Term 1 Adventure Summaries

Week 1: Calm the SpiritsAestas requested help looking into reports of increased spiritual activity in the villages around the city. Two separate groups answered the call and looked into the problems. The first group set off from the walled city, quickly encountering some bandits which were capitalising on the chaos. Dispatching them, they moved on and eventually found a spirit charging for the use of a path. The spirit was not after money however, and eventually the group negotiated the gifting of an axe and whetstone in exchange for passage. Later on they encountered a river where pollution was flowing upstream, also seemingly the work of an angry spirit. The group returned to Aestas and informed the Wardens, who paid them for the information and assured them that the river situation would be dealt with.The second group also encountered some bandits early on, this time above the northern gate. They continued north, finding thick forest and some larger wild creatures. They were tracked through the forest by a spirit of hunting, who later thanked them and commented that he should hunt humans more often. They encountered a wild mage settlement, where they appeared to scare the locals with their pistols from Aestas. They then returned to Aestas, receiving payment from the Wardens as the first group had.OC note: Hope everyone had fun! The full rule-book (as well as the lore-book which gives information about the world of Unity) is available under the LARP tab in the nav-bar.

Week 2: Building the Basics

A thespian troupe arrived at Aestas, answering the call of the vaguely famous Henri Simnel. Simnel is known for his recent innovations in black powder stability, and is apparently working on something new. He requested from our brave troupe a fragment of the following types: Void, Arcane, Fire and Motion. Giving them some enchanted amber to hold the fragments in, they set off. They captured and bound a Spark near the gates of Aestas, then headed up one of the local peaks in order to find a Void Golem. After receiving some traditional Nameless foreshadowing of doom, they bound their target and headed for the vast region of desert known as the Kesus-nel. They found some less than sensible Quexxlians on the outskirts of it, who seemed to think the desert was a sign of Quexxlia’s growing power. Fire at least did seem to be associated with the area, and the troupe managed to find a Demon to meet their quota.

Villagers on the outskirts noted to the troupe that the desert had been steadily advancing upon their farmland, but that the desert frogs tasted roughly equivalent to things they found in the forest so they weren’t that concerned. People from Aestas were definitely looking into it at one point…

A Shimmer was found while on their return trip to Aestas, completing the requested list after only minor amounts of havoc. Simnel thanked the troupe, and was seemingly impressed by their competence, if not their social standards. Lysander asked if he would be able to teach her more of enchanting in lieu of payment, he accepted.

Week 3: Witches Three

(This will be updated with character names once they reach the forums, because my memory is a sieve).

Upon receiving word of requests for help from the village of Torlare, near to Aestas, our brave Sir Robyn of Aestas, Captain Phebus and (Matthew) went to investigate. Entirely coincidentally, a high ranking Hellenite Templar joined the group, tasked with investigating the increase of spiritual activity on the surface.

When they reached the village, the party learned the tale of the Three Witches of the Coven, a story which has existed in the village for generations. While mainly for scaring children, the tale is said to originally be a historical account. Whatever the case, it appeared to be starting to come true. Crops have been burned and wells poisoned, with sightings of the witches from multiple sources.

The party quickly encountered the Witch of Deceit, the first of the three, however she was a slippery foe. A rogue wanderer was put down, and a golem seemingly in the employ of Skoi was briefly investigated but then given over to a member of its faction. The Witch of the Forge was located burning down the surrounding vegetation, and was engaged and ultimately killed. After the fatal blow was struck, the witch seemed entirely non-responsive, any life having fled from its body. The Witch of Deceit was, after a long game of cat and mouse, finally put to rest, dying the same way.

A mysterious being was encountered, claiming to be the witches of the coven and, under enlighten, a spirit of the forest who had crafted the witches to spread the tale. A wooden totem was found by the party near the figure and taken, but it did not seem concerned until an Arbiter patrol showed up and requested the totem. The figure immediately vanished, and the party relinquished the totem.

The Witch of the Wilds, the third and final witch, was soon after discovered and put down despite resistance from wilds creatures she had seemed to befriend. The Arbiter patrol, who seemed to have gotten lost in the forest, met the party again, and after some discussion the leader of the patrol attempted to break the totem with his sword. The totem immediately disappeared, and the party returned to the village for their reward.

Spirits eh, who’d have them?

Week 4: Southlands City Break

Lyly, the Dramaturgist, Timothy and Artillius answered the call for information from the Spirit Guide of Mortonas. She was worried about the recent spiritual activity, so wanted the party to find out why spirits have only recently appeared in the southlands. They set out from Mortonas, heading in the direction of the large ruins to the east of Arboras in the hope of finding historical accounts. En-route they crossed paths with a man looking to sell a magical cat mask. Taking half a trinket for it, he seemed glad to be rid of it. The party also discovered a golem of Skoi which appeared to be a former mining golem, long since abandoned. They ordered the golem to follow, taking it with them.

The party eventually reached the ruins, expertly solving the puzzle required to open the door. Inside was murals of a man cloaked in shadow, fighting what appeared to be a forest. People marched under him, and the forest also seemed to have figures in rank and file coming from it.

The party moved on, eventually finding some followers of Skoi to pass the golem on to. They briefly visited Nivalas, hearing of the gift shop and the mists that haunt the town, as well as the spirit of winter who inhabits the place. On the recommendation of a townsfolk, they then journeyed to the centre of the southlands, where they encountered another ruined temple. This one contained to very old looking people, who claimed to worship the god of shadows. They informed the party that He Who Is Master had destroyed the spirits of the south thousands of years ago, and that they were only returning because he had left.

The party returned to the Spirit Guide with this information, providing it in the form of a grand play to the residents of Mortonas. So much for secrets and shadows…

Week 5: Experimentation With the Wildlife

The party set out to the Artesnel mountains from Aestas, on the word that Eric Valkia of the Arbiters was in need of assistance. Unfortunately the group lost a member before reaching the Arbiter fort to a particularly nasty bird. Eric was interested in studying cats, creatures akin to your typical housecat but human sized and pack based. They have colonised many of the mountains the Arbiters call home. Eric had heard rumours of a cat in the mists to the south which could drain the life from cattle at a touch.

The group headed south, joined by a Felken in Lutamas who was studying the local spirits. They reached Nivalas, the town at the edge of the mists, and hatched a plan. One would dress as a cow, becoming a tempting target for the cat pack. They headed into the mists, and despite being beseeched by the destructive creatures within they managed to find the cat in question, the alpha of the pack, and contain it using a magic item Eric had provided. Returning to Eric, he thanked the party, and informed them that he was in the process of setting up a sanctuary for the wide range of cat variants he was researching.

Week 6: Desert of Fire

As usual, character sheets = getting named in the story :P

Following the arrival of an exhausted Warden to Henri Simnel’s technology show the previous evening, a party of Captain Phebus, Sir Robyn, (Matthew) and (Alex) set off from Aestas. Their goal: to head into the Kexus-nel Desert and destroy/contain the threat of the Spirit of Destruction known as Arboras. They were given a prototype created by Simnel, dubbed the Spiritual Cell, able to capture and contain a spirit.

They soon reached the village of Sandy Springs a little way into the desert. Originally Forest Springs, the village had been absorbed into the expanding desert over a year ago. The villagers asked the party to deal with a local cat population that had formed around a cat statue that had once stood in the village, before it was animated by Arboras to cause destruction to the surrounding area. Leaving northwards, the party quickly encountered sharks which mortally wounded Sir Robyn. Turning back towards Sandy Springs, the party discovered one of the Captain’s men, who was intending to join him but who was late to Aestas. They set off again, finding and dealing with the stone cat.

Returning, the party received thanks, as well as enchanted items that allowed the group to keep cool in the desert heat, particularly useful for those in chainmail. They were then asked to recover a magical sword owned by the village, that had a similar effect. The sword had been stolen by bandits, who had a hideout further into the desert. The party set out again, fighting all manner of desert creatures, from snakes to scorpions to exploding frogs. They eventually managed to chat to some bandits who were taking a day off, and discovered the location of the hideout using cunning mind magics. They invaded the camp, finding the sword. Along the way they met Osk, a bandit with a bow who ineffectually attempted to fire on the party several times. They were somewhat encouraging, with her eventually managing to hit a cat in motion.

After their somewhat aggressive rampage into the desert, the party drew the Spirit Arboras’s attention, who told them to meet her in the centre of the desert. They met her there, fighting through her minions and quickly dispatching the spirit using Simnel’s Spirit Cells. They then returned to Sandy Springs, where their return of the sword brought much joy, then from there onto Aestas, where Simnel hastily recovered his inventions before paying the party for their time.

Week 7: Golem Hunting

The party met with Frederick, a follower of Skoi interested in repairing the golems of Skoi that have been reactivating recently. There had been a break in (or possibly a break out) in his golem workshop, and he needed to party to recover 4 rogue golems. They found the first bumbling around, not far from the workshop. It was having issues moving effectively, but seemed to have been enchanted somehow as to withstand all but the strongest blows.

The party then acquired a mysterious man who appeared to be unable to bargain, giving away a magical mask in exchange for a stick. The mask in question appeared to be able to swap abilities, resulting in some strange interactions where healing supplies temporarily turned the user to wind, among other things.

The second golem was found relatively untouched, requiring some sort of password from Skoi in order to receive commands. The party cracked the code and returned the golem. The third golem appeared to have been messed with by Ashenites, greeting anyone it met with “Hail Ashen!” and attacking those who failed to reciprocate. Fortunately the party had seen this behaviour before with Ashenites, and pacified the golem before returning it.

The fourth golem was discovered to have reached the surface, having been guided by a mysterious man known as Dorfl. He appeared to have begun some sort of conversion on the golem, in order for it to protect his village. On the party’s suggestion, he returned to Frederick with them and they managed to bargain the use of a golem of Skoi to protect the village, so long as the village paid homage to Skoi.

(Week 8 was not Unity)

Week 9: Winter of Death

Responding to a call from the Council of Aestas to aid a Warden taskforce to the south, the party of Lyly, Captain Phoebus, Geraint, Teron and Tegan set off south. The taskforce were attempting to “neutralise” the so called Spirit of Winter, Honcho, who was reportedly pushing The Mists up to nearly Arboras. The taskforce, as it turns out, was mainly made up of new recruits, and those who weren’t were less than savoury. Along the way the party encountered much of the chaos the taskforce has left in their wake, with a farmer’s crop ruined, a Felken arrested and several spirits feeding on the chaos.

At Lutamas, the party met a new convert to the god of the surface, known as The Master. The man appeared to be having some success proselytising to the residents, although his flow was somewhat slowed by the barrage of questions our party had for him about the god cloaked in shadow. They resolved to investigate further at a later date.

The party eventually reached Nivalas, where the mists were up to chest height. The taskforce had taken up residence in the gift shop and the tavern, to the discontent of the locals. The Wardens were having little luck combatting Honcho, who was hiding in the mists and appeared to be picking off patrols, although whether that was the mists themselves rather than the spirit was unclear. The party resolved to head into the mists and confront him.

Meeting with the Spirit of Winter, he explained to them that he needed to talk to adventurers from the north, as they could spread his message – that the man of shadow was killing spirits and that he was surely coming for Honcho next. He explained that he holds back the mists from Nivalas, and that he was waning his protection to send a message. He tried to convince the party assist him in scaring away the Wardens, but Geraint managed to talk the Spirit down and instead to resume his protection of the mists in exchange for the Wardens leaving. The party then managed to convince the Captain of the Wardens to withdraw his troops, ending the standoff.