Säule's journey

11



Säule looked at Duran incredulously.

"We've spent the last few days trekking up the mountains, through canyons and dells, up rock slopes and down shale piles, and you didn't even bring rope?"

"Nope," replied Duran. "Didn't think about it."

Säule sighed and cast Flight on himself. He glided down the ice covered tunnel and into a dank cave. As his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he became aware that he was in a hewn rectangular room, with rubble strewn about everywhere. The floor was covered in water to an unknown depth. Säule lowered his staff down to the bottom; it wasn't very deep, maybe a foot or two. Two doors led out of the room.

He flew out of the tunnel back to Duran, who was tying a length of rope to an outcropping. Säule sighed again.

"Let's go find our friends, Duran," he said.

*     *     *     *     *

There had been a tremendous battle. Snake-like skeletons with Centaur skulls dripping with venom. A Skeleton. An invisible Elvin warrior who escaped. An undead Golem-Lich feeding off of the ambient mana. Except she had been on their side. He was going to have to talk to her about that later.

Säule didn't know any of the group except for Centauri. There were some hasty introductions, once Säule could hear again after having his hearing blasted to smithereens by Garret's gunshots. It seemed that their Sergeant Cartographer had been kidnapped, and they were looking for him. Things could be worse, but not by much. Centauri and the Golem's (her name was Loviatar) horse had been poised by the undead monstrous snakes. Garret was near frozen, and wouldn't last long. Säule spent the next hour and a half seeing to their wounds.

Once everyone was feeling a bit better, they explored the large room they were in a little bit more. Two daïses were in the center of the large room, each with a hole bored into the center. Two iron rods found in another room could be inserted into the daïses. It appeared that something could be placed on top of the rods, and then rotated in place. In niches on opposite sides of the daïses were small circular holes. Another room had a large statue of a warrior, and a copper bowl on an altar with a glass orb inside. The orb appeared to match the size of the holes in the niches. On another end of the room was a large door with eyes, radiating powerful magic.

Additional exploration found a room with a large steel mirror hanging on a wall. Säule lifted it off and found it to be impossibly light. It was also untarnished with age. Garret found a hole on the bottom that appeared to match the size of the iron rods. He put the mirror into the rod and found that it did indeed fit.

In another room there was a large stone box. Säule case Glass Wall and Dark Vision, and found that it contained many sashes, some white, some black, with all the white sashes having one symbol, and the black sashes with a different symbol. In the bottom of the box was another glass orb. Thorek, the Dwarf, used his axe to knock off the hinges of the box's lid, shoved off the lid, and retrieved the orb. It was flat in one side.

Everyone was out of ideas of how to proceed. Loviatar told Säule of a crypt that they had found. In it were many skeletons. The undead Elvish warrior had also been in that room. There was nowhere else to explore. They had to return to the crypt.

They returned to the crypt. It was concealed underneath a deep pool of water. While they were looking at it Thorek said that he saw something move in the depths. There was nothing that could be seen but rubble. Was it possible that the Elvish warrior was down there with his undead companions?

Säule had an idea. He would dam the water flowing into the room and cast Destroy Water until the pool had been cleared. It would take some time; cast, rest, cast rest. The others approved of the idea. He first cast Shape Earth to create the dam, and then he sat and rested on it. It only took two castings of Destroy Water to clear the pool of most of its water. Each time he cast it, it created a vacuum where there had been water. The surrounding water rushed in to fill in with a deafening boom.

After  Säule's second casting, the Elvish warrior and the skeletons appeared out of nowhere. A very fatigued Säule wished them good luck in their fight. The warrior drew a sword, shouting in Elvish. Loviatar answered and a dialogue ensued. During this, Garret quietly reprimed his wet rifle, aimed, and fired. The skelatenous warrior burst into dust and fell.

They explored the crypt, ignoring the now complacent skeletons. In it was a sarcophagus. Inside was the body of an Elf on top of another mirror.

Säule spoke to Garret. He was quite bad off. He would soon start to suffer considerably because of hypothermia. He needed to spend some time in front of a fire, rest, and get some warm liquids in him. However, time was of the essence; they were still trying to find the Sergeant. However, the Sergeant in all likelihood was already dead. Was it worth the chance to keep searching for him, at the peril of Garret's life? Or should they give him up for dead and continue later when they had their strength? Loviatar said that that the undead Elf had spoken of a dark ritual that would return the Elvish kingdom to its glory. Should they continue in their weakened state?

Garret decided to continue. They took the mirror back to the large room and placed it on the other daïs. While Säule tried to open the large door and the others spent some time drying out, Garret returned to the small room with the other orb. Soon everyone heard screaming and a gun shot. While Säule was frozen in place, the others rushed to help him. Garret emerged from the room, unhurt but shaken. He said that as soon as he picked up the orb, the door slammed shut behind him and statue had come to life, and had chased him around the room. As soon as Garret had put the orb back in the copper bowl, the statue returned to its pedestal.

They hatched a plan, and then executed it. Säule cast Shape Earth, creating a door stop to keep the door open. Loviatar grabbed the orb and ran out. As soon as she was out Säule moved the door stop, letting the door slam shut. He then used the large amount of stone he had under his control and wedged the door shut.

With the last orb in their possession, they placed them both into their corresponding spots. They glowed brightly, and both shot forth a beam of light straight forward.

Säule moved the mirrors, angling them so that the beam of light from the orbs both fell upon the large door. The door slowly moved up into the ceiling, and everyone was in a Very High mana zone. They were in the Mana Well on Säule's map!

The group peered inside. They saw a large, round room without discernible floor or ceiling. In the center of the room was a large pillar, upon which was the floating, supine form of the Sergeant. Behind him was a ghostly figure of an Elf wearing robes, also floating, and performing a ritual. A series of smaller pillars rose around the larger, central pillar.

Garret, Duran, and Centauri timed their fire, and shot a volley at him. Garret missed and struck a hard blow on the cartographer, but Centauri and Duran hit their mark. Nevertheless, their arrows went right through the figure.

Golden glowing eyes opened, and he said something in Elvish. He lifted his hand, and an Explosive Fireball formed in it. Everyone ran, and it blew up in the door's entrance.

Säule had a plan. Loviatar believed that the figure would be affected by a magical weapon. If Säule cast Flaming Missile on someone's missile weapon, the dead magician could be destroyed. Garret volunteered for the task.

Säule cast the spell on Garret's rifle. He moved back up to the door, aimed, fired, and hit!

Säule cast Flight and flew up to the stricken Sergeant. He tried lifting him, but he was too heavy to move. Säule retrieved his surgical gear, and performed surgery on him on top of the pillar. He then cast Flight on Thorek, who retrieved the Sergeant.

*     *     *     *     *

They were outside. It was time to rest, recuperate, and discuss their next plan.

If you could get a post like this out of every game, you might end up with a text that could wrap around the Earth at least seven or eight times.    

Hmmm that would be a lovely idea. I really like having a record of the adventures we have been on. Sadly, life sometimes gets if the way of writing a journal entry after every session.

Curse you life!!     

Alpha Centauri wrote:Curse you life!!     

Well, mostly I meant "baby" when I said "life", so I'm not too bummed



But, I recently ran across some of my character journals I wrote in Eric's Traveller campaign. They were lengthy and rather epic. I doubt I'll come up with such prose in the foreseeable future.

12

They slowly made their way down the slopes of the north face of the mountain. The morning mist was rising, leaving behind a crystal encrusted landscape of tree and rock. Duran was ahead, scouting for the people that had been seen from further up the slope.

Soon enough he came back. He had apparently disturbed a young girl, who had run off. Since complete avoidance seemed impossible (sans killing anyone, Säule had insisted), meeting these people seemed inevitable.

They kept riding, and found a small group. There was one old man, aggressively wielding a spear, guarding three women and four children. They tried to communicate, but there was no common language. Säule, tiring of playing charades, walked up to the man, who began to thrust the spear in his chest, driving him back. This didn't matter (much) to Säule, he just wanted to get close enough to cast Lend Language.

As soon as he started to cast his spell, however, the man began to shout and gesticulate wildly to the others. The women grabbed the children, and appeared to be making ready to run off. Säule finished his spell, and calmly told the old man that they had come in peace, and only sought some answers.

"Demon! Fiend!" the man shouted. "Get out of my mind!" Then to the women, "Hurry! Run! Run! They are going to kill us all! Flee!"

Säule sighed as the group turned and ran further down the hill. They took a look around the camp. They had a couple of goats, a handcart, some children's things, but hardly anything in the way of supplies. Säule doubted that the family would survive the winter lest they were resupplied somehow.

Continuing on, they came across other such camps, some larger, some even smaller. At each one they passed they tried to see if anyone spoke Icatian, but had no luck. Soon they had a small pack of feral children following them. Säule tried to get one of them to come closer so that he could again cast Lend Language. His efforts led to sore ribs as one child snuck behind him, and another threw stones at him in a childish attempt to trip him. That ended as soon as Säule, bitter that his attempts at communication had been rebuffed even by children, case Create Fire directly in front of himself. The children ran, screaming. The adults that had been around quickly drew backwards.

They went on to a burned out village. It was marked Ballatar on the map that they had gotten from Lord Mayburn. What they saw shocked and horrified Säule. The unwalled village had been surrounded by spears, each with a head on it. They were women and children, mostly, with a few old men. Säule pressed on into the village, suppressing his rage, fear, and revulsion. The rest of the corpses of the townfolk and been piled up in the center of the village. Some of them had signs that they had burned to death. Others bore the impaling marks of many spears. Snow covered the corpses, and rot had set in despite the recently cold weather; the massacre appeared to have happened some time ago. In the center of the village a wolf was impaled on a spear stuck in the ground.

After a moment to gather themselves, they searched the village for any sign as to the details of the killings. As Säule neared the community fire pit, he felt a magical impulse. He sensed an evil deep rage, very similar to the feeling he got when a wight was killed.

Säule searched the village for a mirror, hoping to be able to case Images of the Past to find out more clearly what had happened. The village seemed too primitive. In fact, it was less what he would consider a village and more a permanent encampment of hunter/gatherers, with no farm fields and only a few small gardens, containing the picked over remnants of mostly herbs. They had nothing in the way of a mirror.

They decided to continue with their quest and get to Hidnuur, and started west. That night Duran found a suitable sight for an encampment. As he opened his scroll case, an undead bird hopped out. Frightened, Säule began to beat it with his staff. While the rest of the group rolled on the ground in laughter, he smacked it over and over until it stopped hopping around, and then scooted it into the fire. Säule was a bit put off by this; he asked Loviatar to stop doing such things.

The next day was fiercely windy, but at least the sun was out. They crossed over the barren snow covered hill lands, again with Duran in the lead. As they got to a plain, Säule spotted a small group of people hurrying to the south, as if they were being pursued. Säule looked to the north, and saw a group of armed riders chasing them.

Hurrying over to the people on foot, they discovered it was composed of two women and four small children. There was no time for an attempt at communication, as the horsemen – led by a large man with a battleax – drew near. Both parties unlimbered their bows and readied for a fight.

Loviatar, shouting out in Elvish, began a dialogue with the leader. Loviatar told Säule that these women and children had cursed blood, and had driven the man's people from the north. He said that they were the ones doing the ritual. He further offered that if they gave the women and children to him, he would bring the group to his lord.

Loviatar seemed amenable to the idea. Säule flatly refused. "I will die here, on this frozen plain, rather than do nothing."

A volley of arrows landed amongst them, and Duran and Centauri loosed their own. The barbarians immediately charged. As they did so Centauri loosed another arrow at their leader, who toppled from his horse and fell. Säule scrambled off of his horse.

The men readied themselves for a lance charge, and Centauri set his own spear to receive the charge, piercing his opponent through and through. Duran was not so lucky, and fell to the ground with a spear in his chest, coating the snow red with his blood.

As one of the horsemen passed, Säule cast Tickle on the horse, causing it to collapse and throw its rider. However, he gracefully fell to the ground, and standing up, ran at Säule with his spear.

Säule meant to shout, "Centauri, I'm being set upon by an armed warrior with a spear who intends on killing me! Please provide me with some help!" However, the only thing that escaped Säule's lips was "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The man engaged Säule, striking at him savagely with his spear. Säule was certain that his previous statement was about to become true, and that his frozen corpse would be left here in the snow. After what seemed like an eternity, Centauri's sword flashed into his field of view, there was an electrical crackle, and the man fell to the earth with a cloven breast.

Säule looked around. Their leader somehow had turned into a giant hairy man-bear, and was lumbering towards them. Centauri bravely engaged the thing, while Säule case Armor on him with the little strength that he had left. The melee was brutal, with Centauri slicing deep into the things flesh with his sword, while the bear madly struck at Centauri. Their companion was able to block the things attacks, and after a few seconds, was struck on the face by Centauri's shield. The thing fell to the ground, mortally wounded.

Säule turned his attention to his fallen comrade, and began to render medical assistance. He also kept an eye on the women, who had not run from the battle. They were watching the group, with almost a curious expression. As he finished with Duran and began to work on Centauri, the old woman approached Duran and cast Major Healing on him!

After casting Awaken on Duran to get him up, they then continued to the south with the women. They reached a dell, dominated by a large oak tree. A young woman, Ki'ar, was able to speak to them in Icatian. She told them of the troubles of the northern people. When they had cast a ritual spell on the warriors at the beginning of the raiding season, the spell had been corrupted, "changing" all of their fighting age males. Ki'ar had fled, guided by her raven familiar. Hidnuur was under siege, with the Watcher of Stars trapped inside. This man might have the knowledge to inform them what was happening in Prydain. They decided to go with Ki'ar to Hidnuur, to see if they could find this man and get some answers.

I think I have but one thing to say about this post. One thing only this time around.





Yes, that and one other thing. Good posting. Nice story.       

LOL

Actually, I think that Saule did rather well in that brief combat of his. He was able to hold back a foe of much greater ability for quite some time. Until the Centaur came along and finished him off

Säule wandered through the ruins of Caer Aravel. It was night, and he drew his cloak around him to ward off the gentle chill. He saw Centauri standing near the ruined foundations of an ancient building. Wordlessly, they walked towards the wall, where they saw Duran standing with a torch in his hand.

The three of them headed to the broken citadel. As they did so, Säule looked up at the night sky. He saw bright Arcturus high in the sky. An impossibility for late autumn, but indicative of the winter time. Säule shook his head and kept walking.

He had been here before, knew where the catch was. He lit the candle that he had in his pocket, and they descended into the darkness. He was familiar with the path, but this time there were no eyes bearing down on them from the darkness.

Soon enough they reached the tree. Arthael stood there, looking away. A figure in field armor stood, facing the tree. To Säule's surprise he saw from the shape of her armor that she was a woman. A longsword with a large amethyst in the hilt was at her side. An identical one was thrust into the tree.

"David?" said Säule, quietly.

Arthael looked up. "Hello," he responded just as quietly.

"Uh, aren't you going to introduce us to the lady?" asked Säule after a moment of awkward silence.

"I suppose that would be proper," responded Arthael after a moment. "My lady, these are Säule, Duran, and Centauri. And this is the Lady Dame Alestrande. Her sacrifice enabled the beast below to be imprisoned here. Her spirit lingers here. She waits and watches against its release.

"The sword you see here was used to pin the heart of the beast. From her death her soul planted its roots here. I shifted the sword to this place in my dreams so that no casual passer-by could remove it."

"David, you told Thorek in a dream that the Dreamer was awake. What does that mean?"

A glint of recognition passed through Arthael's eyes. "Ah, yes. That is another beast from an age long ago. You should call it the Hunger. It will stalk men in their dreams and drive them insane. There are powers that can remove its gaze. The Ebon Hand has that power in their black tower. The lore of your university in Al Asham can remove the curse. Also, you can bring your friends to me, and they will be lost from the gaze of the Hunger."


*     *     *     *     *


The next morning Säule and his companions, their entrance aided by Geoffrey, searched the old Captain's room. Thorek found a stack of personal letters, correspondence between him and his wife. They were mostly of mundane matters, but an unsent letter written by the Captain was bizarrely paranoid, accusing his wife of cuckoldry.

Meanwhile, Säule had cast Glass Wall on himself, and had found a hidden compartment near the head of the bed. Finding the secret catch, he unearthed a sheaf of papers: personnel files, mission reports, provisions reports, and a list of codes and communications protocols. Säule saw, but did not mention, a sack of coins hidden in a false compartment in the chest.

The group began going through the papers. Suspicion fell upon Geoffrey – the mission reports were written in his hand. Also, his personnel file was missing. Everyone stormed out of the room, with a reluctant Säule behind them. They confronted Geoffrey in the stable and made veiled – and not so veiled – accusations and threats against him. Säule wasn't surprised by Geoffrey's abrupt and hasty departure. He was surprised, however, when he opened the stable door, to see the inside of a Force Dome sphere. It was enormous, covering almost the entire stable.

Their troubles were not over. A fire had been started in the decaying straw in one of the stalls. There was a brief panic, until Säule quickly put it out with an Extinguish Fire spell.

There was nothing to do but wait. Säule was certain that with the size of the spell, it was not likely that it was going to be maintained. Sure enough, minutes later the spell dissipated. The expected line of soldiers was waiting for them on the other side. Säule sighed and let drop his staff.

The confusion was quickly cleared up. It didn't help Geoffrey's case that he had fled right after blasting Sir Harris with a flame spell. Säule was led to his chambers, where a badly burned knight lay on his bed. Säule, extremely fatigued from the spells that he had already cast, used mundane – but completely effective – medical skills to heal his patient. Meanwhile, Centauri and Garret chased after Geoffrey.

By the time they returned with the sorcerer's body – killed by his own magical overreach – Säule had rested enough and had nearly healed the knight. There was a curt farewell, and they left Fort Cliffwood.

They began their journey to David's farm. The march was cold, but with Duran's wilderness skills they travelled in relative safety. The third day from the fort they began to pass the Prydaini village. As they did so, Säule noticed a group of twelve horsemen riding towards them, cutting them off. Säule found a defensible position on top of a barrow. The horsemen gathered at the base and spoke for a few minutes, and then one of them rode up the hillside alone.

He said his name was Vargo, and that he was a soldier of fortune. Säule told him that they were servants of Lord Black. Vargo told him that Black had abandoned the land, and demanded the group's food and weapons. Säule told him no.

Vargo turned to leave, and Duran shouted out "You can have this!" and loosed an arrow. Centauri also let loose his weapon. Vargo fell to the ground with two arrows in his chest.

The other horse men started shooting arrows at the group, to little effect. The horsemen withdrew to places of cover. Centauri – defended by Loviatar's Return Missile spell – went down the hill to retrieve Vargo. Several of the men shot at him, but the more successful amongst them were struck by their own arrows.

"Hold your arrows!" one of them shouted. "There's some kind of sorcery at work!"

"Yeah, were wizards, you idiots!" Säule shouted back. A negotiation followed. Säule would use his magical skills to heal Vargo, and they would leave the party alone and let them travel on their way.

Both sides were true to their word. Säule first carefully removed each arrow. He then cast Major and Minor healing to restore Vargo's vitality.

They each headed on their own way. That night, they reached the welcome sanctuary of David's farm.

I wouldn't say this was a bad character journal. Even I, with all my powers of prognosticating penmanship, fall prey to the evil devil of rushing through a piece due to deadlines.

Alpha Centauri wrote:I wouldn't say this was a bad character journal.

I would. But it is as you say: deadlines. I could spend dozens of hours writing an aesthetically pleasing journal entry, or just whack one out quickly to get it done. Sad to say, more entries go unwritten because I have a desire to make them as good as they deserve to be, yet then I run out of time to do so.

Eh don't be hard on yourself. It's factual and they can't all be epic with our schedules.

Milamber wrote:Eh don't be hard on yourself.

I don't. But it requires some effort, especially when comparing this last journal entry with that Traveller one.

Säule pushed the globes on the control device, sending the silver sphere flying this way and that. He thought of was Aedeleth had told him, about how he had been the first Emperor of the Thulden Empire, and how he had led his people from the forbidden lands of the north. There had been conflict with the Elves, and the inevitable war had broken out. The Elves had been pushed back, and their High Priest Xentaros had completed an unholy ritual at the powerful mana well, stripping the souls from the willing onlookers and creating a Guardian that would drive out the human invaders.

The ritual worked. The Guardian was created and for a time marauded against the retreating Men. A decade of human gains was undone. The Guardian seemed to be the savior of the Elvish race. Soon mankind would again be enslaved and Elves would regain their rightful position in the world.

But there was a flaw in the Guardian.

The Elvish champion had had his former personality stripped away. Under orders to destroy the enemies of the Elves, soon he began to slay them as well. It seemed that none could stop him. But an ancient Silver Circle – the Paladins – stepped forward. Using a manner of magic, they were able to contain and bind the creature. All were slain, but the last standing Paladin was able to thrust her sword through the monster's heart.

That the hero was Lady Alestrande there was no doubt. It was she who had imprisoned the Guardian in the well by the tree, and it was the Guardian who lay – not slumbering – behind the glyphed stone door.

"Hey, can I try that?" the ever-eager artificer asked. Säule let him have a turn with the magical device, and watched as Garret learned how to use it, striking the ground and the farm house while doing so. Säule knew that they would have to track down this collegue of his, and possibly kill him. How difficult that would be he did not know.




"We can do this," said Garret, charmingly convincing. Surely nothing could go wrong.

Säule cast Flight on him, and after a test flight Garret flew out over the frozen lake, above the herd of deer. Several gun shots rang out, and Säule saw the herd scatter. He started walking over the frozen lake, and found Garret standing over his kill. The two of them together tried to figure out how to butcher the animal, but it was more difficult than Säule had anticipated. He looked at the few measly chunks of meat, the rest of the carcass ruined. He wondered how they would ever survive their travels, much less how they would confront any wizard opponent at the end of them.

They travelled the rest of that day to where they thought the mana well should be. Säule then flew straight up to get a better lay of the land. Looking at the terrain, he believed that they had travelled almost due south, not the south-south east direction that he had thought would take them to the Mana Well. He sighed as he descended.

Before darkness fell Säule cast Mystic Mist. He wondered why he had not made a regular practice of it. Such a defense should make it much more difficult for their enemies to find them, especially with the whiteness of the snow blending in with the mist. If they were found, they would have a better chance of surviving any fight.

As the sun set, Garret spotted a figure shambling straight towards them. A wight? Garret wasn't sure, but set up an explosive trap near the camp. Säule objected, fearing the indiscriminate attack against someone who might not be an enemy, but Garret place the explosives anyway.

Shortly thereafter there was an explosion. It seemed that Garret's trap had worked as intended. Säule, along with the others, went out to investigate. They found Captain Neekal, former commander of Fort Cliffwood. One of his legs was almost completely blown off in an ugly amputation, and he was bleeding profusely.

After having dragged the captain back to the campfire, Säule started to work on him. Garret leaned closer for a better look, and as he came into the captain's view through the Mystic Mist, the captain reached a bony hand towards Garret.

"There you are," he said, and then died.

Garret feared that he had again been marked by the Hunger. Säule lit the candle and cast Sleep on Garret. Shortly thereafter though, he looked down at the candle and noticed that it had somehow been extinguished. Garret had already awoken, and told them that he had seen the Hunger in his dreams.

There was nothing to do but return to Aedeleth's farm. They could not travel during the night though, so Säule cast Vigil on Garret as a defense against sleep. The next morning they broke camp quickly and returned to the farm.

They stayed there three more (subjective) days, ridding Garret of the taint. While there, Loviatar took an interest in David's library, and taught Säule of the stories of the Thulden Empire. Many of the books were written by David himself.

The second day into their stay, Centauri informed them that he had seen a small group of centaurs apparently worshipping David. Säule's curiosity was piqued, and they headed to the edge of the no mana zone. It was too late though. They found a camp of many centaurs, but with the altered time of the farm it appeared that they had left two days ago. The tracks the centaurs left headed in the direction of Keening Forge Keep.

The group again bade farewell to Aedeleth and headed for the mana well. This time they found a small hill topped by an ancient tree. As Säule drew closer, he could feel the mana growing. He drew out the magical device, directed it to the hill, and obtained the sample that was needed.

They then headed towards Willowbrook and Caer Aravel. When they found the highway, Garret spotted five men hanging from a tree. Closer inspection revealed them to be Icatian men, wearing mail underarmor. They had been tortured. The lower hanging men had had the flesh from their legs torn from them by wild animals.

Leaving the grisly sight they once more headed for Willowbrook. Just outside town Centauri volunteered to scout it out. He returned minutes later with a friendly Quint, who seemed overjoyed to see them. As they headed to the village Quint told them that they were fighting against the queen's men in open rebellion. Their leader – the Lord of Thorns – was none other than Luke Mayburn. Duke Harwick had been sending them supplies and military advisers.

Quint feasted the travellers, and fed them mutton and milk. He recounted the stories of their exploits to the other villagers. Despite the fantastic nature of the exploits, almost all of what Quint said was true. Still, despite the warmness of Quint's welcome, Säule knew that as soon as Luke found out who had come to town, things were going to get ugly. However, they were stuck there for the night. Quint told them that they were under a constant night time siege from the wights. To leave the protection of the inn and its defenders would be suicide.

"Damn," thought Säule. "We're in a tight spot!"

» The Journey - Week 8
» A Pawsome Johto Journey (Ch. 23)
» Statistical Pokemon Journey (CP Thread)
» BIONICLE: Journey's End
» Oreoho Journey: Story Version~Girl Scout Cookies Anyone?

That's interesting. Apparently if you look at topics without logging in, the forum gives you suggestions of similar topics that may be of interest. In the case of this thread, the forum seems to think that posts relating to Pokemon are the best fit.     

Yay. Free forum.

Yes. Free forum.   

I find it interesting that this character so intriguing. He's pretty much the only non-combat character I've played. (The other one was the early Vanimo, who later became a combat monster.) Säule is still a ton of fun to play, even though one thing I like about GURPS is the combat, which Säule mostly misses.

I find it interesting that this character so intriguing. He's pretty much the only non-combat character I've played. (The other one was the early Vanimo, who later became a combat monster.) Säule is still a ton of fun to play, even though one thing I like about GURPS is the combat, which Säule mostly misses.

You know? Come to think of it, I suppose this is the first noncombatant you've played over your long illustrious gaming career.

If you like noncombat classes, you should check out the gaming system Mouse Guard. In addition to all of the classes dedicated to protection and gore galore, there are a number of other classes that are...well just normal.

Are you tired of playing ye olde standard yeoman of the guard? Then try playing as an apiarist keeper, a blower of the tooth horn, or perhaps the coveted role of a genealogist. Now granted a character in this game can have some combat prowess along with NC skill, but there is nothing to say your character could go to the other extreme and simply have no combat prowess to speak of.

Oh, the adventures to be had. I can imagine the fine dialogue now.

"And you brave sir mouse. What did you do to assist the lands in their hour of need?"

"Much, actually. I traveled the lands with my mobile hive of bees producing honey for the impoverished mice of the realm."

"Oh, right. Well, carry on."

You forgot the cartographer...

But, like I told the players when I was GM, a non-combatant PC can be fun to play, you just need to know what you're going to be doing during combat. For Saule, that's pretty easy: Nothing (usually), Healing (frequently), or actually Fighting (sometimes).