Its Fort Friday!

Hey Guys!

Sorry to say but there won't be a Fort Friday post with any actual content in it this week - i've just been super busy with things!

Lords of Gossamer and Shadow has picked up. We're now on a solid nine players which is pretty damn impressive for an IRC game with only one ST. Several story threads are being chased which is cool and exciting in equal parts as hopefully people will be able to find out hidden bits about secret backstory and stuff.

I've started running Dungeon World. Which is perhaps the most fun i've ever had at character creation ever.
I'm really gutted we didn't think to record the first session... but on the other hand, it would have been two hours of us pissing ourselves laughing...

Modelling and Painting has taken a bit of a backseat, sadly. I should get back on that! Slaine and Ukko are almost finished now!

I was dead chuffed to find someone link to one of  my blog posts on RPG.Net as well. Ok, it was just the pictures but thats KIND of like fame!

So yeah, thats the State of the Nation.

Lords of Gossamer & Shadow: Session One

Session One: The Agora

Characters Involved 

Ursula Axilla: The PI
Ginger Syn: The Dimension-Hopping Good Time Gal
Tezoac: The Educated Wildman
Kitt: The Meddling Youth
Weaver: The Scout
Rui Shi: The Demon Hunter
The Revenant: A Shambling Corpse-Soldier

The session begins with all the characters in The Agora - a Marketplace on the grand stair where the merchants of countless worlds come to ply their trades.

Tezoac is browsing through the stalls and several traders attempt to convince him that their wares are the ones that he wants. Ursula on the other hand had set up a deck chair outside of the door that leads to her own personal world 'The Office', pretending to sleep so that she can catch her shady chess-by-mail partner dropping off his next turn. Kitt had set up his small 'information and magic' stall somewhere and Rui Shi had been aimed towards it to find out some information about the Demon he had been chasing.

Ginger was browsing for some warmer clothes now that she had gotten back from Ganan (She was, for the most part, entirely done with the whole 'Warrior Princess' thing.). Weaver had likewise been browsing through the stall for items of interest!

The Revenant, on the other hand, was hunting.

It had followed a group of organics from its battlefeild to here and having now way to return to the theatre of operations had decided to instead continue investigating the group that had led her out. Wishing to stop one of the organics from escaping, it grabbed one of their arms (the others had spread throughout the market). With an agressive shout, the person tried to pull away and when it realised that it couldn't escaped, Howled as its skin began to rip and its bones re-align and snap violently, claws bursting from its fingertips.

A werewolf!

The Revenant had been in Close Quarters Combat situations with similar, less organic soldiers before and decided to slam the creature's head as hard as it could into the floor as a solution to the attempt it made to attack the corpse-soldier. With the sound of marble floor cracking, it seemed like that werewolf gave up on life.

However, all around the market a riot had begun as fights had broken out with that single howl. Even worse, from apparantly no-where a giant Bull-creature had appeared and in the panic, several of the older market-goers shouted that 'The Minotaur' was here. It did not help the riot situation at all.

Ursula, now given up on pretending to be asleep as soon as a riot had broken out underneath her, opens the door to her office and shouts for the wardens to get inside where its safe.

Tezoac, a master of the Umbra notices a little ball of Umbral energy inside the Minotaur and decides to weaken whatever force was attempting to keep it under control, allowing the Umbra to start attacking the minotaur directly.

 Two of the others who had been with the werewolf start running towards The Revenant in order to gain vengance, Weaver levelling her utility-pad at one of them and loosing a paralysing cantrip at the creature which suddenly stopped being able to move or stop its own momentum, sending it crashing to the ground where Ursula added an extra hole straight through its head with her energy pistol.

The Revenant slams a trench knife into the back of the werewolf in her hand's neck, severing the spinal coloumn and drops him on the ground so she's free to handle the werewolf who is still charging at her, its skin shredding and turning into a man-wolf beast.

Kitt, on the other hand, had decided that discretion was the greater part of valor and had been packing away his market stall and running for Ursula's office, Rui Shi trailing behind him blithely ignoring the market in uproar as he tries to get some answers from the young wizard.

Weaver, working out that this 'Minotaur' is the focal point for all of this chaos and panic assumes that it is some sort of Glitch/Umbra aligned creature and throws a 'Negation' cantrip towards it from her bracer, which sadly bounces off of it.

Tezoac, a plan in mind, starts walking towards the Minotaur, shapeshifting in front of it in an attempt to get its attention and swelling his own size in preparation to attack it, using the Umbra to shift his own body into one better suited for what he had in mind.

Revenant grapples the werewolf charging towards her and opens up its throat with her trench dagger after grabbing it by the shoulder whilst Weaver tosses a 'Pain' cantrip at the Minotaur with a mind to get it in the testicles. Ginger opens up with Bugsy into the Minotaur and sending out sprays of blood and bone where she hits, the maniacal robot brain inside the gun cackling madly as she does so. Tezoac punches the Minotaur in the face so hard he dislocates its jaw, sending its head jolting to the side with the immense impact.

The Minotaur decides that all of this pain he's in is because of the thing who just smacked him in the face.

Kitt starts to cast a spell from the door to Ursula's Office, pulling out his silver rapier Argentus he had claimed from a world over-run with werewolves he'd adventured in before.

Weaver and Rui Shi have retreated into Ursula's office at this point, Ursula is still holding the door open.

The Minotaur starts chasing Tezoac, who shifts into a more nimble running form to keep his distance from the Minotaur. It barrels through some people and sends them flying, Ginger using her machinegun to keep its attention away from hapless innocents.

Tezoac leads the Minotaur up a stairway in an attempt to trick it into following him off a balcony, Kitt is still spellcasting. Revenant fails to notice that the corpses around her have started healing their fatal wounds and finishes off the one she had cut the throat off and was still holding by slamming him into the floor a few times. It notices one of the corpses is missing.

Tezoac spins around at the edge of a balcony, facing the Minotaur. Kitt says ancient words of power that sound remarkably like 'Beam me up, Scotty'. The Minotaur bellows, its now broken jaw splitting into two when it does so as the umbra begins to unravel its form. Revenant notices the corpse she previously made is now alive and crawling back to its feet.

The minotaur charges at Tezoac and... passes straight through him. It was an Illusion! A very confused Tez now stands next to Kitt, who slumps over exhausted. The Minotaur gets some sweet, sweet air before gravity kicks in and theres a series of nasty cracking noises as it hits the floor. Ginger kicks the corpse of the minotaur in the head.

Revenant decides that rather then let another one get back up, she's going to hack off the one she's just chokeslammed's head. The one allready standing takes that as his cue to bolt for safety, turning into a rat-man as it does and scrabbling away

Tezoac heads over to investigate the Minotaur's body and He and Ginger notice that its still trying to heal its injuries. Kitt shouts a warning to Revenant about the previously hole-in-the-head werebeast's getting back up and she proceedes to turn it into mush. Tezoac gestures at the Minotaur's head, which begins to implode and dissolve.

Kitt tosses his Silver Rapier to the Revenant, who, not really understanding why a sword is being thrown at it grabs it by the blade. It doesnt seem overly bothered by the fact it has a sword cutting into it.

The Minotaur still seems to be trying to regenerate its wounds (A minotaur that regenerates? Madness) and now, fleshy tendrils of meat are slapping around the ground because the Umbra is working just as hard to mess it up as it is trying to heal its wounds.

Kitt shouts that the Revenant should 'Stab it with the sword' - The revenant is suddenly a blur of motion and slams its trench knife into the shoulder of the were-rat pinning it to the wall, followed shortly by slamming the silver sword through its heart, which seems to almost catch fire and burn the flesh of it while it does so.

People retire to ursula's office to make sense of what happened and relax!

End session!

Some investigation occurs during downtime.

LOG&S: Ginger In Ganan

More artwork from my players! (Said player being the Maid of Wynn...)

LOG&S Episode 0: Preludes

Ginger & Rui Shi
Ginger, allways a fan of a good time with very little effort, had travelled to the Gossamer World of Ganan in search of men with biceps as wide as tree trunks and exotic jewelry and furs. She had found herself one such hunk of meat by the name of Daphirus? Davey? Something like that, she's terrible with names. He had 'heroically' cut a swathe through a cult trying to resurrect a dead god and she had 'Heroically' tidied up any cultists who thought they might try the old 'grab the hero's girlfriend' trick while Derrick was distracted.
     Rui Shi had been searching for months - looking for the Demon who had banished him from his homeworld into the Stairway. His trail had lead him first to The Agora and then to the Gossamer World of Ganan. He had followed a trail of destruction from the capital city of Delfi to a temple perched on the cliff face of a mountain. Spotting a broken window, he climbed up to discover the Demon  and a  hapless mortal victim locked in its 'Embrace'.
     Needless to say, when Ginger said "Hello" to the intruder, the  demon underneath  her disguised as a barbarian adventurer decided he'd had enough of the charade. Sadly, when you've accidentally picked one of the Lords of Gossamer and Shadow as the vessel for your rebirth, you're going to get disappointed when you try to physically overpower them. Especially one who'se dealt with grabby hands at strip clubs across more dimensions then she could count to.
     Rui  Shi, able to feel the evil radiating from the name of the demon, took his chance to bind it and destroy it while the dimension-jumping stripper got re-dressed out of her birthday suit. Holiday spoilt and demon hunting expedition failed, the pair co-incidentally walked the way back to Delfi together to use the trade-door back to the Agora.
     When they arrived there, they discovered a Door Embargo being set up by Delfi's military, set  up due to apparently having gone to war with the nearby world  of Zakei. Presumably,  they were the last travellers to leave before the door swung shut and the Embargo began.


The Revenant
The Revenant had been perched in the skeleton of a building with its sniper rifle on advanced recon duties when it had spotted a group of unaugmented organics heading towards its military controlled zone. Following protocol and not  simply shooting at  the group (It did not know why control valued  organic life, but it was for the most part forbidden from  attacking) it followed  them to investigate their purpose on the battlefield.
     It discovered them changing from their odd, hairy uniforms into simple hand made armour and moving through a doorway - A doorway the Revenant had scouted the day before which should have lead to an empty room but instead lead to a corridor. It followed them when it had noticed a stone was trapped holding the door open and noticed the group's leader had disappeared, with the group heading off down a corridor longer then the building on the other side of the door was.
     It tried the door it suspected the leader having gone through to follow him, but found the door barred solidly. It went to follow the group and the next thing it new, it was face down on the floor and many of  its core electronic systems had failed. It decided to go back through the door to contact Control, but realised the stone it had used to keep the door open had skipped  away and the door had slammed shut.
     It then proceeded to break its  shoulder in several places trying to re-open the door. It didn't notice, because it had been dead for some time and control had decided that corpse soldiers didn't need nerve endings. Which was helpful.
     It decided to follow the group, instead.


Ursula Axilla, PI
Ursula left her office to see if her mysterious chess buddy had left her a letter with the next turn of their game in it - finding that 'M' had. She played the game so far over in her head and recalled that 'M' had spent most of the game attempting to split up a group of pawns so that it could check her king with its queen. She suspected the way around it would be to continue shielding the king with the pawns and stop them getting split up.
     Ursula then went to have a chat with a local food stall and picked up food for The Old Man - the Yeti like being who was the sole resident of the Gossamer World her office had been located in. Before she headed back, she made her way to a carpenter who she knew did good work to collect a commissioned 'Shadowy king' chess piece she intended to give to 'M', only to find 'M' had apparently pre-empted this with a commission of his own for her - Four  strange looking chess pieces... two black, two white, that she couldn't identify.
     She headed back to deposit food with The Old Man and leave her next move on the noticeboard, half-falling asleep on her deck-chair whilst  waiting to see if she could finally spot the elusive 'M'...


Weaver Cellestis
Weaver had been sitting in her little dorm room in Lady Voice's apartments when Paree, the slightly French robotic butler of the house pointed out that Lady Voice had requested her presence. When Weaver made her way to the room, she found a melancholy Voice standing by the window, looking out over the city.
     A  brief philosophical discussion happened which Weaver  didn't quite seem to understand, at the end of which she was tasked to find 'Freedom' and collate a report on it for Lady Voice's use. Confused, Weaver made her way back down to her dorm to get her things ready.
     Weaver had a brief discussion with Paree about the Lady's perculiar mood today. Paree gently lead the conversation to help Weaver understand that Voice was jealous of her and her  ability to walk away from Banixia if Weaver so desired... That Weaver was more 'free' then her.
     Weaver headed back upstairs to deliver an akward thank  you, then headed out onto the stairs...


Tezoac
After a brief battle with an immense beast in his homeworld of Summus, Tezoac was brought to the home of  Dayle, his mother  and well respected Lady of Gossamer and  Shadow. His mother teased him gently  about his advanced knowledge of  the ways of The Umbra and yet his unwillingness to break  the promise he made her not to go out into the stair to learn about it until she was ready for him to and gave him permission.
     His mother finally gave him permission to explore and bid  him farewell, suggesting that perhaps he might enjoy a trip to The Agora...


Kitt, the Patchwork Man
Having failed to find Morgan in the world of Hezra, Kitt started to make his way back to the Agora. It was in the treacherous steppes known as The Thousand Needles (yeah, yeah... screw you guys I couldn't think of a good name on the fly...) that he was ambushed by a group of mercenaries with spears attempting to push him off to fall to  his doom.
     He discovered from the verbose leader of the small group in the midst of battle that someone had paid for them to attack him whilst he was on his  way though, but the merc  refused to say who.   
     Eventually,  the fight soured when the Mercenary slipped off the edge of the cliff and was caught by Kitt to stop him  from falling.
     The mercenary uttered  the line "No matter where you go, no matter who you hide behind, I will find you and I will kill you..." Before attempting to stab Kitt in the arm, forcing him  to let go. As the merc fell out of sight to his death, Kitt leant over and shouted "Drama Queen!"
     Going back to start  again, he made his way to The Agora...

Hey Guys!

This is just a post to let everyone know I havn't died, my update schedual just went out of the window in light of the holidays.

My projects for this year:

A 1000pt Necron Army painted and based. (And thus, Killteam)
Paint ALL THE 15mm
Go to Salute 2014 (THE ALL FATHER EDITION... where I take my dad)
Build an Inquisimunda Gang.
Weekly Lords of Gossamer & Shadow updates
Get to a point with Joust! where the mechanics are dealt with
Get some of my 'Made it at work' RPG stuff out of my head onto paper.
Create a Chronicle Start Addendum for the IOD/Forsaken
Finish making kit for Ars Magica (And play it)
More gaming with The Responsible One

... It might happen.
Maybe.

LOG&S Fluff: The Agora

While many strips of The Grand Stairway are little more than a yard or so between walls with the occasional alcove or recessed Door there are a few rare places that stand apart from the rest. Walk for long enough and you are sure  to find a part of the stair which crosses over itself and the claustrophobic corridors give way to an interconnected hallway or a spiralling tower.

     It is in one such place that a market can be found - wide stairways and layered halls with overhanging balconies, smaller staircases trailing from archway to pass across each other like a stone and wood cat's cradle. Packed thickly amongst the Doors and walls lay a hundred or so pavilion tents of many designs, twice as many gazebos and uncountable temporary tables and stands surrounded by a thousand or so denizens  of the Gossamer Worlds,  each buying or selling the displayed wares of their endless homelands.

     It has been known by many different names in its time but the Gossamer Lords know it by one. The Agora.

 

When approaching, one can first hear the barkers and throngs of The Agora and shortly after the scent of cooked goods, heady musks and travellers. When one turns a corner into the market proper it is a sudden assault of colour and movement that lurches out towards the viewer  and demands attention.

     The tents  and other constructions that make up The Agora are  as varied as their owners. A hide and leather yurt where a man with the head and hooves of a horse fletches elaborately carved arrows  of bone and wood sits beside a brightly coloured linen and silk covered stall where a pair of women from the Italian renaissance sell delicate perfumes created from the products of a handful of nearby Gossamer Worlds.

     The consumers  of a thousand realms jostle and brush past each other to see the goods available for trade and  barter, arguing the value of the coins of  their homeland even as the shopkeepers weight them for their precious metals or resale value in their  own worlds.

     All across The Agora you can find a trader who specialises in some form of food - from simple tables with barbeque grills cooking sweet vegetables basted in honey and star  anise to huge pavilions with enchanted hotplates frying immense cattle  meats and rich eggs. Other tents boast barrels of strange beers and alien spirits in  fluted bottles ready for drinking. The Agora has a taste for all who are brave  or inquisitive enough to try their luck at  the griddle.

    On the subject of luck, a single tent exists where a man can  trade some goods in exchange  for a handful  of silvery chips and entry through a Doorway to a casino known as 'The Laughing Mare' where you can make or lose a fortune on the roll of a single die. Many (though not  all) merchants in  the Agora accept  the distinctive chips as a  rough currency, meaning  the traders who work for the casino have a  wide  selection of ecletic and  rare things  for sale.

     A noticeboard hangs from a free standing post by one rickety Door at the edge of the Agora with a simple 'Ursula Axilla, PI' sign above it. A few pieces of folded up paper and vellum are tacked  to it - messages for its owner from various clients and informants.

     Naturally, where there  are travellers there are always  those who make their daily bread offering respite from a hard day. Whilst true privacy is all but an impossible dream in The Agora, there are a few private tents to the outskirts who'se only trade is in flesh. Some of the establishments of ill repute  attempt an air of secrecy - calling themselves bath tents and even occasionally actually providing washing services.

LOG&S Artwork: Ginger

Trans-Dimensional Good Time Gal Ginger!

LOG&S Artwork: Rui Shi, The Guardian Lion

A photograph of a drawing of Rui Shi, a demon-hunting monk from a currently un-named Wuxia style Gossamer World!

Artwork by +Purple Fantum

I wish my scanner worked ¬.¬

LOG&S Fiction: Gossamer Worlds - The Automated States of America

== Basic Information ==

Gossamer World Name: The Automated States of America

Gossamer World Themes: 1920's Anachronistic Sci-Fi. Noir. Pulp Fiction. Crime Drama

== A History In Brief ==

In the 1900's, The world's technological advancement had reached a pinnacle. Not only had the fields of robotics created a new servile class but advances in cybernetics had opened the doorway to families opting to improve newborn infants with enhancements such as replacement organs, skeletal structure or musculature. It was the 'fashionable' thing to do as well as away to ensure your children would excel in life.

In 1910, America suffered a second civil war.

Where once, North fought against South this second war was to decide the fate of robotic life in America. Originally very simple, robots had been growing slowly more sophisticated over the years until they were able to think, reason and even feel emotion. Naturally as a race designed for servitude, robots desired freedom more then anything else.

Fashions of the past quickly turned sour, where those who had opted to undergo cybernetic surgery for medical or other reasons resulted in 'Borg' hate crimes - that the people who had them were more machine then man and therefore no longer counted as people.

The political and physical war lasted for almost a decade until a change in president supporting the freedom of robotic life made the bold decision to grant 'Ferro Americans' their independence. And so, life has settled to what most people expect of a 1920's movie - The mob whacks guys, the police are corrupt, Racism stretches across species boundries and Jazz and Liquor are in their heyday.

The current President of the Automated States is Seymour Wayland, a Democratic Party candidate brought into power by the country's wish to end the war. Wayland's presidency was  almost cut short by an attempt on his life that was thwarted by an un-named agent of the government. This was the tipping point that swayed public vote to his favour and won him the election. No public information has been released to the media about this agent to protect national security.

The biggest crime syndicate in the Automated States has its roots firmly settled in Chicago, secretly led by John Go21 The 'Titanium Don' of the Zambini crime family. Once a human run organization with heavy robotic ties it seems a murder in the ranks has resulted in the old boss Salvador 'Sal' Zambini being replaced by a robotic up-and-comer. A robot in such a high rank of a crime family is unheard of and other crime families have given the group the cold  shoulder...  A fact that doesn't seem to have slowed Zambini growth at all.

Sal Zambini's trusted Consiglierre 'Buggy' Ma10ne is missing presumed scrapped and his wife was also a victim of the viscious shooting that took the mob boss' life

(Images from Penny Arcade's 'Automata' Storyline or The Whitehouse)

LOG&S Fiction: Tezoac

More Fiction! Seems my players are super pumped for the start of the game...

So much of everyday life happened high up, either in the cities sprawling up the side of the mountains or in the beautiful tree top settlements or even sailing through the air in one of the airships held aloft by the large balloons and light wood panels, some large communities of airships had started to come together and now use flotillas travelled through the air, small communities never touching the ground. This was all for good reason, this world was populated not only by man but a menagerie of beasts that roamed free, some the height of a two storey building others small and fast, herds of different types roamed the plains hunted by strange and wonderful predators. Tezoak love it this way and that was why it was this way, this world was his in a way made to suit him changing to meet his desires.

It was strange what could turn up unintentionally in a world like this. Take light wood it had been found that one of the many different types of trees if carved and shaped in the right way could be used to help you fly, with it pushing it self off the ground from one side of the plank and not with the other allowing shutters of it to be put on the bottom of air ships and angled to help increase lift. Tezoak had been told that it was a curiosity that hadn’t been widely seen before and one one of his few visits to other worlds he had seen as much himself how different things could be and strange it all was. He longed to start his adventure on the stairs but had been told each time he brought it up that it was not yet the time but soon...

Tezoak stalked through the forest floor, again out to test himself and see what else this world has to surprise him. Crouched low in the undergrowth watching a curious creature he hadn’t seen before all colourful and proud possibly trying to attract a mate when the familiar tingle came in the back of his mind. He turned his minds eye to welcome the interaction but be ready as he had been taught to call the umbra to mind to protect him.

As the image became clear in his mind he relaxed and smiled “Hello” he said “I’m just out and about exploring” The woman in his minds eye smiles at him and spoke softly “Soon it will be time, I know you have been waiting” He paused all his attention now on the lady “Really?” he said loudly, a touch of impatience in his voice. Once again the Lady smiled “Yes, really” then another voice rang through his mind one that he was used too “I’m sorry to interrupt Zak but you might want to raise the Umbra on your right hand side now!”

Tezoak’s head spun round as he called the swirling chaos to his defence just as a large cat like creature sprang from the bushes, all claws and fangs. The front half just started to vanish, unravel as it hit the wall of Umbra called in front of it. It’s hind quarters slumping to the ground twitching next to him. As Tezoak looked down he could see that Ally had moved to his right wrist and was a shield incase it hadn’t worked ready to be brought up in defence, he smiled and said “Thanks Al” as he watched the shield shift back down to the standard vambrace it often looked like.

His attention turned back to the lady in the back of his mind she looked disapprovingly at him “Perhaps you should come through” He nodded in agreement and reached out into the air and vanished leaving the forest to deal with the remains of his wood be attacker.....

LOG&S Fiction: Kitt the Patchwork Man

And one more.

Location: A mountaintop on the Gossamer World of  Hezra

My Search had brought me to a mountainous region of a world known by the locals as Hezra. The fortress looked like it had grown from the mountain or had been carved out of it by the wind and the rain, not by the hand of man. Inside this "Impregnable" fortress so the stories said was held a mysterious captive. Some said that she was a beautiful Princess, others that she was a powerful Sorceress. Either way the rumours had eventually reached my ears and here I was.

Getting in wasn't easy, it wasn't supposed to be. there was only one winding road up the mountain and three granny's with brooms could have held it against an army of thousands. I, however wasn't an army. I have had to learn how to fight but I prefer not to. I always prefer Brains over Brawn, for one thing its easier on the upholstery.

 

As the sun began to descend behind the mountain peaks, the wind shifted and I finally made my move. I ran towards the edge of the cliff and threw myself off. I dove down briefly before the hanglider caught the air currents and I rapidly rose into the air. The Winds buffeted the hanglider and it took all my concetration to not get smashed back into the sides of the mountains. In the rapidly oncoming gloom I fought the wind to keep my coarse, the fortress was coming up fast. As I swept towards roof of one of the towers a guard looked out at the wrong time, I kicked out and he was swept off the battlements, his falling screams lost in the wind. I fired my piton and it embedded itself into the stone as I landed. My feet skidded on the slick stone as I fought my momentum, the wind and the hanglider. Just as I was going to be swept off the roof, the rope attached to the pitton ran out and I was jerked back. I had made it. I took a load of deep breaths before a massive grin creased my face and I had to fight down the urge to scream in triumph.

 

I turned to the trap door in the floor, it was locked of coarse, not that it really mattered. I commanded the door to open and it did. I get on well with doors. As I opened the trapdoor, the guards below looked up in time to see me drop a small metal canister, it bounced a couple of times as it hit the floor and I shut the trapdoor to let it finish doing its job as I rummaged in my bag for my gasmask. After a couple of minutes I opened the door again and peered down, the room was thick with white smoke and collapsed guards. Humming to myself I climbed down the ladder and checked on the guards, they were sleeping nicely. Morph Gas is quick acting and leaves you with one hell of a head ache but it leaves you alive.

 

I skipped over downed guards and went to the door, I quickly peered out but no one had escaped or had heard anything. I concentrated and made a couple of passes with my hands whilst muttering and watched as I faded away. Now Invisible I stalked through the fortress, dodging guards and servants all the while getting closer to my target.

 

The Tower was guarded but I waltzed passed them and snuck up the stairs. For some odd reason Argentus was humming the Mission Impossible theme, I worry about him sometimes. At the top, two guards were stationed outside a locked and barred door. Bingo! I carefully pulled out a couple of poisoned darts and snuck up on them. Carefully I reached up and scratched one of them in the neck and then as I became visible and swung around and stabbed the other guard. They barely had the time to see me before their muscles contracted and locked. Spasm is a nasty and fast acting, it locks the body into different shapes depending on a persons strongest muscle groups. One of them had curled up in the fetal position and the other had his arms and legs splayed as if he was doing jumping jacks.

 

I examined the door and could see that it was magically warded, no big surprise there then. Getting passed the Wards wasn't too difficult, it was just time consuming and I half expected an alarm to go off at any time but it didn't. Eventually I had unravelled enough of the Sorcery on the door to stop it exploding in my face when I opened it. Inside was a plush cell but it was a cell none the less. A young woman with red hair looked up from the bed as I entered.

 

"Morgan?" I asked my heart in my mouth.

 

She smiled at me as she stood up and came towards me, a hand reaching out.

I suddenly heard Argentus Growling in my mind. I stopped and waved a hand over my eyes whilst chanting a couple of words. When I looked again, Morgan rippled like a reflection on a pool of water and then broke apart to reveal a humanoid shaped hole in reality.

 

"Oh Crap!"

 

I dived away from Its out swept hand and drew Argentus. It continued to move towards me, all attempts to try and fool me gone as it shrieked. Alarms began to ring and the door slammed shut and glowing barriers appeared over it and the window. I could probably get past them but it would take time, time I probably wouldn't have what with the Creature I was now trapped with trying to eat my Existance. I dodged another swipe and lunged as it went past. It shrieked but I wasn't sure if I had done any raal damage. I could probably keep dodging this thing but it was a small room and I'd eventually run out of room and also other guards were on the way I was sure.

 

So the door and window were barred, alarms were ringing... the time for subtlety was gone, time to make a new exit. I turned towards the wall and gestured, words of power spitting from from lips. A blast of force ripped from my hand and smashed against the stone blasting a hole in the wall. I now had a way out but my Sorcery had cost me. As I finished casting I felt a searing pain across my back as the Creature struck me and tried to erase me. Only the fact that my patched jacket was more than it appeared saved me. I lashed out with Argentus, causing it to retreat in pain as I stumbled towards the shattered hole. Seeing me trying to escape it rushed at me again, It ran onto Argentus but its momentum forced us both to fall out the hole. We seperated as we fell, its shrieks lost in the wind and

 

I tried desperatly to force away the pain and cast a spell. Just in time I spat out another word of power and the wind gently picked me up and cast me back into the sky. As I flew away to lick my wounds a thought kept running through my head. It was a Set Up!, A Trap! Good that must mean I'm getting closer.

LOG&S Fiction: Tezoac

Uno Mas!

He leaped through the tree tops looking at the herd running below, his arm elongating to meet the next branch claws digging in as he swung upward, the tree line come up quickly. he readied himself again to change, he was determined to get this shift right to feel the change and take the form he wanted in one quick burst. His memory flicked back to when he had first tried this and the sensation of hitting the floor from this high up he was sure he had nearly broken every bone in his arms and legs not to mention his ribs, it was a good motivator to not have to feel that again, since then he had at least managed to glide down in some fashion when he hadn’t taken flight, he called the Umbra to him and held the image in his minds eye of a huge eagle like birds that lived in the Mountains not far from here, they could carry off a man if he was unlucky never to be seen again.

 

He burst forth from the treetop out over the open plains below, arms stretched wide forcing the Umbra through them, shifting quickly his body started to change and he then beat his wings down lifting himself higher into the air. The change wasn’t perfect but it was getting better the form becoming more and more familiar, “ Well at least I can fly” he thought to himself as he glided through the air currents using the Umbra to help plot his course, slowly he perfecte the change till he was exactly what he wanted.

 

He turned his gaze downward looking at the herd running below once again and dived, he was starting to feel hungry

LOG&S Fiction: Matri Lark

And again, yet another!

The stones of the keep were cold underfoot, chill enough that the feel of them soaked up through the soles of her shoes to leave her feet starting to tingle and numb as she slipped quietly through the hallways and passages. The whole keep seemed to seep cold more than insulate from the bitter weather outside, even when the weather turned warm the old stones would cling to the cold with a bitter grip until well into the planting months.

 

Matri pulled her woollen cloak more firmly about her, frowning at a singe mark along one hem she’d not noticed before donning it that day, she knew Mistress Singer would be wroth with her over yet another item needing repair. She sighed quietly to herself and picked at the scorched section, catching a faint scent of hermeticus vitae that still lingered, she made a note to remember to investigate that later; as far as she was aware the unguent had no such disastrous effects normally, but perhaps the extended interaction with the wool had allowed a latent corrosive aspect to come to the fore.

 

She was still putting together the ratios needed to blend a new batch of hermeticus when she came to the door. It was not a splendid or magnificent thing; many of the doors on lower levels where the Court resided were far more impressive with their gilt inlays and carvings of fantastic beasts. This door was plain, made of a deep, dark wood that seemed to harbour a red hue if one looked closely. Of course in these higher parts of the keep the few torches that burnt struggled valiantly to keep the gloom at bay, so the door tended to be wreathed in shadows and a neglected coating of dust about the edges.

 

The one adornment was a large handle, all swirls and twists of ivy worked in brass. As ever she tried the handle, and as ever before it rattled and clunked but did not budge.

 

Darting a look down each corridor Matri plucked a small vial from her sleeve and knelt to inspect the lock. Wedging a small filter into the contraption she uncorked the vial, a noxious scent bringing tears to her eyes, she delicately dripped the liquid down the filter drop by careful drop.

 

It made no sound as it ran down the filter, though Matri could smell the corroded metal even from the specially treated device. She suppressed a proud smile at her latest work as it slowly dripped into the lock. Drawing the filter out she placed it securely in a small iron case, one already heavily marked inside from similar use, and turned to watch the lock with an intent gaze.

 

She watched with some small amount of anticipation as slowly a curl of vapour began to twist into the air. She covered her nose and mouth with a cloth and, judging her alchemia to have had enough time, gave the hand a firm twist.

 

The locking mechanism gave a loud clunk and stayed firmly latched.

 

Frowning she twisted the handle again and rattled the door against the lock that, by all rights, should have been a half melted mess by this stage. It remained as solid and impervious as the day it had been set in place. Meanwhile the iron case at her feet was already sending up the scent of corroding metal.

 

She got to her feet and sighed as she packed away her case and the empty bottle, a failed experiment; evidently while the lock appeared to be made of the same brass as the handle the inner workings were of some foreign substance. She would need to return to her work room and try to discover what it may be.

 

All of a sudden with a sharp stab of pain a frantic voice ripped through her mind, “DANGER!” it squeaked loudly and in the moment of fright and panic Matri thought the pain was from the words themselves. As the moment subsided her mind worked the information through and the needle sharp teeth clinging to her ankle was identified as the true source.

 

With a pained yelp she shook the small weasel from her ankle, bending down to try to swat the creature away as it danced sideways nimbly avoiding her.

 

“Danger, danger, danger!” is chattered in her mind in a merry sing song tone as it leapt about her feet in a war dance.

 

Matri frowned at the little beast, “from you?” she asked in a weary tone.

 

“No!” it squeaked happily and darted forward at her toes to nip, “from the dusted one.”

 

Realisation dawned as Matri glanced down the corridor and heard the short, sharp footsteps that could only belong to the keep’s Lore Master. With a moment of panic she turned and, unthinking, twisted the handle to the door at her back. Without a complaint the door swung quietly open as though it were never locked.

LOG&S Fiction: Weaver

More Fictions!

Weaver Cellestis: Banixia

I look at the gift in the box on the table with a lump of trepidation mixed with excitement churning in my stomach. Throwing up seems like a viable option right now. Perhaps screaming really loudly, or jumping up and down and cheering wildly? I’m not sure. Outbursts like that aren’t the norm in Banixia. Outbursts like that are for Glitchers.

Instead, I remain calm, focussed and entirely in control. Ordered and in keeping with the world around me. Coded. In line with The Program.

Finally managing to drag my eyes upwards to look at the Lady in front of me, I take in the non-regulation gown, the quirky hat with the little cogs that she said were part of her last Robotic Companion. The thought occurs to me that perhaps Lady Voice is a little funny in the head, perhaps on the verge of her own Glitch? The thought is quickly banished and locked away. This woman has given me an opportunity. In return, I will give her the respect she deserves, or at least the decency to overlook a few... differences.

My eyes drop back to the box. There’s an arm bracer thing, designed to cover my whole forearm, and inlaid with a matt surface. When I pick it up, it seems to respond to me, to my thoughts... it’s warm and I feel it pulsing – a computational hello from your friendly neighbourhood... what is it?

“A Utili-pad. You’ll find it very useful”

Her voice is clear and musical – cuts right through my thought processes and I can’t help but pay attention. For a brief moment though, I wonder if the device in my hand would be better as a wristwatch. We have the technology after all...

Lady Voice smiles.

“Naturally Gifted. As I’ve always said. I never choose a bad egg.”

I’m confused. She gestures at my hands and the device seems to have taken a new shape. A wristwatch. I allow myself a smirk at this small triumph and fasten the watch to my wrist. I’ll figure the rest out later.

The second item is a boiler suit – though not a regulation khaki one. This one is the exact same shade of grey as my eyes, with black piping and decals on the cuffs. The material gives the impression of being soft, but as I pull it on, rough filaments brush my skin, telling me that the fabric is in fact, reinforced. The best part lights up once its on and fastened. My house symbol, the weaver on her web, sits proudly upon my breast and glows a gentle blue.

I suddenly curse inwardly. She’s had it made fitted. I don’t have much of a figure – my profession requires us to be built like coat-hangers. And with my red hair, pale eyes and boyish shape, I’m not exactly cut out for fittedanything. Joy.

Finally ready, I look over my shoulder at the door behind me. Through the haze, I can see out into the beyond. Out into the pathway that will lead me to strange new places. My first task is to find people who will work with me. Other Wardens to travel with. Safety in numbers with a focus group of people from other worlds that I can study more intently. I turn and know I’m ready. I know I might not come back. I know the risk I’m taking. I know that right now, my family are being moved to Upper Banixia to lush new apartments and careers as tailors to The Speakers and Those That Code – the Eidolon Masters...

I stop, alarmed. I seem to have forgotten something. Something important. Spinning around, I feel relief course through my body and the sudden business in my head ebb away as I focus on his individual strand of code.

Paree tilts his head, causing a few rivets to creak and groan quietly. The quiet hum of his fusion core puts me at ease – the single entropic force in this very structured narrative of a goodbye. I prefer him to the Lahndahn, Lady Voice’s old RC. He doesn’t call me a cant like Lahndahn did. I never was sure what one was, but it sounded thoroughly unpleasant.

“Do take care Madame. Remember the code I taught you. There are more in your utilipad should you require them.”

He dabs at his optic sensors with a handkerchief, and again I feel that pull of the Glitch. The urge to run over and wrap my arms around Paree. To tell him I’m scared and excited and thank him profusely for his help and tutelage.

Instead, I quietly thank him for his service, and Lady Voice for her patronage, and tell them to expect me back as promised.

The doorway beckons, enticing and surreal.

My journey begins.

LOG&S Fiction: Ursula Axilla

One of my players wrote fiction for her character for the upcoming game!

Ursula Axilla, PI - From the Automated States of America

The Whitehouse: Current President - Seymour Wayland

Going to see Seymour is always such a pain in the ass, sometimes I gotta wonder why I bother but then.. well, he's terrible at cards and has the best booze in town.

I always feel so fucking small wandering down the corridor to his lounge, like that whole building was built to put whoever is in it, whether you own it or, whether you're a bot or a skin, right down into your place. I honest to gods wouldn't be surprised if the damn thing was some ancient bot itself, running some massive experiment on whatever it can lure into its highly polished innards. 

I knew it was a mistake to visit him at work, his assistants look at me like i'm dirt just cos I prefer to walk the city than some cushy office job, watching a wall of massive screens all day. His PR guy always tries though, physically blocks my path every time cos he knows I can't push past his massive metal torso. Same old conversation whilst i'm aware of the shifting of the security guys around me, always half an eye on me in case I decide to prove them all right. What am I gonna do exactly? Besides, they didn't catch me when I pinched a hole-puncher and a box of pens. Security guards my ass. 

But in the end, it's always time well spent when I finally get in. Seymour's a good guy, he works hard and he gives a shit, which I guess is the very least you could hope for out of a Big Boss Guy. He treats his staff well and they seem to genuinely care about his welfare. All for the best. I've had to pull him outta the shit once and I don't reckon i'd survive a round 2. 

We play cards, he loses with a smile, the good natured jackass. His wife will show up eventually, she always does when I visit but it's not like that. She knows it's not like that. She just knows I will always talk him into some cockamamie bet if she doesn't roll by to shut me down, she's got a sixth sense for it. Fun ruiner... I think Seymour doing a lap around the building wearing nothing but his briefs would do everyone a heap of good. 

Eventually I drink enough of his fancy booze that my heart starts hurting and that's always my sign to stagger home. I'm always offered a lift, but I prefer getting the air and the chance to walk some of it off. It's like clockwork, which it actually could well be, that when I pop by his of a night that when I get back to my own office there'll be a job waiting, or some fresh faced little punk wanting to tell me something I probably already know in the hope of getting paid. But then i'm a pushover when i'm liquored up, if I had an accountant he'd probably sign me up to some 7 step programme. 

It's good to have friends though, in this place with all its fast cars and flashing lights and sparkling promises of a fancy home and nice clothes if you sign your mind away on the dotted line and plug into the Great Commercial Machine it's easy to forget you're alive if you don't take the time to break bread with others now and then. 

 

Still, Seymour said he'd at least try and run around the office in his pants, even if Trish said he couldn't do it outside. Good man that one. Good work ethic. 

Let me tell you about... Lords of Gossamer & Shadow

So I've gotten my grubby little mitts on a copy of Lords of Gossamer & Shadow. It is the spiritual successor to Eric Wujcik's Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game and is powered by the same system. Here's the blurb from the Rite Publishing website:

This world is but one of untold many, a flux of chance caught between shadow and light. It is a world poised between great powers that shape and define all matter, one of many battlegrounds in an epic struggle between form and cacophony. The lords and knights in this battle move between realms with impunity: they are the creators, shapers, and destroyers of worlds.
In Lords of Gossamer & Shadow, the player-characters are agents caught up in this immense, multi-dimensional struggle. Born into it, their birthright is one of unimaginable power... and with it great danger! They will bear unique and idiosyncratic magical artifacts, command legions drawn from the myriad of otherworlds, and wield incredible powers that alter the very substance of reality. They are players in a Machiavellian conspiracy with the greatest of stakes, and arrayed against them are the deadliest of foes... each other! Lords of Gossamer & Shadow (Diceless) is an original sourcebook and roleplaying game using Erick Wujcik's diceless rules system, the same system that powered Amber Diceless Role-Playing. Lords of Gossamer and Shadow will be a standalone product, but is fully compatible with the existing rules system and can be readily used in new and existing campaigns.

I've actually read through the whole book - which is a novel prospect for me. It MIGHT be because I played Amber for almost the entirety of my teenage years and have been waiting excitedly for Lords of Gossamer for some time now...

Its a good book. I really like it. The artwork in it is very evocative (even if the front cover is very misleading...) and the powers have a very solid and interesting theme to them. It's a very loving new take on an old cult classic - But its definitely not a replacement for the Amber  DRPG... Don't think of it like its a 'new edition' of the game because the powers represented in it aren't quite Amber.

I am beginning to run a game of it, so I'm sure you guys will get some  LOG&S themed posts for the foreseeable future!