After we arrived at Cairo, Dr Leicester went to his contact for the British Museum and handed over the sceptre and told them about eth camp and what happened. Wooster went to the British Embassy and handed over the three Europeans. He told them that the camp had been overrun by Arabs and that the carnage must have driven the Europeans mad. When asked if he had seen the Arabs overrun the camp he admitted he hadn’t but that there were no Arabs in the camp when we returned, only the Europeans.
We spend the night in Cairo and then fly out the next morning. We meet at the plane at 6am. Wooster turns up with hot tea and sweet rolls for four. When we arrive we see an Arab that we have never seen before with Alish and Captain Cullen. The Arab is called Alim, and is a business associate of Captain Cullen’s who has acquired items that we need and is accompanying us on our trip to Jerusalem. During introductions, Dr Leicester notes that Alish talks with superiority to Alim, who responds with respect. I note that Alim treats Alish like a Bishop would treat a Cardinal and that when they first meet there is a look of shock on Alim’s face, which he hides quickly.
Captain Cullen and Dr Leicester board the plane. On board they open the strongbox retrieved from the camp. Within the box are documents which mean nothing to us and some cash bonds totalling about £3000. Within the documents, Dr Leicester is noted as one of the authorised signatories for the bonds. There are also maps of the dig, and notes of where things were found. Some of the finds have gone to Britain, others to France. The smaller and more expensive items went to Britain, while the larger and less expensive items went to France.
We leave Cairo and after refuelling on the way we arrive safely in Jerusalem late at night. Captain Cullen goes and finds a car to transport us to the hotel. Today is the 22nd December. Alim turns out to know Jerusalem and so we hire him as a guide for a few days. Once we arrive at the hotel, Alim disappears. Wooster sorts out our finances.
Captain Cullen believes we are looking for a bridge within Jerusalem – one that matches the one in the paintings on the wall of the chamber that we saw in Hamunaptra. Dr Leicester thinks he knows somebody in the city who might be able to help us search for the bridge. I note that the local Catholic priests may be able to help us and that I will seek their aid in the morning. Both Dr Leicester and I believe that the bridge is not a physical object, and that we should be looking for the ‘Gate Keeper’ and the ‘Key’. (Shades of Ghostbusters here I think...)
During our discussions I notice that the main topic of conversation amongst the other patrons of the hotel bar is about the disappearance of an unmarried European woman in her early 20’s. She was travelling with a maid/companion, who has not gone missing and is staying in another hotel in a distraught state.
Captain Cullen decides to head to the hotel that the companion is staying in while the rest of us retire for the night. He finds out the missing woman is called Lady Mariah, and the companion is the ‘Lady’ Caroline. They arrived in Jerusalem six days ago, as Lady Mariah felt the need to travel here. The day after she arrived she was enamoured by a gentleman called Kharkarov, a businessman from the Russian Steppes. He is mysterious and there are rumours that he was ousted from Russia and that he was sent here to administer trade between Jerusalem and Russia. Within the six months he has been here he has become one of the biggest trades in the city. He doesn’t attend church. The Lady Mariah is an English woman raised in India. Kharkarov has been very attentive to her. Since she went missing he hasn’t been seen. Captain Cullen tried to contact the ‘lady’ Caroline but she failed to respond.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
On to the Holy Land
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Return of Cthulhu
Last weeks session was the last Rolemaster one for a while. We have now returned to a Call of Cthulhu d20 campaign that is being run by John. It is set in the late December 1929 and we are currently in Egypt at a dig South South West of Cairo.
I am playing a Catholic Priest call Father Alessandro Montalcini. He is a Missionary/Exorcist. Nige is playing a ‘batman’ called Wooster. Willy is playing an ex-RAF pilot called Captain Harry Cullen, and Neill is playing an archaeologist called Dr Ambrose Leicester.
We ended the last session in this campaign in an amphitheatre which is under Hamunaptra, the legendary City of the Dead. We had travelled there with our guide, Alish, whose family held a key to enter the temple. When we arrived we found only the top of a buried temple. The city had been surrounded by unnatural sand storms for years and had only recently stopped. In this amphitheatre stands a plinth with a closed book on it. Above us, the vaulted ceiling rises into impenetrable darkness.
We opened a book and a spirit was released. I failed to dodge it and it passed right through me. I can now read the first few pages of the book, but the rest is gibberish. It’s of no language that any of us recognises, and Dr Leicester is a specialist in language evolution and construction. After reading the first few pages I learned the spells of Banishment and Sanity Protection +3.
Under part of one of the stairways around the amphitheatre was a secret entrance to a set of stairs that led down to a chamber underneath the amphitheatre. To open the secret entrance, Harry had to pour about a half pint of his blood into a channel.
On the wall of the secret chamber is a painting of a bridge with nine circles over it. At the base of the bridge is an altar with text around it mentioning the requirements of the gatekeeper and the key to open the bridge and the gate to a new dawn.
There are also pictures of nine monsters on the walls. These are bald, with absolutely no body hair, big teeth, ridges down their backs, and they are stooped. They have big bulbous eyes, long thin scaly arms and hands with long fingers. They have no visible ears. Eight of them are unclothed and one wears a set of elegant robes.
We leave Hamunaptra and return to the dig site. As we fly over it seems very quiet. Most of the vehicles are missing. We land and start to gather up whatever we can. While walking through the site and make a successful spot roll, rolling a natural 20. I spot a person who is obviously trying not to be seen and is trying to blend into the background. It turns out to be not one, but three people – an archaeologist, a European guard, and another European. They are covered in dirt, haven’t shaved in days, and have a feral glint in their eyes. Captain Cullen passes me a scimitar shaped short sword so I can defend myself should I need to.
Wooster approaches them saying ‘you look a fright, sirs’. As he does, a stone is thrown at him by one of them. He responds by whipping his cane against his boot, pointing to his side and says, ‘Sirs, the bath is this way’. He walks toward them and the people back away. Wooster says ‘this will not do at all sirs!’ They keep backing away; one of the Europeans backs up against a rock and starts groping around behind him. Wooster backs away and is in the head by a small rock. I luckily manage to dodge a very inept throw, all though how I managed it I’ll never know. I try to convince Wooster to leave them as we don’t have time to waste on them but he just won’t listen. Wooster goes of and finds some food and laces it with a strong sedative. He returns to the men and leaves it for them to eat. They pass out and Wooster and I start carrying them to the plane.
While all this is happening, Captain Cullen and Dr Leicester go to the headquarters tent. The tent has been rummage through, but it looks like it wasn’t done by people who knew what the most important items in it were. Evidence points to the strongbox lock having been struck repeatedly by the butt of a Colt Peacemaker that is lying close by. A search of the scattered papers reveals that the most obviously important documents have been removed but the less obvious ones remain e.g. authorisation from the Egyptian consulate to excavate is missing, but a writ from the British Museum remains. The missing papers were all written in Arabic, while those that remain are in English. At least we can still get our money from the British Museum…
As Captain Cullen returns to his plane, he notices a pair of boots sticking out from underneath the tent that the leader of the dig had lived. Dr Leicester joins him and they open the tent flap. They are hit by a stench and a swarm of flies. Lying on the floor is the leader of the dig with a close range gunshot wound to his chest. On the floor behind him is a sceptre which had been found at the dig. Captain Cullen retrieves it and leaves the tent. Dr Leicester identifies it as the Pharaohs sceptre.
We all meet at Captain Cullen’s plane, bundle the three unconscious Europeans on board and return to Cairo.
I am playing a Catholic Priest call Father Alessandro Montalcini. He is a Missionary/Exorcist. Nige is playing a ‘batman’ called Wooster. Willy is playing an ex-RAF pilot called Captain Harry Cullen, and Neill is playing an archaeologist called Dr Ambrose Leicester.
We ended the last session in this campaign in an amphitheatre which is under Hamunaptra, the legendary City of the Dead. We had travelled there with our guide, Alish, whose family held a key to enter the temple. When we arrived we found only the top of a buried temple. The city had been surrounded by unnatural sand storms for years and had only recently stopped. In this amphitheatre stands a plinth with a closed book on it. Above us, the vaulted ceiling rises into impenetrable darkness.
We opened a book and a spirit was released. I failed to dodge it and it passed right through me. I can now read the first few pages of the book, but the rest is gibberish. It’s of no language that any of us recognises, and Dr Leicester is a specialist in language evolution and construction. After reading the first few pages I learned the spells of Banishment and Sanity Protection +3.
Under part of one of the stairways around the amphitheatre was a secret entrance to a set of stairs that led down to a chamber underneath the amphitheatre. To open the secret entrance, Harry had to pour about a half pint of his blood into a channel.
On the wall of the secret chamber is a painting of a bridge with nine circles over it. At the base of the bridge is an altar with text around it mentioning the requirements of the gatekeeper and the key to open the bridge and the gate to a new dawn.
There are also pictures of nine monsters on the walls. These are bald, with absolutely no body hair, big teeth, ridges down their backs, and they are stooped. They have big bulbous eyes, long thin scaly arms and hands with long fingers. They have no visible ears. Eight of them are unclothed and one wears a set of elegant robes.
We leave Hamunaptra and return to the dig site. As we fly over it seems very quiet. Most of the vehicles are missing. We land and start to gather up whatever we can. While walking through the site and make a successful spot roll, rolling a natural 20. I spot a person who is obviously trying not to be seen and is trying to blend into the background. It turns out to be not one, but three people – an archaeologist, a European guard, and another European. They are covered in dirt, haven’t shaved in days, and have a feral glint in their eyes. Captain Cullen passes me a scimitar shaped short sword so I can defend myself should I need to.
Wooster approaches them saying ‘you look a fright, sirs’. As he does, a stone is thrown at him by one of them. He responds by whipping his cane against his boot, pointing to his side and says, ‘Sirs, the bath is this way’. He walks toward them and the people back away. Wooster says ‘this will not do at all sirs!’ They keep backing away; one of the Europeans backs up against a rock and starts groping around behind him. Wooster backs away and is in the head by a small rock. I luckily manage to dodge a very inept throw, all though how I managed it I’ll never know. I try to convince Wooster to leave them as we don’t have time to waste on them but he just won’t listen. Wooster goes of and finds some food and laces it with a strong sedative. He returns to the men and leaves it for them to eat. They pass out and Wooster and I start carrying them to the plane.
While all this is happening, Captain Cullen and Dr Leicester go to the headquarters tent. The tent has been rummage through, but it looks like it wasn’t done by people who knew what the most important items in it were. Evidence points to the strongbox lock having been struck repeatedly by the butt of a Colt Peacemaker that is lying close by. A search of the scattered papers reveals that the most obviously important documents have been removed but the less obvious ones remain e.g. authorisation from the Egyptian consulate to excavate is missing, but a writ from the British Museum remains. The missing papers were all written in Arabic, while those that remain are in English. At least we can still get our money from the British Museum…
As Captain Cullen returns to his plane, he notices a pair of boots sticking out from underneath the tent that the leader of the dig had lived. Dr Leicester joins him and they open the tent flap. They are hit by a stench and a swarm of flies. Lying on the floor is the leader of the dig with a close range gunshot wound to his chest. On the floor behind him is a sceptre which had been found at the dig. Captain Cullen retrieves it and leaves the tent. Dr Leicester identifies it as the Pharaohs sceptre.
We all meet at Captain Cullen’s plane, bundle the three unconscious Europeans on board and return to Cairo.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
'You place a chill in my heart'
Another synopsis of two weeks of gaming. I really should be more dilligent in keeping this up to date.
I start out the night of the first session with a Perception roll and make a natural 100. I thought great, hopefully this continues. Did it? Did it bugger. I spent the rest of the night with no roll above the mid fifties.
On our journey to the ruins we made camp and during the night Corvus, Orophin, and Breuonor were attacked by an oversized Yucca plant. Corvus had tendrils wrapped around his ankle and woke up in extreme pain. His ankle was freezing. He started to attack the plant but he couldn't even strike a plant tendril that was wrapped around his own ankle (see what I meant about my rolls!!). Orophin tried to damage it with a firebolt to no avail. He then tried an icebolt. Again no effect. He then cast a stun cloud over it. This had an effect. At this point the human successfully teleported Orophin and Corvus out of its clutches. Corvus was very close to death and Orophin had passed out. The stun cloud continued to damage the plant and eventually killed it.
The second fight of the evening was against Gargoyles in the ruins of a town that we had been heading for. This fight was vicious and Corvus had his arm completely shredded at the very start and he passed out with only the bone holding it together. Luckily after the fight the human healed it completely. Corvus did think that humans had to be useful for something. Orophin, the human, and the dragonette Nettie showered them with firebolts taking them all out bar one. Breuonor finished the last one with his bow.
On to last weeks game. We travelled further on our journey and reached a town that had been destroyed by an essence storm. We camped there for the night. Oromis and I went for a look at the surrounding area while camp was being set up. We found some tracks that led up to an abandoned mine. The next day we all went up to investigate. In the mine we were attacked by some shades. During this battle a shade stuck its hand into my chest and froze my heart. Again I had to rely on the damned human to save my sorry hide!
After exiting the mine and resting, we saw a shimmering portal near ariver. As we approached the portal were attacked by a group of zombies rising out of the river. I did actually manage to damage them, with tiny knicks here and there. Eventually I made a fantastic blow and caved the chest cavity of my opponent in. At long last a decent roll....
I start out the night of the first session with a Perception roll and make a natural 100. I thought great, hopefully this continues. Did it? Did it bugger. I spent the rest of the night with no roll above the mid fifties.
On our journey to the ruins we made camp and during the night Corvus, Orophin, and Breuonor were attacked by an oversized Yucca plant. Corvus had tendrils wrapped around his ankle and woke up in extreme pain. His ankle was freezing. He started to attack the plant but he couldn't even strike a plant tendril that was wrapped around his own ankle (see what I meant about my rolls!!). Orophin tried to damage it with a firebolt to no avail. He then tried an icebolt. Again no effect. He then cast a stun cloud over it. This had an effect. At this point the human successfully teleported Orophin and Corvus out of its clutches. Corvus was very close to death and Orophin had passed out. The stun cloud continued to damage the plant and eventually killed it.
The second fight of the evening was against Gargoyles in the ruins of a town that we had been heading for. This fight was vicious and Corvus had his arm completely shredded at the very start and he passed out with only the bone holding it together. Luckily after the fight the human healed it completely. Corvus did think that humans had to be useful for something. Orophin, the human, and the dragonette Nettie showered them with firebolts taking them all out bar one. Breuonor finished the last one with his bow.
On to last weeks game. We travelled further on our journey and reached a town that had been destroyed by an essence storm. We camped there for the night. Oromis and I went for a look at the surrounding area while camp was being set up. We found some tracks that led up to an abandoned mine. The next day we all went up to investigate. In the mine we were attacked by some shades. During this battle a shade stuck its hand into my chest and froze my heart. Again I had to rely on the damned human to save my sorry hide!
After exiting the mine and resting, we saw a shimmering portal near ariver. As we approached the portal were attacked by a group of zombies rising out of the river. I did actually manage to damage them, with tiny knicks here and there. Eventually I made a fantastic blow and caved the chest cavity of my opponent in. At long last a decent roll....
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Devoured by the Horde
As mentioned the other day, I played my first game of 40K in 7 years last night. I arrived to play to have my first big shock of the night. I was expecting to play against Blood Angels but I was facing Tyranids instead. Things didn't go much better from then on.
Turn 1
This was just normal maneuvering.
Turn 2
The Chaos Land Raider moved forward and came into contact with a genestealer squad. The Brood Lord blew up the engine, but the Chaos Lord and his retinue that were traveling within escaped unharmed and set about killing genestealers in retribution, losing a chosen in the process .
On the right flank a Night Lord squad led by an Aspiring Champion in Terminator armour were assaulted by hormagaunts losing two members. The Aspiring Champion took out three in return.
In the centre of the field the Chaos Predator opened up on a squad of winged warriors and turned two into a bloody pulp.
The Hive Tyrant opened up with his devourers and killed three death guard which where huddled in the ruins of a building to the left of the Predator.
Five Plague Bearers decide to make an appearance close to the Chaos Lord.
All in all, not a very good round with the loss of the Chaos forces hard hitting Land Raider.
Turn 3
This is where it all went wrong....
The Hive Tyrant turns his attention from the Death Guard to the newly appeared Plaguebearers and they disappear in their entirety under a withering hail of bioweaponry.
A Carnifex appears in front of the Chaos Predator and blows off a track and its turret mounted Lascannons. It then moves in for the assault and tears the engine out. The rest of the predator turns into a raging inferno.
The remaining winged warriors join in the assault on the Night Lords. They valiantly withstand the combined assault and take out an hormagaunt and a winged warrior. They later fall leaving on the Aspiring Champion who takes out he remaining winged warrior.
Over on the left flank, the Brood Lord kills the Chaos Lord. His remaining retinue of chosen withstand an assault of ten hormagaunts, killing six. The victorious Brood Lord, scythes his way through the remaining Chosen destroying them utterly.
The remaining Night Lords are consumed by the Hive Tyrant and his retinue.
Turn 4
At this point there is only the Night Lord Aspiring Champion left.
He valiantly withstands the assault of the hormagaunt horde and presses his attack on the Carnifex. His Lightning Claw bounces off of the Carnifexes body. The carnifex picks him up, rips him in half, throws his legs away and then proceeds to suck his innards out. How to turn an Aspiring Champion into an oversized crab claw....
As you can see this was an utter defeat for the powers of Chaos. The Chaos gods were definitely not smiling on their followers that day. The Aspiring Champion definitely earned his place as man of the match though.
Turn 1
This was just normal maneuvering.
Turn 2
The Chaos Land Raider moved forward and came into contact with a genestealer squad. The Brood Lord blew up the engine, but the Chaos Lord and his retinue that were traveling within escaped unharmed and set about killing genestealers in retribution, losing a chosen in the process .
On the right flank a Night Lord squad led by an Aspiring Champion in Terminator armour were assaulted by hormagaunts losing two members. The Aspiring Champion took out three in return.
In the centre of the field the Chaos Predator opened up on a squad of winged warriors and turned two into a bloody pulp.
The Hive Tyrant opened up with his devourers and killed three death guard which where huddled in the ruins of a building to the left of the Predator.
Five Plague Bearers decide to make an appearance close to the Chaos Lord.
All in all, not a very good round with the loss of the Chaos forces hard hitting Land Raider.
Turn 3
This is where it all went wrong....
The Hive Tyrant turns his attention from the Death Guard to the newly appeared Plaguebearers and they disappear in their entirety under a withering hail of bioweaponry.
A Carnifex appears in front of the Chaos Predator and blows off a track and its turret mounted Lascannons. It then moves in for the assault and tears the engine out. The rest of the predator turns into a raging inferno.
The remaining winged warriors join in the assault on the Night Lords. They valiantly withstand the combined assault and take out an hormagaunt and a winged warrior. They later fall leaving on the Aspiring Champion who takes out he remaining winged warrior.
Over on the left flank, the Brood Lord kills the Chaos Lord. His remaining retinue of chosen withstand an assault of ten hormagaunts, killing six. The victorious Brood Lord, scythes his way through the remaining Chosen destroying them utterly.
The remaining Night Lords are consumed by the Hive Tyrant and his retinue.
Turn 4
At this point there is only the Night Lord Aspiring Champion left.
He valiantly withstands the assault of the hormagaunt horde and presses his attack on the Carnifex. His Lightning Claw bounces off of the Carnifexes body. The carnifex picks him up, rips him in half, throws his legs away and then proceeds to suck his innards out. How to turn an Aspiring Champion into an oversized crab claw....
As you can see this was an utter defeat for the powers of Chaos. The Chaos gods were definitely not smiling on their followers that day. The Aspiring Champion definitely earned his place as man of the match though.
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