Celtricia

[LordVreeg]

Ahh.  I need more innocent bystanders.  I will use them to create horror.

[Tybalt]

Will the pcs encounter these students? How capable are they? Are there instructors or disciplinarians present? How well guarded is this mausoleum? Are there traps or magical wards?

[LordVreeg]

The last masoleum that is 'infected' is the old militia crypt, from the days before the Scarlet Pilums were hired as 'scabs' (737 R.O.N.).  Almost two hundred years worth of town militia placed by the grateful townsfolk in the keeping of the Boneyard.  Almost all those animated Skeletons, animated skeleton legionaires, cryptlings, and hecuvans should be well armed...

The Boneyard is laid out in a rough long rectangle, with Vneersberry 'hedgerows' between different sections.  The 'sides' are where most of the crypts and mausoleums are, though there are a few in the center.  There is also a strange polished black pool with rigid, stylized waves carved into the side of it, in almost the center of the main section.  (This actually predates the Igbarian burials: it is from the Astrikon traders when the long, valleyed area that is used as the old boneyard was actually part of an old Astrikon Manor, and was the pleasure garden 700 years before.)

I have carefully set out a few 'firepit areas' where the Keepers of the Bones huddle at night.  The Vneersberry topped hedgerows lend a spooky ambience, cutting off vision from one area to the next.  
[note]Vneersberry is a tough shrub.  It can grow into small trees up to 15' in height, but the girth of the trunk is remarkabale given the total size of the plant.  Vneersberry is a poor mans' ironwood, in that the stufg grows well anywhere, even at altitude, but is heavier than oak.  The little trees have little round leaves, but also very, very sharp thorns.
Vneersberry, as might be obvious, also has vibrant, sour berries that grow in cluesters near the thorns.  This is used to make black- and tannic wines.[/note]

[LordVreeg]

The group will encounter students at the Steel Libram itself, but not out at the mausoleum.  There are some good sages ( the Steel Libram has good Mentalist spells and sage skills) that might be useful.  The Ibram is in mourning as it is, as there have been deaths around it for a few full-months (that actually deal with a Vernidalian priest/blackstripe thief looking for the notes of Maf the Quick), so they are much more closed up than normal.
Pacae Toss Letsos is the Gnomic master Librarian, the Keeper.  There are a few other capabble sages there, but the Steel Libram is actually way behind on upkeep, and if anyone would ever look, they would find a lot of missing books.

The Steel Libram Mausoleum is still locked and gated, but any tracking skill should show a lot of traffic in and out.  
Skeleton Legionaires (lesser skeletons animated en mass) are everywhere inside the mausoleums, but there are well trapped/locked up areas in all three.  

[Tybalt]

Vreeg I have to tell you--this all sounds fine, intriguing and probably exciting. I'm not sure what you're worried about. Your world sounds very well developed and you have as you say been running it for years. Let the adventure begin!

[LordVreeg]

Friend Tybalt--
I have this thing about having my players fo to where I have 'ultra-detailed' a scenario, as opposed to wandering into an area that has been superficially covered.  I also dislike leading players by the nose, which drives even some of my own nuts.  
Last night they did no research and didn't even check out the Steel Libram.  But they did pick up some rumors about there being a lot of undead showing up inside the ctiy walls at night, more, perhaps than could be accounted for, so they did end out helping the bone knights patrolling the outside, major Boneyard.  And they did end up in the first of the Mausoleums, the Sheering family tomb.

PCs
(newer)
George Canuk, Hobyt Mysteriarch, armed with twin Hobtaskulis (2' claws)
Kiko, Hobyt novice of the Karyn Machination and undersister of Lucky Ishma, armed with a bow.
Tusnus Hsiumieg, Wolden Omwo~ Squire of the Armor of Trade, wearing chain mail and wielding a heavy flail.
Cucino, Cmao Omwo~ drumtapper of the Martial School of Song, wielding a Patar and broadsword.
(older)
Pharren Donestock, human skald of the Frigid Song
Eodl, Omwo~ Priest of the lawful Triumverate.

As previously outlined, this grouping has been put together by Pharren and Eodl, ostensibly to find out what happenned on the dreadful night when Pharren was attacked by an undead fiend, and the rest of the Grey Legion dissapeared.
[note] Pharren and Eodl also need to try to keep as quiet as possible that they were the ones that unleashed the VAmpyre onto the area.[/note]
On a cold, blustery morning, the fifteenth day of Toqusoh, the Month of Wind, the new members, recruited from Pharren's friends, were ushered into the second floor private room of Hostem's House of Hospitality, the famed restaurant-school of Igbar.  A huge fire had been laid on the second floor grate of the main fireplace.  
Pharren was not the youthful, thoughtful skald of days past.  His black hair had grey streaks, and one of his hands was blackened and curled.  Eodl took the lead at the table when Pharren jsut stared at the new members.
Eodl spoke about the glories that had been the old Grey Legion, and of their rise.  He spoke about the table they still held as an incorporated trade group in the 'Grounds of Dismissal'.
Eodl and Tusnus started a conversation about the distribution of assets gained, and that was settled early, and will need to be entered into the compact at the Grounds.  
Pharren then joined in with his expectations, about responsibility to this cause.  He does not expect them to charge into the Wibble Hills to confront the evil directly, but he feels like this new legion should at least try to find out where this terible infestation of undead are coming from.  The group agreed that would be a good place to start.

They had lunch, and made conversation during it.  After trading information, and deciding that based on the amount of undead in the city at night, there must be some way that they were getting in from the outside boneyard.  
(more later)

[Tybalt]

You have such a cool combination of the banal and the vividly supernatural in your game--from the coffee shop to plotting to enter the infested crypt...I hope we will learn more about the deeds of the intrepid heroes.

What might the pcs do when they learn who is responsible for this mess? What might others do?

[LordVreeg]

After luncheon, they went to the northern wall, where the Boneyard abutts the castellations.  Eodl and Tusnus both walked while detecting undead, while Kiko watched for imperfections in the wall.  The group thought they would find something where the intramural boneyard was close to the wall, but found nothing there.  Almost across the Rector's Way, however, where the Church of Vernidale, the Green Mother is close to the northern wall, Tusnus felt a few quick touches to the Necromantic source...

This was certainly unexpected.  Tusnus and Cucino went to Colishaw Ironmongery, and paid to have their weapons coated in silver, which cost them an hour of time.  The Smith told them it would be 50 gold horn apiece, but Tusnus, armed perhaps with the TradeGod's mercy, talked him down a little.

Kiko had already spent most of her ready cash on silver-tipped Hollow-point arrows.  She filled four of the resevoirs with holy water.  Then the group went out Dever's Gate, the northern entrance of town, around to the Boneyard entrance, which was further north.  By Now, it closing on fifth hour, and the sun was going down.  There was some discussion about coming back during the day.
Eodl said that the Bone Knights of Orcus had spent the last two nights ptraolling the Outer Boneyard, and they were still alive.  Then Squire Tusnus and George both suggested at once that they aid the Bone Knights in their patrols this dark evening.

The Boneyard was a huge, sunken area of about 3 acres, divided by Vneersberry topped hedgerows, making a maze of the place.  Two huge staatues of Orcus armed with a whip above his head flanked the iron tipped gate, and three knights in Bone white plate armor met them at the gate.  UNder the left statue was a traditional inscription, originally wrtten for the Necropolis of Stenron.
[ic=Inscribed]
In Amerer's name, let us take the day in shade

And tell bloody tales of the ruler's ends:

How some have been depos'd, destroy'd in war,

Haunted by those they did to first,

Some poison'd by their wives, or the words of lovers;

Yet dead all the same: There is no crown so blessed

Nor palace of the strong so fair, so mild

As to keep Orcus from his court.

 

Kopobianco, Skald of the Silver'd Note, Father of Amerer's word

In the reign of Paly the Maligned.[/ic]


Jaxom Har Anteraster, Klaxik captain of the Bone KNights, laughed them off at first, but Pharren's grim demeanor,as well as the weaponry, gained the group entry.  On the way in, the bone knights wished them well.  
The group went right, into a section the Bone Knights had not bothered much with, and within a few minutes, ran into 3 skeleton Legionaires.

(more later)

[LordVreeg]

Tusnus had just flashed on the presence of undead in the area, so the group was ready as they went through the break in the 7' hedgerows.  George took the corner at speed, his claws whirling around him.  He was already half way to the slow moving skeleton Legionaires as the rest of the group rounded the hedgerow end.  
The group noted subconsiously the ripped up turf where creatures had obvioulsy made their way up from their resting places, and that most of the gravestones were knocked over.

Tusnus and Cucino followed George at a more carful pace.  Yet the first blow of this band went to Kiko, Acolyte of lucky Ishma.  Her bow sang, and Tusnus cried out, shot from behind by the hobyt priestess.  Not the best of beginnings.
Yet skeleton legionaires, grim and scary though they are, proved to be a quick work for the group, their only hurt by their own archer.  The golden light from two hooded lanterns played eerlily over the yellowed bones that had been animate second before.
Kiko ran over to the bones and started digging immediately, but found mouldering lether armor and clothes, and Tusnus found they had been armoed with a decaying pilum, a rusty scinitar...and a brand new gladius.  That was certainly interesting.
 

[Tybalt]

This is cool...I LOVE how you use verse to add depth to your world, of course people would often communicate information by that means. I wish my pcs appreciated poetry more but it seems to make their heads ache when I've tried so I gave up.

I like the versimilitude of you having your own vegetation that is 'ordinary' but interesting.

I wonder how the Bone Knights will react to the gladius? Hm...that makes one wonder how good their watch is...

[LordVreeg]

The group looked around the hedgerowed courtyard, and Kiko looked around the area for anything unusual.  Tusnus took all the weapons (George thought he was nuts for carrying the crap, but Tusnus is held by the precepts of the Armor of Trade). The group say a cut in the hedgerow to the west, but went back out the North to continue their sweep that way. [note]Kiko is the only one with the Basic Detect skill[/note]  That led them to a corner of the cut-out valley.  The north and west were sloped lawn stretching 25 feet into the air.  Kiko noted that the corner and the slope had to have been made by hands, not nature, though dirt and grass had filled in for generations.  There were round tombs in the west wall, and even round tombstones on the ground.
Eodl and Kiko both thought they had read something about the the worshippers of Bamik the WeaverGod using this shape.  George wiped off a gravestone and found prayers to the Loom.  Guess so...
The group tuned south, along the corner, and found themselves in a longer courtyard.  The sloped grass wall was interupted by a white, stone building cut into the hill, maybe 20' high, and 45 feet long.  Twin serpents were carved along the upper border, and there was a small stair leading to a black, iron door at an angle facing the north east.  The door had an iron ring in the middle of it, imposingly thick, and an engraving above the door alongside a kopesh and a serpent.

[ooc] (written in Horsetrader}
A Cruel cold morning, and we rode through the day,
Through dell and verdant wood and black night we wound
Through fire, and blood, and for naught would we stay
For by our name and word we are well bound.[/ooc]

Kiko went up and checked the door for any anomalies, while George stood near her.  Tusnus got close, then straightened up..."I feel them".  A shiver ran through the group.  More undead, already?  Were they everywhere.
Then Kiko found a wire running along the bottom of the iron door.  She got down low, which is easy when you are barely 30 inches tall.  "It's a wire...a new wire...", she said.

[Tybalt]

I'd be thinking "Even worse...smart undead...or necromantic cult."

I'm pretty impressed so far. Out of curiousity when he says he can feel them what was he doing exactly?

[LordVreeg]

Since you ask...
[ic=Skill-Basic priest.]
Sub skills-Affect Undead, Detect Undead, Conversion, Ceremnony
further subs skills-corruption, sanctify, create undead, mass conversion.[/ic]

Tusnus has level 2 basic priest at 12%, which gives him 12% in Affect Undead, Detect Undead, Conversion, and Ceremony.

The ability to 'turn' or 'affect' undead without being able to detect them is silly.
Moer storyline later, as they Enter the Sheering family tomb...

[Tybalt]

Interesting, is it common btw for pcs to heavily specialize in spell use in your game? I'm trying to learn through your narrative how it actually works as opposed to theoretically. It seems there are benefits and penalties to doing so.

[LordVreeg]

"Wonderful, " said Cucino.  "a new wire."
Kiko nodded, as she worked on the thing.  It was running along the underside of the big, iron door.  SHe got out a long wire with a hook on it, and started playing with that.  
Pharren came up behind her and quietly began to sing, trying to use his Bardsong to help her.  And whether it was the bardsong or lucky Ishma, Kiko was able to tap in a little piton into the wall next to the steps using a muffled hammer, and tie off the wire.
Meanwhile, Eodl and Tusnus were searching through that particular hedgerowed courtyard.  On the other side of the stone building, they found the word 'Sheering' written in the Violic glyphs, with a serpent and a kopesh bracketting it.  Since many of the headstones also bore the surname 'Sheering', they deduced this was, in fact, the Sheering family mausoleum.  "We're brilliant, I tell you", said squire Tusnus to the healer.
George strode up to the door and pulled on the heavy iron ring.  It was locked.  He looked at across at Kiko, who shrugged, as if to imply that he never asked if it was locked.  Tusnus got close behind the tiny Ishmarian acolyte, and said he felt no undead presence within his short range.
[note]Kiko is a begining thief, level 3 in Basic Trap, level 2 in basic hand.  SHe got damn lucky.[/note]
Kiko turned her hand and there was an audible click.  "Lucky Ishma", she murmured.  Cucino and Tusnus got behind George, as he rushed his unarmored self to the front.  
He pulled the ring and found a dark stone chamber in front of him, about twenty-five feet deep, with a twelve foot  vaulted ceiling, replete with dust and webbing.  The room was also decorated with 5 animated skeletons, 4 of them wearing mouldering studded leather, the last wearing old-but-servicable chain mail, with strange rounded epaulets and a peculiar lacing on the side.  Cucino looked at Tusnus, who shrugged.  "Chell", he said as if it was an answer.
[note]"Chell" is Klaxik for 'scales', as in measuring scales.  Yes, Tusnus is Omwo~, but the battlecry "Chell, Amigal" which means literally, "the Scales, my Friends" has become the unoficial battlecry for the Armor of Trade.  Not to mention the Klaxik "Amigal", which means friend, is in some quarters as common as Amigo is even in english-speaking areas.[/note]
George leapt into battle like a bolt of clawed lightning, popping a skeleton's head into shard with his claws before anyone else could move.  Cucino and Tusnus entered as George was already engaging another slow moving skeletal creature.  Cucino engaged another one as Tusnus called on the TradeGod, trying to affect the undead connection to the House of Death...the undead kept moving, making no notice.
Yet horrible as this was, George and Cucinio were wading through the skeletons, and George and Tusnus found themselves converging on the last skeleton, with one of Kiko's arrows already stuck in it's chainmail.  George carved off one of it's arms and Tusnus' silver-coated heavy flail ended the issue.
And the stone chamber was suddenly filled only with the sound of hard breathing.  Pharren was already on the far wall, where there was another iron door, and a mosaic on the all, almost 8 feet long.  It was a representation made of tiny ceramic squares, depicting a huge snake with a woman's upper torso, on the top of a hill on a small stone pedastle, with small human shapes below the hill.
Pharren, Eodle, and Tusnus agreed that this was a depiction of Vernidale, the Green Mother, but in her aspect as The Serpent Queen, not as the Green Mother.  Pharren made a thoughtful noise.  "We got this funny picture, and a newly trapped entrance to this place...what d'you make of that?", asked George to the roomful of adventurers.  
Pharren looked over at him, his face haggard, and said, "A lot more than I thought when we came here.  And is it luck that the first mausoleum  we find is like this?"

[ic=spells]
To answer the question of spell ability, 1 out of 10 people have the ability to manipulate energies from the void, and one out of 5 are taught.  So the odds seem to be 4 out of 5 PC's pick skills in Spirit Spell points (which is the part of spells that comes from the caster, so all spells require spirit).   This majority is purposeful, as 'low' magic is very prevalent in my world.  However, due to the mediocre or worse experience modifiers Bards, knights, etc get even in spell types they can use, breaking even to a level that they can cast even 'medium-low power' spells is very difficult.
As I have said in other posts, pedestrian, technician-level magic is common in Celtricia.  However, getting above that is very rare.[/ic]