, however, do very early, so let me know.

lets get some done early....then we shall see

I'm on roll20 now, by the way. Gonna run to get lunch, but I'll be back in 10 minutes or so.

i am really, really enjoying the direction and content.
1 part Hogwarts, one part Hardy Boys, one part Breakfast Club, one part Dead Poets' Society. 
Nice Intermezzo, Limetom.  We got a ton done very quickly

On for 8:45 pm, roll20.net

The Collegium Arcana game going very well, with the pc's doing a great job of getting deep into character.   Nothing makes a character-driven story go better than engaged PCs.   Vee is showing a self-interested, somewhat sophisticated side.  Les'z is very group oriented, outgoing and comfortable with his surroundings.  Pholian is showing what I can only call protagonistic tendencies, if that makes sense.

Last session involved the first night talking after classes, touching base in the evening and learning from each other.  We also got Les'z mixed in with the group.  

Lez's, Gregoir and Pholian snuck out into the foggy, chill night, to check out the copse of trees where Pholian had seen some armed gnomics searching around (and had chased him into the bathroom when they spotted him watching) earlier in the day.
They found themselves in a much denser fog than it appeared from the widows above, and within, they discovered something following them....(from the last 1/3 of the session)


Pholian Mar: I cast wary glances as we move, regretting that I did not bring my lantern with me, but then again, lighting it would probably be not very sneaky.
Les'z: exactly... we must rely on our hyper Omwo night vision
Gregoir: I agree...keep a sharp eye....
LordVreeg (GM): the 3 move around, and get to the side door

LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir brings the 3 of you to the outside side door

and the three of you, one omwo~, and two humans (Gregoir is a tall Marcher human, Pholian a smaller House Wastri version) find the door is....unlocked
Pholian Mar: "Lucky" I whisper, opening the door and quickly scurrying into the grounds.
ooc - much smaller probably, I'm barely above 5 feet.
Les'z: thank god for your basic hand skills, Pholian
LordVreeg (GM): the night is crisp (39 degrees) and your breath can be seen
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir soundlessly leads the three o you out

Les'z: (i suddenly feel very small and young)
(From Les'z): trees are friends for omwo, yes?
(From Les'z): unfortunately i am an indoor omwo
LordVreeg (GM): the three of you move out from the squat, utilitarian Toad hall, and look around. for some reason, the Golden Quad is silent and empty.
there is a light fog, heavy in areas, also on the quad.  The night is crisp, and the two small moons both peer down.
Pholian Mar: Well it is night time, so it's not terribly surprising.
Les'z:
(I am also quite nervous)
(I wonder if this was a bad life decision)

LordVreeg (GM): there are trees on all four corners of the huge grassy square, and the copse you remember is on the middle of the west side, the opposite side
the fog moves around you as you move onto the quad
Pholian Mar: I huff a little in my hands to bring more warmth into it, then whisper "We need to go west" then promptly sneak in that direction.
Les'z: i grab Pholian.... hang on ... lets go around
lets not cross in the open
Gregoir: This fog is perfect to hide us
Les'z: you sure?
(

Pholian Mar: "Mrm, yes" I nod, trying to stay out of the light.
LordVreeg (GM): and you are some 20 paces in the middle
LordVreeg (GM): and the fog is deeper in here than you thought
Les'z: i am sensing something else here...I hear...something.....

Quote from: of course

LordVreeg (GM): (ooc roll detect, Pholian
Pholian Mar: rolling d100
(
98
)
= 98
Les'z: ooc i see he detected the fog

Les'z  (in a distant voice) i sense red and old
Pholian Mar: IC: Do I notice the fog acts a bit oddly (or think so)?
IC: Because I feel like it's following us.
(From Les'z): to our right would be the north?
(From Les'z): like in the quad itself or on the edge
Gregoir: This stuff is getting thick...Very Thick....Les'z, are you alright?

LordVreeg (GM): the three of you are near what should be the center of the quad
Pholian Mar: I ponder for a moment, but then shrug "Well...it's fog. We're probably all just a little nervous"
Les'z: Shhh... something moves to our right in the north
Pholian Mar: I fall quiet immediately, trying to squint my eyes to see something
(From Les'z): ok i look behind me
Gregoir: we are getting closer, though something moves...I saw...
(From Les'z): what kind of snout... Orc? pig? something else?
Les'z: (yells) HOLY SHIT BEHIND US
Greg: Nothing here...LEZ, WHAT HEY< Is there something there!?!!!
LordVreeg (GM): Screams in the fog
Pholian Mar: OOC -  OUR screams!!

Quote from: please, please

(From Les'z): will is 80
Les'z: (To GM) rolling 1d100
(
14
)
= 14

Les'z: you would see me fumbling to get something from my boot, crawling on my back
LordVreeg (GM): Pholian feels Les'z run into his shins, skittering across the ground
Gregoir: from the West..."Phlian? Lez?? where be you?

Pholian Mar: I shout "Watch out Gregoir, there's -something- walking around with a knife here!" And as I say that, I assume a defensive position, keeping my eye on that knife, or at least trying.
Les'z: It is some kind of haunt, it had a long coat...a hat, and a snout!
LordVreeg (GM): silent fog...sudden normal noises

LordVreeg (GM): the fog lifts a bit, and belatedly, you realize the fog looked not so bad from the outside you were just in some....special area
Gregoir: ....I have found your copse, Polian
Les'z: That was truly frightening

Greagoir: "Entropic Overlords, it seemed so
Pholian Mar: "Y...yeah. We..." Looks at Les "I, saw some figure with a knife about to stab Les here..."
"...and in a top hat" I add after a second.
Les'z: At first the figure appeared small and human in a cape with a snout, and red eyes
then it appeared to be wearing a top hat and was taller with a full coat
Gregior: ...." indeed. the thing... it seemed like...I felt my blood go to icewater
Pholian Mar: "I think we should go back, and quickly....I think the shouts'll attract attention."
Les'z: the fog should have dampened the shouts, let us check this copse while we are here first
Les'z: then lets sneak back around the quad instead of across it

gregoir: "i'm not sure what tree we saw those gnomics near, Pholian

Pholian Mar: "I think I see it!" I speak in an excited whisper. Looking around, I shrug "Well...since we already got jumped by -something-, might as well risk it all" I then proceed to scurry quickly to the tree.
Les'z: (excited!)
LordVreeg (GM): the three of you move to the Vneer tree, and see it has been trimmed some, and has no branches until 6' up


I try to examine the tree, motioning the other two closer. "I wonder why they'd be cutting off branches from some random tree....and why they'd try to keep such a secret about it."
Les'z: Vneerswood can be expensive, it is an ancient and sacred tree with parts of the Omwo
Gregoir, Well, maybe, but Vneersberry is also sacred to the Vintners...
maybe we should get up in there

(From Les'z): does any elven tree hugger sense kick in about this tree's plight
Pholian Mar: "Hrmm, you are right..." A nd then you can see me suddenly tumble back, uttering a rather strong curseword.
Gregoir: Pholian, let's get going...hey, did you find something?
Pholian Mar: I motion to the tree's boll "L - look!"
Not even bothering to whisper
Les'z: well boll me over
LordVreeg (GM): Pholian is holding a sheet metal small doll.......with a long coat...and as foxy face...and a top hat.....
maybe 10" tall
gasps from all

Les'z: that explains the snout... and what we saw in the quad was tied to this
LordVreeg (GM): ...and...that is where we end...
Intermezzo 2 coming up
Pholian Mar: Excellent timing, heh.  Wow!
Les'z: thats the way it always works

Limetom, this Friday work for you? 
Next Intermezzo goes on!

This Friday at our usual time (8:45p Eastern) works fine for me.

perfect.   much to go over, and much you can do.   
we'll go over some class details and learning rlls, but there will be some opportunities to work on your book, etc.

just an update on how the format is working out.
For those who do not know, we run a main, group session every other Sunday online, but then do personal, intermezzo sessions online with each player to go over their learning and interactions   So there is a lot of stuff going on in between sessions. 

I am quite impressed so far, though the individual sessions have gotten pretty adventurous pretty quickly.

Limetom,

next seesion is first Fastak on campus, and the students are going to have to determine what Douhis they visit.   And the integration of that and the stuff you all learned is going to be key.

You said you have levels you were already close in?

And what is Vee's take on her experiece in the strange antechamber?

Vee leveled in Basic Social, which I need to roll for next time. She's close in Basic Detect (193 applied XP) and in Spirit SP (188 applied XP). If I'm lucky I'll get one of them next time.

I think Vee's going to be visiting Ceminiar's Douhis.

Vee's pretty shaken up by the experience; she didn't try the rhyme out, after all. But, it hasn't gotten rid of her curiosity, either. She's not sure what she saw--a ghost? A powerful, yet forgotten mage? Somebody in disguise? And their motives aren't clear either. Were they trying to trick her? Or were they telling the truth? If they are a ghost, did she find their finger? Or was it just a long-forgotten trinket? And what is that sigil-coevered fingerbone and what does it do (if anything)? In a word: anxious.

that is a great analysis, and well-taken from her in-game perspective.

we play tomorrow night as a group, normal time.   

Open Session three (session 8 if you count all the Intermezzo sessions) was gratifying.  The Pcs are learning more about the city of Stenron and the school, and are, realistically enough, learning about the inner workings of the Collegium social scene and how to work within the confines of that and their position as Dexies (first year students)
Last session was the first Fastak of the school year, the 8th day of the Hawaak where almost all people find time to worship and visit the Douhis (Dou~his) of the religions and faiths that deal with their person current struggles.  Stenron having the largest and oldest Godtraat in the CradleLands, it is easy for the students to all go en masse through three neighborhoods and end in said 'Street of the Gods.

An excerpt later in the session is below.


Pholian Mar: I excuse myself and go over to the Green Mother's Douhis as the rest leaves or goes about their way.
(From Les'z): so what did i see them do
Gregoir, " any other douhis we need to hit, gang?"
he seems relieved
Pholian Mar: Suddenly, I scream and freak out.  Really.  Eyes bug out and all.
Les'z: I am ok with tagging along with the rest of you
Gregoir "WHAT!, WHAT!"
Les'z: Whoa wat's up ?
Pholian Mar: "It's in my pocket, get it out, get it out!!!"

LordVreeg (GM): a wide berth around you is given by all, even in this strange crowded place full of wide-eyed prophets and strange miracles.
 
Pholian Mar: I throw off my robes, standing just in trousers and shirt.
Gregoir, "WHat? What? in your pocket?
Pholian Mar: "The statue! The bloody thing just moved!"
Les'z: NO WAY
get it out !
(From Les'z): i want to do detect magic on his pocket
Gregoir, : why'd you bring the well-damned thing?'
Pholian Mar: "You get it out! You hear that?"
"I didn't bring that! It's in my chest! Well, was!"
"Alright...listen. You two just...grab something, alright?"
"Something to hit it with. I'm going to take it out."
(From Les'z): is the laugh the same we heard in the fog games

(From Les'z): are those clubbers around

Les'z: I heard that laugh from the fog

Pholian Mar: "Right, well....grab a branch or something."
"Or just be ready to kick it. I'll take it out. Just say when ready."

(vreeg-to Les'z) the clubbers have been joined by a third, a klaxik, older, not on school garb but in studded leather.
(From Les'z): do they look amused or just surprised

(From Les'z): directed toward Pholian?
Les'z: I can step on it, but will defer to you guys, i am not very strong
: Gregoir, "I wou;d love to...but the laughing is gone"
Pholian Mar: I go ahead and kick the robes a bit, to see if I hit anything hard and metallic there.
LordVreeg (GM): nope
pretty empty
" Let's get to the Church of Black Irony and chaos...it fits..."
Les'z: I second that.
Pholian Mar: I make a worried frown "Mrm...sure."
I grab the robes and follow them.
(From Les'z): are teh clubbers watching or are they otherwise occumpied as we leave
(Vreeg to Les'z)  The three of them seem to be keeping a sharp eye, but you feel them focusing on Pholian.

LordVreeg (GM): the group of you spend the am and early afternoon, hittting 2-3 douhis each eating cakes, talking to others, ery social
by 8th Na sui, you are heading back
It is getting Chill, though seasonal for early Hisiu.  Maybe 45 degrees, and you all are thankful for the thick school robes
LordVreeg (GM): Prefect Kakoana, his somewhat long hair perfectly curled and oiled,  and the hugely fat human Keeper Jeesh bring you to North hall, for a meet pie feast...
North Hall is abuzzing hive by the to the huge eating hall that lies below the North Hall Domitory.  The night Sui ihas started as you get to the doors, dodging other students, and Red Gerin, the small red sun, dyes the Golden Quad a bloody red.
you all hear from upper classmen that you get rudimentary books on the night of the tenth, which is great news.
Jessie and Vee, and to a lesser extent, Christo, seem to be in a fine mood
Les'z: OOC does "rudimentary books" mean something everybody understands, cuz i dont
Pholian Mar: I think he meant mandatory
Les'z: not sure i know what mandatory books means either
LordVreeg (GM): ooc..rudimentary, as in first spellbooks
though none of you really have spells
supposedly

Les'z: exciting!
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir and Bosh are thrilled
Christo seems more relieved
Jessie, "about itime..this pace moves so slow, letting the stgragglers keep up"

the tables are full, a meat pies, wet and warm, are all over, some plain, sme heavily spiced in ogril style or Harou subtlety.
Pholian Mar: As we eat, I whisper to the other two partners in crime "You know, I think we should grab a teacher about this whole thing. It starts to look like more than we could chew".
Gregoir, " That statuette, you mean...but who can we talk to about it?"
Les'z: i agree, but who
Pholian Mar: "I think we can probe about the odd mists appearing on the grounds"
Gregioir, "they will think us insane..."
Pholian Mar: "Also we best check if it's even still in my chest. I'm not sure if I'd be more glad or terrified if it was gone."
Les'z: whispering " i think we should avoid any teachers associated with brokenball" " i saw some clubbers near our little scene today"
Pholian Mar: "Hrm....good call. And I don't think they'd Gregoir, this place has whole chapters dedicated to odd myths."
Gregoir..."Love the game, but some of those Clubbers do NEED a life beyond the ball and club.
Les'z: whispering " i think any teacher good at detecting magic can figure that object out pretty quickly"

(From Les'z): because of my association thru parents are there any big boy professor types i might have an "in" with
Pholian Mar: "Well I'm not sure we should actually show it to them"
(From Les'z): they were associated with the kakenbyte maker types, who should be able to figure this out
Pholian Mar: "There is a matter of those gnomes"
Vee: If you whisper too much your voice will stick like that.
LordVreeg (GM): ooc hahahahah
Pholian Mar: "Thanks, mom."

Vee Glares at Pholian.
Pholian Mar: I focus on my meatpie.  Hard.  Mmmm, Good.
LordVreeg (GM): ooc and we will end there,


Vee: So I leveled in Basic Detect.
Les'z: agreed, cheers
Vee: I swear I'm not cheating, lol.
LordVreeg (GM): ooc THEre IS S STATUE NIBBLING MY ASS!!!!!
Vee: rolling 1d3
(
1
)
= 1
Les'z: ouch
LordVreeg (GM): obviously not cheating
Vee: I don't mind at all,

There you have another example of the in-game workings of the Collegium Game.  Not super-duper, no earth shaking, but mystery and exploration, which it was supposed to be.  As far as game experiments go, this one seems to be going very, very well.   

Limetom, this Friday for the next Intermezzo session. 
More library stuff, and more classwork in store.

Works for me.

awesome.   so, so much to do.

I'll try to be there on time, but I'm out and don't know of I'll be there right away or not. At most I'll be half an hour late.

no stress, the boy needs to be put down

Finished posting the basics for Hisiu~ (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/70507180/Hisui%20of%20895) (sometimes Hisui).  This is the current Goesi (60 day month), for the reference point of the PCs.
Please note I did place the date for the Dance for the Incoming (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/70583063/Big%20Incoming%20ball%20on%20eighth), which may be a lot of fun, but it will be a time for pomp and gratuitous use of the Woo.
And then, the night of Waxcrenior is soon after..., a different type of celebration.

Open Session should be tonight, 8:45.

what a truly awesome session last night was in the Collegium Arcana game.
Thought we would play a bit of a lunchtime in the North Hall, then planned on playing the Incoming Ball over at Selig Tran for the rest of the session.

However, the PCs ended up kibbitizing in the North Hall Basement, then figuring stuff out, and then getting into trouble, that we didn't even get to the dance, just over to The Class of History of SPellcasting in Penult Hall.

Guess we'll do the Incoming Ball next Open Session.

I'll be online on Roll20.net (Celtricia, world of factions) tonight, while working on some of the Collegium maps. 

LT, can we do you intermezzo session on Tues or Wed this week?

almost home posting on phone

Wednesday will work. I'm just going to be too busy tomorrow.

Alright, thanks, LT.  then on thursday we have the full session

that is tonight with the full session.

Now THAT was a session.

Session 5 (12 if you count all the Intermezzos) was truly awesome.

We played the students getting ready for the Incoming Ball, and then a large portion of the ball itself.  The interplay in Toad Hall was good (especially with the social side going on in the upper foyer, and the secret meeting in Pholian's room with Gregoir, Les'z, and Pholian.

Pholian Mar: I show Les'z the two statues if they haven't teleported out of my bed yet, pointing out the blooded one especially.
Les'z: (OOC) who is the human girl, the one who was on the edge of the conversation a few days back?
Pholian Mar: (OOC) It's the mysterious human girl I thought was you, I believe.
Les'z: Whoa, Pholian, what happened here, i remember that one
Vee: (To the human girl) "I don't think we've met, I'm Viwih. You can call me Vee."
Pholian Mar: "I think we've discovered something much bigger than a night's lark, Les'z."
LordVreeg (GM): She smiles, "well met, Vee! I am weronima...are you excited?"
Gregoir, loudly, " Stupid necklace does not fit!"
Vee: I am. I haven't attended a party like this in quite some time.
LordVreeg (GM): Christo, "I either. I feel like I am coming back fromthe cliuds onto clouds"
Pholian Mar: I rub my nasal bridge in thought "this looks an awful lot like this one" I motion to the warrior "Just...sacrificed someone. You remember what happened out at the quad."
Les'z: Tell me where this other statue came from (OOC and which one has blood on it, and description, etc)
LordVreeg (GM): Weronima, " I can see that paen to Froji, Christo."
ooc...the new one is a human statue in lamellar
Pholian Mar: And it's the blooded one.
Les'z: ooc and that is real blood on it?
How did you come by this second statue?
LordVreeg (GM): the candles in Pholian's room all flicker at once, and the room gets dark for a second

Then later the ceremonial march over...

LordVreeg (GM): the walls, as you entered, are heavily painted, and there is a podium up front, with the high honorables at it
you all enter in, and behind you, the rest of the student body, all still wiht candles, fill in behind
The Ball is held in the Seriol Tran, a Marcher style old hall on the corner of Sheval and Restitution Way. Ancient, high walled, there are painted scenes of grand hunts on the roof (somewhat obscured by soot), huge fireplaces on both ends, and the Sheval St Side is covered in high mirrors.
The ballroom is lit, by turn dim and bright, by chandeliers magicked heavily in the center and by the hot ,furnace like wide fireplaces, white mantled and adorned with hoary large Goodeval-styled portraits above.
Around the gilded room, other small portraits, some newer, some much newer, but a few very old ones surround the room in thick, ornate framed ornativity.
LordVreeg (GM): The air is thick, smokey, with food scents, wine scents, musky undertones. Music fills the air, yet no musicians can be seen, horns, piano and violin, with a base drum.
you are brought forward, and an invocation is brought up, "
"To the holy Angels who brought us the Woo, we give thanks, to those that chose us in this grand experiement, we give thanks, and to ou duty of teaching the next generations, we give thanks."
then you are all brought forward, and called by name, and given your Dexdemit spellbooks"
Les'z: BIG SMILES


Later on, we had Suave Pholian asking Christo to dance....and then totally fumbled, leaning on the table with all the wine and knocking over the whole table.  and 36 bottles of wine.  Incredible smooth.  and hilarious.

Pholian Mar: rolling 100
100
= 100
aaahahahah
Les'z: OOC did he land on his face or his ass
LordVreeg (GM): pholian slips and falls into the table.
he knocks of=ver the whole thing
Pholian Mar: ooc: And that's probably a less embarassing way to go in this situation >,<
LordVreeg (GM): 36 wine bottles fall and miraculously.....they ALL BREAK on him

Pholian Mar: ....ouch.
*"....ouch"
LordVreeg (GM): CARASH!!!!!!!!!

Les'z: So much for not embarrassing Kakoana! HA HAAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHA HAHAHAH
LordVreeg (GM): Christo falls on tp of him, soaking herself, as does Gregoir
Vee: Well.
rolling 1d100
(
49
)
= 49
LordVreeg (GM): the music stops
Pholian Mar: I burn up like a candle, of course, looking as if I just tried to shapeshift into a beetroot
LordVreeg (GM): Vee slides, then barely dodges

OK, that was an amazing session last week, and the Intermezzo's have also been good.
Limetom, shall we try Sunday for your Intermezzo?

That should work for me.

Just remember not to lean on the wine table when asking girls to dance. 
Damn kids...

We were talking about some of the more spooky stuff that has been showing up, so this was an example.

LordVreeg (GM): you turn the corner ...and see Christo standing, her white gown flowing in the wind, in the window overlooking the Goldane Quad, a hissing escaping her mouth every breath, breathing hard

she stands right in the window, covered in Wine stains, eyes wide and unseeing
Pholian Mar: Did she/it notice me?
I of course quickly move my head back, laying close to the wall.
LordVreeg (GM): she does not seem to movebraced in the window
she is totally standing in it, leaning herself out a bit
Pholian Mar: Starting to feel like I should've drank a bit more wine rather than just soak in it, I start to approach it, trying to do so as silently as possible, watching her carefully as I do so, because I'm feeling a bit scared about what I may be dealing with here
LordVreeg (GM): there seems to be a white fog rising on the oter side of her
Pholian Mar: Wait
She's standing in the window.
LordVreeg (GM): yes
Pholian Mar: Not next to the window?
LordVreeg (GM): second floor
Pholian Mar: Alright, this is really giving me a bad vibe, I advance quicker.
LordVreeg (GM): as you get closer, the hissing is starting to be louder
she leans further out
Pholian Mar: Gulping, I ask "Chris, are you okay?" While starting to run.
LordVreeg (GM): she does not answer, but the white mist is starting to wreathe around her....
and you see something rising from below starting to show over the bottom of the window sill, cylindrical
Pholian Mar: Alright, I grab her and pull out of the window, as far from it as possible in fact.

Heavy, man.

Y'all got a full log of these sessions?

You may have to have a Roll20.net account, but yes, we do. (https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/chatarchive/64904)

Don't think it's accessible without a "player link"

I will send you one.
Maybe I will just cut and paste them, as well...it has been fascinating.

LT, I literally fell asleep at the keyboard last night.  Nothing to do with the game, it is actually interesting the way the social interactions are going.  I just have not had much time off lately.

And we should be on this Thursday night at 8:45pm

a) Tonight, 8:45PM, roll20.net. 
b) Limetom, I am thinking of doing the thing we did with the SIG game, where we had 'drop in' characters/NPCS started and available.  I mean, the three regulars and Llum eventually is a great set up, but having the drop ins was cool.  Opinion?

We roleplayed a haunting and a sleepover and some window breaking.
But it would have made an awesome movie

Quote from: LordVreegLimetom, I am thinking of doing the thing we did with the SIG game, where we had 'drop in' characters/NPCS started and available.  I mean, the three regulars and Llum eventually is a great set up, but having the drop ins was cool.  Opinion?

I'd be fine with that, especially if it'll get player numbers up. I don't mind it just being the three of us, but the more the merrier.

Quote from: limetom

Quote from: LordVreegLimetom, I am thinking of doing the thing we did with the SIG game, where we had 'drop in' characters/NPCS started and available.  I mean, the three regulars and Llum eventually is a great set up, but having the drop ins was cool.  Opinion?

I'd be fine with that, especially if it'll get player numbers up. I don't mind it just being the three of us, but the more the merrier.

OK,
We'll see what kind of craziness we can come up.  I'll toss together a few stats and NPC/characters/Pregens. Maybe someone will get to play Gregoir or Bosh. 

Last nights Open Session was actually in two areas, the Boys and Girls Halls on the third floor of Toad Hall, which is joined by a common room.


LordVreeg (GM): Weronima..." Oh, most of it was grand, Vee. Even the dance with the klutz was better than not dancing. "
" But you got to dance with ...him..."
Vee: "It wasn't my idea."
LordVreeg (GM): she looks at you with an incredulous face.
Vee notes that other girls are walking close to the two of you and Jessie
Jessie.." Oh, Vee? Really? A prefect..and especially, HIM? You did not bat those eyes?"
Vee: Vee turns a bit pink. "It was your idea to go over there in the first place."
LordVreeg (GM): Weronima finally laughs, if a bit ruefully. "Yes, but I thought I'd get to maybe saya few words to him...and you end up dancing>???"
Jessie, smiling, " Well, at least we are friends with Vee....maybe next dance, we'll bget our turn"
the hustle and bustle can bea hears all around, as the boys and girls are taking off their nice slitted dancing skirts and cleaning up for bed
Vee: "Like I said, it wasn't my idea. He dragged me out there. I was falling over myself."
LordVreeg (GM): Jessie.after sticking her head in a door.."Hmm. Christo is already aleep"
Jessie, " no, you were falling all over him.
the other girls start laughing out in the hall.
Jessie, ducks into her room, next to a thick, but pretty Human Girl named Harriet is just ducking in, " and looks at the three of you..." I wish I'd your spine, ladies. Fun night?"
Jessie.." ASk Vee, she didn't mean to have fun, according to her..."
night and rest come, and the dorm quiets
w/ pholian inexplicably aware that something is wrong...you remember eyes and staring over the edge of a ledge
)ooc stupid whisper
Pholian Mar: (no worries :D)
I raise up and look around, nervously, opening a window and peeking out.
LordVreeg (GM): your window is fine....your door is slightly ajar
the boys section and the girls section are seperated by the common room
Vee: ooc Could we at some point get a map of our rooms? We seem to have quite a bit of action here.
ooc And I'd just like to get a feel for what they look like.
LordVreeg (GM): ?w vee
your door is thick, shut
LordVreeg (GM): voice in the night..muffled, sleepy...doors opening


on the boys side, Pholian, you see Bosh and Gregoir first
and a few other guys
then Prefect Kakoana comes out bleerily
LordVreeg (GM): on the girls side, Harriet and Jessie and a tall girl named Hal all pour out, bleery with sleep.
"What was that" "
Whomade that Noise"
"
Vee: "Something was wrong with Christo, but I don't know what that crash was."
LordVreeg (GM): Greoir looks at Pholian funny. "Hey, that crash...Let's go!"
Pholian Mar: I peek my head outside the window and say "Can't catch some bloody s- go where?" I say, while running already if he's running
LordVreeg (GM): Weronima..." SOmething wrong? Grace of Nebler, she';s tied up...Vee, what did you do?"
Vee: "I just found her like this. She was making this hissing sound and rubbing her face along the door."
LordVreeg (GM): vee and the girls hear runniong on the otrher side of the common space
Jessie..." Vee, that is spooky."
Weronima..." really? Froli's grace, then..."
Bosh has a huge knife in his hand...
Pholian Mar: (I did not tie her up, did I?)
Alright, where's Gregoir running to?
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir starts rushing down the hall, Bosh behind him, Grfank, Kakoana, and a few other behind him
Gregoir..as he whips open the door..." Horn of the Great Hunt...No one...."
on the girls side, Harriet starts untying Christo, who is sobbing...

one of the bits of knowledge that comes from celebrating your first Waxcrenior at the Collegium Campus is that different times of year can be read by the movement of the twin suns and twin moons as well as the Planets Legos, Xiou, Cemel,  and Eytu.

"With the right charts, one can determine where in the Dadem you are, even if you woke up after being asleep for months, because the movements of the celestial bodies are a constant, and have almost the exact same placement at the same time of the Dadem, " Says Keeper Voros, showing a simple Orrery.

He looks out and continues.  "Now, everyone knows that Waxcrenior and Hogunnet are holidays where the House of Death is closer to the Waking Dream.  This is the reason we are so careful now.  Ancient cultures, we theorize, did not know the reason why, but they knew that any time of the Dadem when Cernel was close and came in front of Xiou, well, the spirits seemed especially active."

He picks up a book, and thumbs to a page.  The class is silent, absorbing this very relevant information, as the students have all heard ghost stories from upper classmen about Waxcrenior terrors at the Collegium.

"The first alignments between the Void Sources and the time of the Dadem and the celestial movements that was discovered was Waxcrenior, as every year at that time, the spirit's influence is clear, and the power of the House of Life is lessened.   Bronos is the Opposite, and Hogunnet is when both the Well of Death and the Well of Life have strong influence.  There are times when other Void Sources are especially aligned, as well"
He looks up..."From Tel Arrives second Book, written here back in 290 RON, the  "Alignments of planet and Void, the basic version"....which is your reading for the next hawaak.

So I will have to leave early this week. My advisor is leaving my university for one in France, and we're having a going-away party on Thursday, starting just after the game usually ends.

No stress, thanks for the warning....Should be a fun game.

Oh, so I leave and suddenly it's fun? (Kidding...)

hahahahha
Did you read the bits about the celestial/void resemblance?

Oh man, I just realized, it's an intermezzo week, isn't it? If we're on for Friday or over the weekend, then I don't have to skip out early at all, just today. Let me know.

Quote from: limetom
Oh man, I just realized, it's an intermezzo week, isn't it? If we're on for Friday or over the weekend, then I don't have to skip out early at all, just today. Let me know.

awesome, yeah, this is the intermezzo week.  Let's shoot for Friday.

Friday (Dec. 13th, which is already today for you) works for me. See you at our usual time.

You bet. 
And I might have some of the Pregen characters done this week, as well.  I already rolled up Harriet and Bosh. 

Harnessing the various Void-borne Sources of the Woo in Celtricia requires the caster to create a mental connection with each source of power he is trying to access, then hold it while the other connections are made in turn.  At that point, the caster must create the proper vision or resonance as the power is pulled through him or her to create the desired effect.  Sometimes, this must be done in an instant, sometimes, done in an agonizingly slow fashion.
As complicated as this is, many enchantments and spells are better done with mnemonic or sympathetic items.  It is not as if the spell cannot be cast without these, but without the components it is much harder (and in some cases, the components are needed...like a scrying pool). 

But there is going to be a large additional difficulty factor, normally -20 to -30%, onto the Spell Success.  Please note, a powerful spellcaster in the situation can simply pour in more power to offset this. 

And there is hope on the other side of the coin.  A canny spellcaster can normally purchase or prepare superior versions of a component,  that can also increase the spell success.

Gang, supposed to be on tonight!
8:45eastern

So I'm going to a hockey game tomorrow night. Want to shoot for sometime over the weekend for Viwih's intermezzo?

makes sense here, though we will game the convo you guys have after the meeting in Dilvish hall/

we will be playing the night of the 2nd, at 8:50ish on roll20.net.

we will be starting at the end of the Visit to the Reapers Brotherhood in Dilvish Hall.

and we are on tonight,as the students finish their visit to the Fraternity of Reapers.

another very good session, with the PCs dealing a lot more with the regularity of magic in the Collegium, as well as how to act and how not to act, as the holiday of Waxcrenior, when the House of Death is close to the Waking Dream, is upon the PLayers.

but the feel of tradition, like the Dexies (first year students) making the Jack O Lanterns for the war of the upperclassmen and prefects later (and old tradition), and all the activity around the Quad, was also a lot of fun.

And Enchanter Perrold will be holding the two crazy statuettes for the nighrt of Waxcrenior.  So Pholian might sleep.

Limetom, when do you want to do your intermezzo?

Probably Saturday at our usual time. If not, I'll let you know.

Perfect here.
Saturday is fine, and we can do some work on the Dexdemit Waxcrenior prep.  Plus, maybe you can do some work on the strange sensitivity to the 5th station.
Next full session on 1/16, ok?

Frankly, the sessions have been transcendent.
The students, along with Prefect Connor Bin, on the afternoon of Waxcrenior (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/14955667/Index#Waxcreniorterm), are surprised by a strange fox-faced spirit digging around a sunken, old entrance to venerable Gronth Hall.
After mistakenly triggering a secret compartment on the other side of a door, they determine to enter Gronth Hall to try to reach the opened compartment.  here is a portion of the game last night.

Connor..." now...that is interesting I have 2 classmates who can...So ..Fifth Station, huh..."

Pholian Mar: I grumble "I wish I could see things, not dead people."

Tiny Christo tightens her grip on Pholian's hand..." hush..it is our lot."

Gregoir starts down the stairs. " dusty,. very. Maybe a few years, at least."  Clouds of dust move up, but in the still air of Gronth hall, they float, making almost a chalky fog.

Pholian Mar: "Maybe that thing left something there for use after it returned?" I say as I go downstairs

Vee heads down as well.

Gregoir goes first, long, thin knife in hand, cocked behind him.

suddenly, a blue glow ignites from behind
Connor's hand is glowing a cool blue,

Pholian Mar: I turn around quickly

Gregoir...."some sort of spell, giving a little light?  Thank you, we Dexies have a lot to learn."

The group comes to the bottom of the curves, old white marble steps

Pholian Mar: I mutter a quick prayer under my breath to calm my nerves a bit.

there is a black, wooden door in front of the group, with a rounded top.  the door seems locked, with a brass lock with a thin keyhole.  
Gregoir sticks in his thin, long dagger.   And pops it open

He seems quite surprised.
*creeeeck*

Pholian Mar: "Well, that was easier than expected."

LordVreeg (GM): http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/73107272/Old%20Library%20ca

in front of the group is a strange tableau
A glass dome ceiling, with a metal spiderweb  supporting it, though the light coming through is dimmed by leafy debris, and books everywhere.  Sweeping staircases lead up around to a level with bookshelves above, with dimmed candelabra and darkened entrances left and right.   While in front of you, a low staircase leads down.  The Chamber below is more shadowed, circular, with debris-covered desks left and right, circumscribed by books lining every wall.  IN the center is a strange, 4' wide half globe made of metal, on a 2' high circular platform.  It is still in here, with the small of mouldering tomes.

(To Vee): in your ear, you hear.." well. she did find it..."

Pholian Mar: I look around the room. It's heavily covered in dust, I suspect?

Vee: "I know where we are."

(To Pholian Mar): you note a shadowy klaxik in black standing at the bottom of the stair

Vee: "I didn't think we'd find it this easy, to be honest."

the room is coated in ancient dust

Gregoir.." nope..the door really was locked..."  He's still impressed with himself.

Connor.." Vee...where?"

Pholian Mar: "Sssh!" I turn slowly to face the klaxik, motioning at him with my head so that others see him as well.

(To Pholian Mar): he has a small silver axe, in grey maille. and a green cloak...his face is half removed and bloody.

Connor.." I...sense ..something here...  The tall Omwo is handling a silver necklace.

Pholian Mar: "It's standing at the stairs" I mutter.

'Christo turns ." Pholian...do you see him?"

(From Vee): Do I see anything?

Pholian Mar: "And trust me, you don't want to see him." I speak with clear disgust, though can't tear my eyes away from the sombre sight

(To Vee): roll detect
Vee: rolling 1d100
(
5
)
= 5
(To Vee): wow 37 exp in art
(From Vee): I am surprised.
(From Vee): Also leveled.
(To Vee): many things glow here, to you. the globe in the center area has a large, old, secondary glow...you feel a faint pulse from it


Vee walks over to the globe, going down the stairs.

(To Vee): and in a book, in the upper right area, it is glowing in the bookcase more than any other

(To Pholian Mar): she is walking towards the klaxik

Tiny Christo raises her hand, " ...Vee...slow down.. a spirit has an axe in front of you."

Gregoir, moving to the edge of the stairs...." I hate this place. I hate Waxcrenior.."  he seems undecided.

Pholian Mar: "Yes, wait a moment"...."Dodge!"

(To Pholian Mar): you see the klaxik arm up...his black orbs are full of intended malice.

Pholian Mar: I run forward

Vee:  I duck and roll right!

(To Pholian and Christo) suddenly, the cloaked klaxik with a ruined face is in front of Vee with a silver axe and swinging it with force and anger....

(To Vee): you feel something mortal and terrible happening as you roll.....

In the eyes of most, suddenly Vee dodges and rolls, responding to the yells...

(to Pholian) The angry, ruined klaxik still stands next to the globe...

Vee backs away, slowly.

Christo..." he is tied to the orb...she is tightly pressed against Pholian's side.

Pholian Mar: I look at Vee "You said you know this place...what's that globe?" I back away from the klaxik as well, up the stairs.

Connor seems to relax slightly, " well somewhere off to the right is our grate, if my sense is right.  "  he holds a compass in his hands.

Vee: "I think this is the Library of Past Students, but I have no clue what the globe is, hence why I was walking over."
"It is, magical, obviously, though."

Connor gasps..." How do you know about that?  It is a legend to most of the students."

Vee: "Warden Jomak, or I guess his ghost, told me about it."

Pholian Mar: "Library of Past Students?"

Connor shakes his head. " and I thought my life was weird being in the Bin clan"

(To Pholian Mar): the klaxik seems angry...and a small, winged skull is flying around.." in a high voice" must go.....maybe later, but must go..."

(To Vee): a deep voice, in the back of your head, seemingly from behind you..." once found, found always.."

Pholian Mar: "Can you dismiss the Klaxik like you did with the Foxface, Prefect?"

Christo..." I have a bad feeling..."

Vee: "Before he swung at me, did the Klaxik say anything to any of you?"

Connor, " I am somewhat tapped, my friends. That took a lot out of me"  He looks sheepish. " I may be a prefect, but I am still a student, and I poured a lot into that dismissal...and it is very temporary."

Pholian Mar: "Not really. There's a skull floating around saying something must go."...Spoken as if said skull was an oddly shaped chandelier or some other mundane object.

Christo shakes her head, " No but the mummy thing warned me that he was a servant of something that hates us."

Vee: "Mummy thing?"

Pholian Mar: "Mummy thing?"

Christo.." Floating skull?"

Connor..." ok., maybe we go right towards the grate?"

Just an amazing session

Vreeg, you up for an intermezzo on Sunday (the 26th) at our usual time?

trying man....
things have been impossible at work.
should be able to make it happen.

probably missing tonight.....this month blows

It's all good. Not much Vee can do unconscious anyway. :)

um.  Yeah.
So, my busy season is finally getting into clean up mode.   Expect the normal screaming outbursts of Celtricia that normally come in February.  Much to do.

thursday.  It happens, as we continue the creepy crawly in the basement of Gronth Hall.

last night, a good game was had as the PCs beat a retreat from the main Library and into an ancient sitting room.
from there they explored a bit, into an old sitting chamber, dusty and arched.  The group found some candles (needed, they had almost no light), and some metal tablets, then moved through a thin door to another arched brick corridor...where they found the secret drawer they had opened from the other side of the locked door a few sessions before....
and inside....another silver/steel statuette.....winking ominously

Up for an intermezzo on Saturday or Sunday? Either works for me.

sunday should be perfect

I am an idiot....cognitive dissonance
I do have igbar tonight, can we do Tuesday or wed?

Tuesday works.

looking forward.
Hell of a session last night, though I think I am working on like 11 sessions in a row without anyone swinging to hit.  Storygamers are me.

OK, tonight's session is cancelled, as I have to push a ton of snow around tonight.  or face massive ice dams.

Next session is next Thursday, a group session, as the Intermezzo sessions were all done and all pretty decent..   

Session 12 went well, unexpurgated session is right here (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/75607451/Session%20Twelve%20of%20the%20Collegium%20Arcana%20Game)...

One High Point
"Pholian Mar: "Sounds like your angle indeed, Vee." I grab my bag and stand up as well
LordVreeg (GM): Christo...muttering..."better than dead people. telling me how i should make my Geryon-damned kafee, "
Pholian Mar: I snicker biefly
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..." pretty newish and popular crew, Vee. "
Vee: "Oh one more thing," Vee says as she gets up, "I saw your fox-faced 'friend' last night."
(To Pholian Mar): you here a voice behind you..."well, who doesn't sweeten their kafee???"
LordVreeg (GM): Christo stops dead.....
Pholian Mar: I turn around sharply.
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir groans..." he REALLY gets around..."
Pholian Mar: "Mrm. Indeed."
(To Pholian Mar): there is no one there
LordVreeg (GM): Christo..." in dreams? or last night when you were awake?"
Pholian Mar: "Eh. Just another bird and a rat with day and night ears."

We need to schedule up the Intermezzo sessions, BTW.  Next full session should be 3/6

Saturday work for you?

let's do this.
Pholian has already played his intermezzo.
Llum and I do character creation on Sun.
Sat, I am all yours.

For those that have asked what type of robes/tunics are worn traditionally by the collegiumists and students...
Here we are (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/76134524/cloak%20of%20the%20Collegium%20Arcana)!

I've tried to explain them a few times.

Hey Vreeg, I'm probably going to be a little late to this week's session. Got a meeting with a professor just before game time.

Also, more as a reminder to myself, this weekend it's Daylight Savings. Or it isn't. I dunnno. One or the other. Doesn't affect me, which means I'm now an hour more away from the mainland.

no stress...LET ME CHECK WITH EVERYONE ELSE.

on tonight, 9 pm eastern, Limetom, get on when you can...Llum, we need to get you inserted.

https://app.roll20.net/join/64904/0eW9tA   for tonight

13th full session as the game continues to gain steam and the complexity of their upcoming curriculum and all the layers of history they are uncovering sits next to the social situation of being boarding students in the largest and oldest school of magic in public Celtricia.  Some pieces are still being found, but a groove is coming together.  And you know things are a little strange when unseen voices are expected and people plan on meeting with a mummy.  Here's a sample.


Les'z: Maybe if the mummy wants meetings to happen there, we should start meeting there occasionally after we have checked it out again

then again, i couldnt see the mummy"

Pholian Mar: "And that is, if we'd trust a mummy."

(To Vee): by now, you are full in the throws of a nightmare of the library night, of people talking about things you cannot see and screaming orders to you

Les'z: Christo thought it was a NICE mummy

We know the statues we are dealing with aren't nice

Pholian Mar: "Now, I'm no specialist, but an undead creature wishing to meet with the living doesn't sound...well, Christo also thinks I'm nice, which does say something about her taste" I flash a grin though quickly add "I kid, I kid!"

Christo laughs, a lovely sound..." I think he'd be pleased. he did not like the klaxik guardian of the eye."

she kicks Pholian a bit

Pholian Mar: "Ow! Fine, we can give the mummy a chance."

Les'z: "its not my talent, but Christo seems to be pretty in tune with that side of the shade"

LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..." They eye...you mean the big orb in the middle"

Christo..."Not a talent you want", she says ruefully.

(To Pholian Mar): an educated voice behind you..." who wants to see spirits? Not you..."

Pholian Mar: I turn my head back for a moment, then return to the conversation.

"Well, there's also a chance I hurt my head pretty badly when I fell over that table, but I can't explain why Christo'd see them that way, heh."

Gregoir..."sounds like a challenge. Les'z?  and there were a ton of moldy books there."

Les'z: "that library could be a treasure trove of knowledge ... and who else really knows about it?"

which challenge, G?

"falling over a table?

Christo..."Connor Bin said there was some knowledge of our break in"

Full sheet from session 13 here (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/76517528/Session%20Thirteen%20of%20the%20Collegium%20Arcana%20Game).  So far, in terms of being less of anything traditional and being more interesting from a story standpoint, this game seems to have more of that 'literary quality' I like.

need to schedule INtermezzo with Llum and Limetom.   i'll be traveling a lot, though.

Today (Sunday) and Monday are really the only days that work for me.

yeah,
travel can suck
reboot. 
I need an intermezzo with Llum and Limetom, and I am going to have a full session on the 27th.

Spring Break for me here, so any time that works for you works for me.

perfect.  Thursday is a go.
I'll be online on roll20 if anyone else is around and has questions

Quote from: LordVreeg
perfect.  Thursday is a go.
I'll be online on roll20 if anyone else is around and has questions

LLum, we need to get you finished...you going to make this Thursday?

good session, mainly a school day, with breakfast, some interaction with students and faculty, then Void Sources class and Basics of Spellcasting.  And a Pop Quiz that turned bloody....
will post link to the session later.

Gronth Hall of the Collegium Arcana (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/77904329/Gronth%20Hall%20Collegium%20Arcana%20Stenron)

(Linked, as there are visuals and more links on the original)

Gronth Hall, an Orbian-derived Marcher-style building squatting on the South-Western corner of the Golden Quad,  is currently home to a few small Fraternities. It was one of the earlier building made for the purpose of being a campus building (many of the first buildings on campus were old residences or for other purposes, though some belonged to earlier schools).  It is just North of Penult Hall, and of a similar design and time period.  The lawn on the Golden Quad in front of it slightly slopes up in front towards north, but is open, with a few lit globes on the walk.

Gronth was made by a pair of gnomic architects, and has a distinctive tower in the front facing over the Golden Quad.  It is a very distinguished looking building, but some careful observation reveals some wear and lack of care, especially the back, where there are some boarded up windows.  It is old, started on year 2 of the R.O.N, however, in the midst of the muddle of other old buildings, it matches strangely well.  The Golden Quad area of the Collegium is one of the busiest areas, so this little used building on the corner is a bit strange.

It is grey bricked, made of Fidikmarple, with wooden accents common to the Marcher style of architecture.  The tower has slotted, thin windows in a faux-military style.  There are two main entrances, (front and rear), as well as a small, lower level entrance with old steps leading to it on the east side.

Gronth's interior is mainly dark woods, and ancient rugs, as well as a mishmash of ancient awards and knicknacks that found there way here.  It does get polishing spells a few times a year, but while there are areas that are used enough to look wealthy and attractive still, many other areas are little used, or even abandoned and ramshackle (so the polishing spell actually rips up or damages areas. 

So when one walks through the front double doors, they are greeted by an elegant tableau.  But the back door area is in poor repair, and the entry hall there looks like it has seen decades of disuse.  There are tales of students (always from someone who knows someone, rarely from a primary source)going in and seeing long abandoned room, full of spooky desks and strange instruments.

Currently, the building houses a few small classrooms on the first level, and then the Historical Eyes Fraternity (a guild that specializes in illusion and the historical study of same), and there is a small hall and attached rooms for the Order of the Meter, an ancient bestowed Order based on advanced work with music and magic.    Sometimes, it seems music can be heard piping though the windows.

ok, been traveling again, but we are certainly having a session on Thursday night....continuing on from where we left off at the end of the 'testing' in Spellcasting basics class.

ok, after that session, we can schedule intermezzos for Limetom and Llum.
We are currently playing after noon on Lawsak the 11th.

Play page is here (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes), where the sessions and some notes are laid out. 

The update of the Play page of the Collegium Arcana game after 15 full session and twice as many intermezzo sessions.

This game is one of the more detail-oriented ones I've ever run in my entire history.  Hence, even this cursory page is getting pretty full.  From here (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes), if you want to have the pictures and the links.

[ooc]
Play notes for the Collegium Arcana online game

Overview

Six new Dexdemit students congregate in an antechamber between the girls and young men's wings of Toad Hall, the drafty, boxish dorm built expressly to hold a large amount of young students, with comfort being some afterthought. Further introduction can be found here, and a skill list for starting characters can be found here.  All of the Students have their Dexie Student Robes and their Student's Starter Kits.

The starting date is Harvak, Hisui the first,  in the Eight Hundred and ninety-fifth year since the founding of the Theocracy of Nebler (the Reckoning of Nebler).  The players take the roles of students of the Collegium Arcana, the largest school for teaching the use of the Woo in the whole of Celtricia.

Their first Classes are "Introduction to the Void Sources", "Basic Spellcasting", "History of the Woo", which they take six days a hawaak, and "Basic Math" and "Basic Potions", which alternate and they take thrice a hawaak.

Dramatis Personae
Gregoir Hes - A tall, lanky Marcher Human, hailing from the western Coriel Valley.  He was educated in the Lumis Centrat. 
Bosh the Black - A mixed orcash-dominant lad. A little rough around the edges.  History is his favorite class.
Jessie Het Greenfarm - a Hobyt girl, thin, excitable and socially aware.  Some Shrum Blood in there.
Christo Jar Binook - A gnome lass.  Somewhat withdrawn and gets along with everyone, though sometimes overwrought.
Pholian Mar - An adventurous Gwynellian Human lad.  A little excitable.
Viwih "Vee" Ou~sine - A controlled and controlling Imo Omwo~ girl from a (once) wealthy Omwo~ family in town.
Les'z (Lesumi Cel'em) - Omwo~ boy,. spent 2 years in the Lumis Centrat. 
Keeper Voros - Older Gartier Professor of the Woo. Gentle yet still imposing.
Warden Frimak- middle aged, portly Klaxik Professor of Basic Void Sources, offices are in Kravent Hall.
Prefect Kakoana - Young, vain Klaxik, black haired, bushy and a little plump-Kyo class (3rd year)
Keeper Verstock-Orcash professor of the Kankenbytes, a real gearhead.
Senior Enchanter Woolridge - middle aged Clan Telman (Grey March) human, teaches Hstory of the Woo.
Prefect Connor Bin -Huet or Imo Omwo~, silver white hair, handsome young man from a clan known for  Necromantic and Death magic skills.
Grfank-Orcash pureblood, smart but acts the boor . Dexdemit.
Senior Enchanter Frosch Del Albon -Kaan Klaxik Male, younger, self important tutor.
Reginald Far Comstock-A long dead student.
Weronima Ondranet - Grey March/Wastrian human mix, black hair, thin, very social.
Henriessa Gonastic -Tall mixed human girl, strong and a bit thick of build, full of friendship, however.
Enchantger Perrold Bin--Huet of Imo Onwo~, of the reapers' Fraternity. Father of ConnorBin.
Kara Ben Vinook - Prefect, neophyte of Rightmakers and Reapers Fraternities, human, with some Wastrian or Kalil blood.  Serious and acts like she is always behind schedule.
Meldrin Mestune-Motsemik (second year) Wolden Omwo~, a little thick, dark hair, seems to know everyone.  Friends with Henriessa and Jessie.
Petal - Gnomic smart girl, thick, language challenged, smart with math
Warden Caltrop - Kindly Klaxik Kankenbyte, female, teaches math.
Warden Jomak- gnomic Ghost of an old teacher , dead a century.
Tober -short human male Caltok student, from North Hall.  Spiky black hair.
Sarabee- tiny hobyt girl, quiet, lives in Toad Hall.
Horos Han Restwidget-Red Haired hobyt with Terosphere beliefs, from rm 320 Toad Hall.

Sessions
Session One - The group played through their introduction and meeting with some other students, as well as their current prefect, Kakoana.  They got situated in the antechamber in Toad Hall, and then went to North Hall, and had Dinner.  All this was Harvak, Hisui the first.
Intermezzo One - This will be based on Q+A of the three introductory classes.
Session Two - A good session after the first day at school, up in the Common room on the second level of Toad Hall.  And then, the illicit trip out to the Golden Quad.
Intermezzo Two - Mainly dealing with individual teacher meetings and a bit of exploration...and people casting spells illegally.
Session Three - The first Fastak of the school year, with 95% of the school and much of the city converging on the Godstraat of Stenron.  More mystery, and such.
Intermezzo Three -Classwork, and privately playing through the 5th, 6th and 7th.
Session Four - Spent mainly preparing for the Incoming Dance, and eating lunch in North Hall, and complications of seeing people that were unexpected.  And some failed CC rolls.
Session Five - The pre-ball, dressing, and the Ball.  The Procession of the Dexdemits, the bestowal of the basic spell books (empty for now), socializing and being expected to act like adults at 10-12 years old.  After a crazy day, Pholian Mar brings down the house as Vee and Jessie look on from a slight distance.
Intermezzo Five - the end of the Incoming Ball, and the time before Waxcrenior on the 9th.
Session Six - Turns out to be the night of the ball and the morning of Waxcrenior...that and some very rough dreams and a possession...
Session Seven - The group plays through the morning of Waxcrenior, classes, and the beginning
of a visit to Dilvish Hall, and talking to Perrold Bin about the Statuettes.
Session Eight - The second half the visit to the Reaper's Fraternity and the Elder Bin.
Session Nine - Vee goes off with Henrissa and Weronima, Connor Bin, Gregoir, Les'z and Pholian go towards Tenth hall...and
Pholian sees the shade of the fox man digging around near an old entrance to Gronth Hall.
Session Ten - Vee and Christo come over, and join the others as the sneak into a back entrance to Gronth Hall, and find the entrance to an old Library...one that Vee Recognizes.
Session Eleven- The group finishes exploring the very dark and dusty old Library, and avoids some spooks only a few can see, then discovers what it seems the Fox-faces shade was looking for....another Statuette...all this, and it is still the night of Waxcrenior.
Intermezzo Eleven - Vee, Pholian, and Les'z enjoy Waxcrenior Hijinks, in between being haunted by spirits.
Session Twelve - The morning after Waxcrenior (Monak, the 10th) the group has breakfast in North Hall, Vee speaks to a prefect, and the group gets back into routine, back to classes.
Intermezzo Twelve - where the students get back to studying, and prying to get answers to the mysteries that keep multiplying.
Session Thirteen - after a tough day at class on Monak the tenth of Hisui, the students huddle in front of the firebrake in the common room in Toad Hall...then the mist rises...
Session Fourteen - breakfast on Lawsak, the Eleventh of Hisui, and Void Sources and Basic Spellcasting class, and a quiz gone wrong....
Session Fifteen - meetings on the Golden Quad with gnomic and FratreCanis Brothers of the Southern Eye, with too many questions, as well as the reappearance of one of the statuettes in Pholian's Pocket. 



Useful Information

Reaper's Brotherhood - Fraternity, very old, of Necromancer-prime casters.  Large Scythe Badge
RightMakers Fraternity - Fraternity of Artificer and Earth magicians, crafters and workers, a bit anti-Istar.
Brothers of the Southern Eye - Fraternal order of Mentalist and Transport magic, tied to many merchants.
The Order of the Kankenbyte -  Fraternal Order of Artificers who marry science, creation, and magic.
The Swords Arcanic-A martial brotherhood, studying the violent uses of the Woo and swordplay, as well.

"Clubber" - A brokenball player or a rough and tumble type who hangs with them.
"What Douhis do you visit today?"-Common greeting about where a person's day is taking them.


Locations
The Library of Lost Students-First mentioned in a book of Calcunonis, later found by the young Dexies in the Basement of Gronth Hall...
Gronth Hall -another old building, Marcher style, on south west corner of Golden Quad.  Used by certain fraternities and orders.
Fessenden Hall- The Huge Library on the west side of the Quad.
The Godstraat of Stenron. - The Street of Worship.
Douhis of the Remembered Path - Church of ancestor recognition, Ishmayl the Patient Turtle and Lesmick. 
Douhis of Irony and Black Humor - Chaosian Church of Jubillex and St. Tedu Redescu.
Acri Hall- Across from Penult, has a tower library dealing with artifice and items.
Douhis of the Terosphere-Avuntic Church that sees the end of days being the Stunatu inheriting all the riches of the Waking Dream.


Items of Note
The Fox-faced man Statuette-the first one found in the tree, in a long coat and hat.  And a knife. 10" tall
The klaxik in Lamellar statuette, sever, with longish hair with 2 axes-as a book holder  10" high
A statuette of a human in robes, wonderfully ornate, with twin kukri daggers, 4" tall.


Books and Tomes
Koenig and Goodeval's History of the Opening
Tales of Magic in Ambrettus
Art of the Woo, by Castor Excel.
Guide to the Spheres, by Beaumont.
[/ooc]

and we are on tonight....9pm eastern, chapt 16

Not to double post, or anything...
but session 16 was magnificent last night.

The game has continued on the path towards a school socio-drama, mystery and spookiness.  I've posted Session 15 and Session 16 on the GS site (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes). 

some fun parts..
AS the PCs finally have their spellbooks given back and now actually have a few spells in there.  A big event...
(To Les'z): your spellbooks just got given back, you have perfect note and Laugh in yours
Vee: "Hmm? Oh, I got Lodestone and Zipper."
(To Vee): you can hear, however, almost in the back of your head, an occasional waft of music again
LordVreeg (GM): Jessie.." ReallY? I Got Find Water and...Pisswater."
Pholian Mar: "Pisswater?"
LordVreeg (GM): this breaks up everyone...
lots of laughing
she laughs as well. "I'm trying to read it..."
"I guess it makes water pretty undrinkable"
Bosh.." I would say...I will watch my drinking round you....."
Pholian Mar: "That's an odd spell."
LordVreeg (GM): Jessie gives a lopsided smile, " well, these are supposed to be the basics, built to practise one"
Les'z: I got Perfect Note and Laugh
LordVreeg (GM): Grfank, " perfect for you"
Gregoir, " no way, Les'z doesn't even need a spell for Laughing..."
Christo..."well I am not tempted in the least. I can already see 2 spirits wandering around the GQ, I AM NOT BRINGING THEM OVER FOR A CHAT"
Pholian Mar: I chuckle at Gregoir's words "True, true that."

when the organ music starts to drive Vee a bit crazy...
Vee: "Anyone else hear any music?
Pholian Mar: "No, and I sure hope I won't."
LordVreeg (GM): Jessie, "and tomorrow is Fastak, we'll be over that way anyways"
Pholian Mar: "Last thing I need is more crazy."
LordVreeg (GM): Bosh, " Nope. got a tune in your head?"
Vee: "
"Organ music.
Pholian Mar: "By Llum, I have no intention of ending up in a big house listening to the animated armours" he continues to rant on
Les'z: "whose organ?"
LordVreeg (GM): Christo..."no, I see a few spirits outside, but nothing close enough to hear"
Pholian Mar: "Oh by Pablar's mercy, not organ music. Organ music is never good."
"It's all ominous."
Les'z: "only if it is in a minor key"
LordVreeg (GM): Grfank.." More Moog's mercy, but still I hear nothing. How loud to you is it, Vee?"
(From Les'z): nobody liked my organ comment
(To Les'z): hahahah
Vee: "Loud enough to be clear."
Pholian Mar: "So...is it low or high key?"
(To Vee): comes and goes, but the organ is playing some very old song....
Les'z: it must be an Artificer Organ
(To Vee): http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_GDFV-eqGY
Vee: "It's organ music. Sounds really old."
LordVreeg (GM): christo..." is it strange that it cheers me up someone else other than Pholain and I is havng this experience?"
Pholian Mar: I chuckle nervously, blushing a little, then nod to Les'z.


then the group decides on a late night foray...
LordVreeg (GM): Bosh..."To Christo's point....if the white mist starts coming up, I am so running my ass back here and playing Bael"
Vee: "Sword Arcanas, I think."
Pholian Mar: I pale a little as Bosh mentions that "Yeah...we all do that if the mist rises."
LordVreeg (GM): Grfank...." I am not familair with any of this"
Pholian Mar: "Especially if that horned odd guy comes around, then just run. Seriously, the rest is just creepy but he's....something else."
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..."Long story. "
Les'z: He wasn't visible to me
Pholian Mar: "Trust me Les'z, I'd much more have your talent than mine."
(From Pholian Mar): I was so tempted to say "yours doesn't rip off people's hands" but too early to say that IC :P
Les'z: I am not sure what my talent is good for yet (sigh)
LordVreeg (GM): Bosh.."Grfank, we had a run in with some gnomic Swords Arcanic,,,and they've tracked us ever since
Pholian Mar: "Well, at least it doesn't...but yeah, those jerks."
I pick up some energy after coming back to the familiar topic
"I have some scores to settle with one of them, so I'm all for going out."
(To Pholian Mar): bottom of here....for the image http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes
(From Les'z): what is it going to take to learn these spells
(From Pholian Mar): I remember him - I also remember he was a leader of some banned fraternity that dealt in blood, just can;'t remember it's name.
(To Les'z): well, you have 2
(From Les'z): well, i am thinking there is more to it than just memorizing them?
Pholian Mar: "So...Vee?"
(From Les'z): i can cast out of the book?
(From Les'z): or do we study them
(To Les'z): once it is in your book, and your book is close by, you can cast it
LordVreeg (GM): Bosh..."I'm....taking my book with me"
Christo..." yeah...not me. If I need to find a spirit, something is VERY wrong"
Vee: "I'm still not sure why you want to go out."
LordVreeg (GM): Bosh stops dead
Pholian Mar: "Why, you don't?"
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..." we were going out to find the music"
Gregoir..."if it is going to make it hard to sleep"
(From Pholian Mar): I look at Gregoir veeeery closely when he's not looking
LordVreeg (GM): Bosh.." But if you don't need to, all good"
Vee: "I guess I'll go. Since only I can hear it..."
(From Pholian Mar): Doesn't he act a little -too- keen?
(To Pholian Mar): he seems eager to do things, yes
Pholian Mar: "Well, I'm up for anything that won't be my fault for a change."
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..." Ok. Me, Bosh, Pholian, Vee...Anyone else"
Bosh..." I like how you just assume I'm going..." in a joking tone

Next group session in a week. No intermezzo, due to the group being 'In Medias'. About to explore the source of the organ music out in the Golden Quad in the dark night.....LLum (or others) I can still fit you in, bt our next session is next thursday night

Collegiumists, we play tonight, as the Dexdemits try to find where the Organ Music is coming from!

http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes

Updated play page and added session 17 to the linked pages. As we said, we will be playing weekly until this 'adventure' period ends, since we cannot do intermezzo sessions whist the group is investigating Gronth Hall.

For any who are interested in this game, we probably will have room in a month to add in.

Gronth hall exploration online tonight!!!!   be there or be a platonic solid.

Session 18 in the books.
Spooky exploration in the bricked passages under Gronth Hall.
moving through an arched library, and the group of students dealt with their first Combat, when a pair of 2' wide spiders jumped at them...

and they found a white cat.
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes

Session 19 next week.

Most certainly on for tomorrow night...when, despite preparing a 64 salespersons for a huge Memorial day event and getting the marketing ready for it, I will continue with the first year student's exploration of the strange tunnels under Gronth Hall.  I'm enjoying the strange, old stuff the group keeps finding...

What are the stats for the dagger Vee found? I think you said it's a rondel dagger?

Quote from: limetom
What are the stats for the dagger Vee found? I think you said it's a rondel dagger?

wouldn't you like to know?
http://www.reichsstadtmuseum.rothenburg.de/typo3temp/pics/3104be490c.jpg   
Yes, a Rondel, 42 weight 20" long, range 5 yds
Speed missile 3, speed melee 3, speed readied 1, threat -1 (so -1 on crit)
ST1h6, ST2h 4.5, STMOD .55      CD1h7 , CD2h5.25 , CDMOD.55
Damage  2d4+9 /d8
mainly used in the eastern Harou lands, such as Gwynell.
"it is flat-bladed, with a white bone handle...the blade is sparkling black silver, and the guard has 2 green stones. sort of a flat Rondel dagger"

FullGroup Session 19 last night...
Spooky, crazy...fun.

" Gregoir..."something about the history of the Cairn Night...
Pholian Mar: I look at Les'z to confirm
Les'z: the scroll is in Makerspeak, I guess you know more about ti than i do
Greg
Gregoir.."Cairn Night...undead hordes...yo. Tough scroll..
'Bosh..."I'd give my left tit to Inkmisa to take that back with us"
(To Vee): yes
Vee: "Let me give it a try."
Pholian Mar: "Why do you assume we can't?
Les'z: Are you talking about the scroll Bosh?
or the cat
(From Vee): Vee has 1 level in Magetongue (+8 bonus), and 2 levels in Basic Read/Write (+9 bonus).
Bosh..." the scroll....so amazing..."
(To Vee): ok...come over and look, and roll
the cat bounces over to Vee

Vee walks over and takes a look at the scroll.
Les'z: We have accumulated a number of things, why not a scroll too
Pholian Mar: I chuckle "I think the cat's already chosen the new owner"


A dynamic that has been huge is that some of the players are sensitive to certain types of magic, so they see and hear things the others don't...makes for a really, really weird and surreal experience. 2 of the students are Necromantic sensitives, so they carry on conversations with spirits...
" Bosh..."Redit is "ownership" in Anarch...and Venolvian comes from Anarch."
Les'z: "and for the record, that cat appears to be a cat"
the white cat jumps on top of the old desk
Pholian Mar: "Well, Mentat sounds kind of obvious..."
"Given Les'z talents"
(To Pholian Mar): sly voice..."someone has a fingerbone you'd be far more useful with...maybe we could find a way to get it."
Christo..." the idiot also thinks we should have brought Kaffee"
Les'z: "so Bosh you think Rekit in Venolvian is the same as Redit in Anarch?"
(From Pholian Mar): I whisper "A fingerbone? And tell the way."
Bosh..." yep, based on some other derivations
Pholian Mar: "Why should we bring Kaffee? Since when do the spirits drink."
"Maybe it means - It's supposed to belong to the Mind Talented?"
(To Pholian Mar): well, the snotty one..the snotty omwo...really could use to join the spirit world....
(From Pholian Mar): I look between Vee and Les'z. Does Les'z have more snot than usual?
Christo...."no, it's just the Idiot's way of saying we sit and ponder well...he's a jerk"
(To Pholian Mar): ok. funny. no,
(From Pholian Mar): I mumble "Did you just suggest I should kill my friend?"
(From Pholian Mar): "Or that there's another spirit trapped here?"
Pholian Mar: "At least he's one jerk, I have four."
(To Pholian Mar): the sly voice...."kill? so harsh...eliminate."
Pholian Mar: "How about you go eat a duck, you qack?"
"Uh, sorry."
Christo laughs....", well, I mean the mummy...I call him the idiot, as he is so simple minded"
Les'z: "you people need to quit hearing things"

http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/...20Play%20Notes the links to the play page and the sessions

And we will be on tonight, as the exploration of the basement of Gronth Hall continues...roll20.net, celtricia, at 9pm eastern...in what is becoming a mystery hidden by enigma.

Full Session 20, oh, with a really bad injury, the fun of the late night exploration is replaced by cold, hard reality, and the students needing to loudly enter and seek help from a dorm....the play centered around the (uber-lawful) players spilling the beans about their illicit exploration into the basement of Gronth hall, and the attack of the cloaked undead...
and then, getting Gregoir Healed, while the white mist comes up.....

Quote from: LordVreeg
Full Session 20, oh, with a really bad injury, the fun of the late night exploration is replaced by cold, hard reality, and the students needing to loudly enter and seek help from a dorm....the play centered around the (uber-lawful) players spilling the beans about their illicit exploration into the basement of Gronth hall, and the attack of the cloaked undead...
and then, getting Gregoir Healed, while the white mist comes up.....

Also, Campaign Player page has been updated.  Session 20 entered, with the link to the play session, and more pertinent data added.  As always, the players can feel free to add in as well.
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes

Also new rules on HP, specifically for the Collegium Game, are here.
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/81242390/Collegium%20System%20for%20Hit%20Points

should be able to be on, just got back from Minnesota

OK, updates after full session 21 ...

First of all, things are going great so far.  we will probably go back to to intermezzos again after next week, now that it looks that the 'adventure' phase is ending.  The core group of PC and NPCs is really gelling and creating a deeper feel.  Very pleased.  Still probably have room for one or two players, but the current three have a great dynamic.

Vee: "Les'z, you're such a child."
Gregoir..."and then I wake up to the smoking hot omwo prefect..."
Les'z smiles, "indeed! Why thank you Vee"
Pholian Mar: I laugh "Don't ever change LEs'z."
Vee: "Please do. Quickly."
Gregoir, shakes his head as you go up the stairs..."I really...hope you all fill me in"
Les'z: To Greg, "Dude, you will need to grow a few inches to impress Susanni"
Pholian Mar: "You were Pablar in the flesh, Greg, to put things bluntly."
Les'z: "What's the last thing you remember, (since we all know what the first thing you remember is)"
Gregoir,  he laughs..."indeed, for here I am again...les'z, Rolling over when I was trying to hold off that smelly robed thing"
Bosh..."well, you weren't so successful..."
Pholian Mar: "Fortunately, we had little help from an unexpected Mummy."
Les'z: "yes it smelled like a combination of vomit and feces that had been sauteed in purest liver oil"
'then Christo's friends helped us out"
Gregoir smiles..."sounds about right....and my back was tenderized?"
Pholian Mar: "That's a very poetic description, Les'z."
Gregoir.." Christo's Friend?"
Christo..."The idiotic one."
Les'z: "we didn't think you were going to walking and talking with us so soon..."
Gregoir, his face clouding as you go up the stairs to your area..."that bad huh?"
Les'z: "then we brought you to Kravent hall and tried to get help from a bunch of drugged out kids"
Bosh..."we thought we'd be shriving you next"

very, very good interplay.

Also, as per the post above, we are going to a split hit point system, and make sure you update your characters.
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/81242390/Collegium%20System%20for%20Hit%20Points

we will be on next Thursday.

and we shall be on tonight, 9pm-ish, as the players face the music,

http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes
session 22 was last week, and very, very good.  the group now must face Enchanter Bin of the Reaper's Guild, to see if he will take their part in their 'after hours' escapade of the night before.

We are supposed to play tonight and I will make every attempt, but I am in Florida and am somewhat less in control of the night as I would like.  But I will try.

Somehow, despite me traveling and others also being busy, we got session 23 in.

It was all a conversation with Enchanter Perrold Bin, of the Reapers Guild in the Collegium.  The early stuff was mainly him understanding what was going on in the Dexies' explorations, and explaining why they should not be expelled.
Later, there was some deeper understandings as to the statuettes; that the three they have are part of a set of 12, and of what some other items really are....and getting a few clues to how they relate.  The mysteries are not really solved at all with a few more clues, but the trails to the solutions are coming. 

I loaded up full group session 23 on the Collegium Page, and we will be on tomorrow night, as we finish the conversation with Enchanter Bin, and he drops one more surprise....

We completed session 24 last night.
The group finished their creepy but useful meeting with Enchanter Perrold Bin of the Reapers Guild.  The Necromancer shared scary information, and then tells them he is moving them from the squat, utilitarian Dexdemit Toad Hall to Kravent Hall, an upperclassmen hall, for their safety.

Enchanter Bin..."for, well, there is obviously much going on. My cursory looks show many spirits are locked or muted when we speak of some of what you are finding"
Christo Giggles
Enchanter Bin..."young lady, tell the mummy to leave Jurgen alone. he's properly terrified of that brute"
Christo..."he's a bit of an idiot, Sir. I'll try. He keeps saying..'black and toasty', over and over again...and I can't well see what he is bothering"
The elder omwo nods. "ah. well, in any case...I think there is much going on. and so, I have already taken one step for you."
(To Les'z): you suddenly hear some buzzing and a gaggle of voices all talking, then it cuts out
(From Les'z): hey is it directed at me or us
Pholian Mar: "What do you mean, sir?"
(To Pholian Mar): suddenly, the winged, blackened dead hobyt child appears at your feet...he runs behind you
(To Les'z): you just hear it, as if from a huge distance, and you get the feeling it came from many directions to this building
E.Bin..."I'm removing you from Toad Hall"
Pholian Mar: I jump up instinctively
"What?"


the group retreats, spots some 'observers'...

Grfank...."buck up, man, be a bit Shabuto...we'll get through this"
Pholian Mar: "Yeah. Ghosts have nothing on exams."
Bosh, " 'zactly. we still have to survive those"
(To Pholian Mar): roll detect
Pholian Mar: rolling d100
(3)= 3
LordVreeg (GM): you all are back out on the sunny quad
(To Pholian Mar): whoa...51 exp.
(To Pholian Mar): in a set of trees, mainly vneersberry, to your right, you note 2 figures, gnomics, watching you leave Dilvish ha;;
(From Pholian Mar): Wearing familiar sashes, no doubt?
(To Pholian Mar): yes, strangely....and you see also a dark taller figure behind them, in a very dark, green cloak
(From Pholian Mar): Does it look ephemeral or not? The dark lad figure
(To Pholian Mar): yes, with that roll, you note it does not add to the shade of the tree, and you can 'sense' it is existent in the House of Death
(From Pholian Mar): Wo does it seem to be observing?
(To Pholian Mar): a snide voice...."they don't give up, child. "
(From Pholian Mar): "Which ones...the swords, or the ones behind them" I mutter
(To Pholian Mar): "both. I think they are agents, of some sort. The revenant...not sure"
(From Pholian Mar): "Well, thanks for nothing new."
Christo..."are we going to skip the dance tonight Pholian?"
Gregoir, groans.." forgot all about that"
Pholian Mar: I look at Les, Gregoir and BOsh, waiting for the obligatory wine joke
Bosh.."we need to blow off some steam, and Woerter know Pholian needs to dance"
Pholian Mar: "As long as I avoid tables, I should be good"
LordVreeg (GM): the day is brightening.
Red Gerin's light is eclipsed by the golden warmth of Tribin
Les'z: "yes Pholian just falls anyway" (late dance joke)
LordVreeg (GM): the group is moving towards Toad hall
Pholian Mar: "Thanks Les"

Link to play page, and sessions list
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/67725545/Collegium%20Arcana%20Play%20Notes

Yay, we are on tonight, providing I have power up in the Maine House, as the hurricane merrily rolls up the coast.  Group has dealt with major stress and worry in the last 24 hours...they should certainly go to the dance being held up on the Godstraat....

ok, looks like that was incorrect...I will be needed tonight for other duties

Looking very good for Thursday night, as the students leave Toad Hall...

next week's session will return to an intermezzo.  The group is at a good place for it, and I want all the players to have a chance to explore and research some of the individual secrets and pieces of legend they have found.

The move over to Kravent hall, to live in the attic area of an upperclassmen dorm, will afford a bit more freedom as well as better guidance from High Prefect Jobs and Prefect Suzanni. 

Though the appearance, or influence of the Fox-faced statuette did show up again....

https://open.spotify.com/track/5t8sVFvTOpR8rl8u4dcFcW
fits perfect...
more than perfectly....when I am writing for this game.

As always, there are some musical inspirations to my game. 

we are on tonight...roll20.net, celtricia. 

Full session 26 last night, with INtermezzo, we are well over 30 sessions so far. 
AS with most of the ultra-involved RP game, time crawls a bit.  But this is due to the level of detail involved.  PCs know the setting is rich in detail, they do a lot of extra homework...and they are right, as I have never, ever had this level of detail involved in any game, but due to the interweaving of history, mystery, and active undead...there is a lot documented.
Here is a loo at the Roll20 page for the Attic in Kravent Hall where the young students have been moved to for their own protection.
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/83130988/3rd%20level%20attic%20area%20of%20Kravent%20Hall

Hey Vreeg, roughly what's your ratio of prep to play time?  Like, would you say that it takes you an hour's prep for an hour's game, or does an hour's prep net you way more than an hour's play?

Or are your older notes rich enough to run stuff with minimal prep these days?

How many pages of notes do you go through on average per session?

no, no...I constantly add prep.
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/83130988/3rd%20level%20attic%20area%20of%20Kravent%20Hall
things like that take a while, and the deep level of detail in terms of the mysteries and histories take a lot of time.

I play 13-20 hours a month, including online, but rarely over 17.  I prep and work on game about 15-25 hours a week...I don't sleep a lot, thank god. 

I find my style of game needs a lot of prep.  I could fake it based on old stuff, but having a very clear idea and especially with the online, heavy detail game, makes the games the type that make a campaign worth coming back to.