South Province Campaign: Session 85 Notes

[As I vacate all my files from old Yahoo!Groups, a variety of them will find their way here to this old blog. And not remotely in order. This is a write-up from pretty late in the campaign, so don't feel bad if you have no idea what's going on in this one. Earlier ones are coming!]

85th Playing Session Notes
Alex
Fireseek 20, 582.  Earthday morning, 10 am.
Alex is interviewing three new employees contracted through the Blue Salamander Guild – Miro, Milen, and Dimitris.  They all seem passibly fluent in lawful speech, but Andel has not divined their true nature yet.  Miro and Milen will be added to the estate guards, while Dimitris is to head north, check for Oaklock in Arogaz Avon and then move to Crossroads to contact Alex’s other informants there.

While on the estate, Depello Vargus is escorted to see Alex.  Depello serves Freiherr Yuliana Kurkulas.  Yulilana is responsible for overseeing the ritter sub-class while in Hexpools and Depello is to be his liason to her.

Fireseek 21, 582.  Freeday morning, 10 am.
Depello is on the estate trying to make plans with Alex to attend a ball held at Rheingraf Mehdi’s estate on next Moonday.  Kullin Kostova arrives, representing Laird Daridus, wanting Alex to appear at city hall and accept an award on Sunday.  Three more couriers are waiting at the gate, first among them carries an invitation for a banquet at the Artisan’s Guild Sunday evening, and a gift of a silver brooch (worth 10 gp).

Fireseek 22, 582.  Starday.

On this day the whole band talks about the “Big Picture.”

Fireseek 23, 582.  Sunday afternoon, 4 pm.

Alex is meeting with Desinail Oeskos, half-Suel Treasurer (7^th level, age 55) of the Church, at the temple.  Desinail relates that Voldran Mardov is on his way to Kalstrand with an entourage to present Alex’s argument to the Grand Acquisitioner.  However, the Church is concerned about the likely perception tha the Church stands to gain from this, especially if their chief witness is politically active.  Desinail asks what chapel Alex has sworn his life to defending and when he last served guard duty there.

Fireseek 23, 582.  Sunday morning, 3 am.

Alex wakes Joseph, who had arrived just last night, and makes him groom and saddle Zephyr in the dark to show him that life as a ritter’s page or squire is not easy.  Joseph does well, but is slowed down by asking Alex questions about adventuring.  They are interrupted by the sound of elvish singing.  Sure enough, Oaklock is on the villa grounds, having arrived late last night and not wishing to disturb anyone.  Oaklock did run into Dimitris, and relates that Freiherr Gorova will allow his engineer, Filip the White-Knuckled, to come to Hexpools for only 2 weeks of consultation if 300 gp are paid in advance for security.

Fireseek 24, 582.  Moonday evening, 5 pm.

Mehdi’s ball is underway and Alex arrives with Kesley on his arm.  Julius Weathermay is working the crowd and hits on Kesley (“You’re beautiful, charming, elegant – let’s ditch your bodyguard and go paint the town!”).  Mehdi arrives and gently chastises Weathermay for party crashing (JW:  “I had nothing in writing that said not to come.  When I snub you for parties, I always end you a warning to stay away.”)  Weathermay is here looking for Alex.  He offers to hire the BoGG for 100 gp a month.

Rains in the night.

Fireseek 25, 582.  Godsday afternoon, 1 pm.

Godsday services were performed by Tramir Rovos (played by Wilford Brimley), canon of the church.  His slow, plodding sermon was highlighted by the announcement of Voldran Mardov’s safe arrival in Kalstrand for a “very important summit.”  Afterwards, Rovos agrees to talk to Alex, but has no news of the summit itself, nor even knows its purpose.  Tramir agrees that the church will watch his villa and handle all requests for Alex alone and not the full Band.  Alex announces he is leaving for Aragoz Avon the next day, but in the meanwhile, leaves funds behind so the Church can commission the creation of an Amulet of Prot. From Fear (1,000 gp?).

Fireseek 26, 582.  Waterday afternoon, 2 pm.

Alex is on the road to Inamark, leading the way on Zephyr while Joseph drives the Band’s wagon, with Kesley in back.  They just encountered two wagons whose horses and passengers were being accosted by 5 huge (2’, ½ HD) squirrels and 1 giant (4’, 1 HD) squirrel.  A passenger slays a huge squirrel with a Magic Missile, Zephyr tramples a giant squirrel, and the rest flee.  The wagons hold refugees from Porton, who have seen their town transformed into an army base since the BoGG’s “attack.”

Vlad

Fireseek 19, 582.  Waterday afternoon, 4 pm.

First day of scribing.  Benus Steinus has questioned a class of four and dismisses all but Vlad as being unworthy of this level of study.  Benus leads Vlad to a door to a ruined mausoleum, locked from the outside.  Through that door is encounter 1 of the Crypt of Lyzandred (the mourners can become 4 zombies and the coffin holds a ghast).  Benus explains that real risk makes the puzzles more challenging.

Fireseek 20, 582.  Earthday morning, 5 am.

Vlad wakes to notice a glyph on the back of his left hand that looks like it was burned there.  It itches, but doesn’t hurt.  Jedidiah the Kilmoulis was there, and likely Mikhail, Ivan, and Maldrik.  None of them can explain it.  Benus cannot be contacted for 3 more hours.  The college is a building without doors or furniture – just a place where teachers and students meet and talk standing or sitting in one of five rooms.  When asked later, Benus says it is Vlad’s job to reason it out.  The glyph is really branded, not magical.

Fireseek 21, 582.  Freeday evening, 7 pm.

The cabal meets at Balagros’ villa (or elsewhere?).  Holian, Aria, Weiss, Vest, Wormer, Richards, and three more (1 2^nd lvl, 2 1^st) attend.  Holian is friendly to the idea of sharing spell research.  Aria is hostile and vanishes.  Weiss thinks the idea has merit, but wants safeguards to make sure no one is stealing or hording research.  Vest is uncertain because there is no precedent.  Richards is excited about it.  Holian alone can make scrolls.  Day 5 of Vlad’s spell research.

Fireseek 22, 582.  Starday morning, 7 am.

Vlad is stopped before leaving the warehouse by Metodi, who had an early morning guest – a gnome named Beryl has been there for an hour asking for Vlad.  Beryl is a 1 HD female gnome who brings apologies from Trosli that he could neither come himself nor send illusionists.  Instead, Beryl offers herself as an apprentice.  Trosli is on a secret mission to Idee and that’s all Vlad can coax from her.  Holian and Richards are the first to agree to Vlad’s proposal of spell sharing.

Fireseek 23, 582.  Sunday morning, 9 am.

Benus sends Vlad through a door to encounter area E5 (the ogre is an ogrillion, saplings at 1+1 HD).  The garden is surrounded by a 5' stone wall.  If Vlad hops the wall, he finds himself in a field with a greenish fog and unusually short grass scattered, odd-shaped trees and surrounded by hills.  There is a 3 in 6 chance of an encounter every 10 minutes (see p. 3).  It rains that night.

Fireseek 24, 582.  Moonday morning, 11 am.

Vlad goes to E6 after 3 hours of playing dragon chess with Benus) the 6 gnomes are I 2/T 2).  The door to the warehouse is stuck.  Outside is a farm with several other warehouse-like buildings around it.  20 green kobolds try to prevent Vlad from snooping.

Fireseek 25, 582.  Godsday night, 10 pm.

Metodi appears to need to see Vlad, but it is in fact a disguised Holian.  Holian reveals that 6 members of the cabal know Vlad and Metodi's secret, but had kept it to themselves.  He reveals that he has brought an invisible guest, and Davim of Dargvonessa appears.  Davim asks the cabal for sanctuary as he has a death sentence waiting him for impersonating nobility.  This is day 7 of Vlad's INT training.

Fireseek 26, 582.  Waterday morning, 11 am.

Vlad is sent to E8 (the steward is a F2 in black tabard over studded leather, the cook is a C2, also AC 7, the servants are illusion-covered zombies).  They fight to keep Vlad from leaving the kitchen.  There are 4 ghouls in the adjoining dining room and 3 more in the hallway.

Fireseek 27, 582.  Earthday afternoon, 4 pm.

After solving another math problem, Vlad fled into a village on the other side of the door.  The locals were slaves being supervised by a pair of big, shaggy monsters Vlad color sprayed.  Vlad has been searching the village for clues as to what's going on and only coming up with the occasional giant rat.  At first he kills some, but soon realizes they are at least semi-domesticated.  Then Vlad finds a skeleton in an old shed.  

Ivan

Fireseek 19, 582.  Waterday evening, 6 pm.

Ivan had another hard day. Dimitar Geshov was critical of Ivan's parrying skills, but never explained well enough what was wrong with his stance on the low strikes.  Ivan is having supper at the Fountain Inn with Boyan and brings up his desire to open a bowyer's shop.  Boyan thinks Ivan should talk to Beredik of the Arrow-Shot Boar Fletcher's Shop a block west of the guild hall.  If Ivan hurries, he catches Beredik closing his window for the day.  Beredik reveals that the best bowyers in the city are Khason, whose shop is in the Armory and is responsible for the city guard's bows, and Roza, his former apprentice (and rumored lover) who makes bows for the guild.

This is day 3 of his training.  Ivan has six +1 arrows already.  The javelin was verified.

Fireseek 20, 582.  Earthday afternoon, 1 pm.

Ivan has to incorporate all eight guards with the long sword into his defense against three attackers.  Ivan is attacked up to 5 times by a 1^st level f (Ivan is AC 8 fighting defensively), a 2^nd lvl f, then a swordsman named Zolam starts exploiting Ivan's dependence on overhand guards and striking low.  All damage is subdual.

Fireseek 21, 582.  Freeday morning, 9 am.

Geshov will only train a half-day on Freedays, from 11 to 4.  Ivan shows up early to look into dexterity training, but is intercepted by Zolam and two of the fighters who were talking about him the other day (Aleko and Cveti).  They (unconvincingly) act nice and try to find out how Ivan got the magic javelin.  

Geshov agrees to look into what the guild can do for him, especially in regards to goal #3.

Fireseek 22, 582.  Starday night, 8 pm.

Ritter Boudevska has Ivan summoned to him by Squire Lavel.  Samos Boudevska offers Ivan the position of Squire.

What If I Ran Marvel...in 1968 - pt. 2

The changes I made in the Marvel line-up would take effect on the titles released in December 1968 (cover dated March 1969). Captain Savage and Sub-Mariner would be abruptly canceled. Not Branch Ecch and Wacky Races would be rushed through production, so the actual count of comic books would be the same. The roster of titles I would have released that month would be:

Main line (12 cent titles): Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Marvel Super-Heroes, Marvel Tales, Mighty Marvel Western, Mighty Thor, Millie the Model, Not Brand Ecch, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, Wacky Races, X-Men

Epic line (25 cent titles): Captain Marvel, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, (Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD, Rawhide Kid, and Silver Surfer would come out next month, as these six alternate)

Amazing Spider-Man

This would continue to have John Romita doing the art, but Steve Ditko would return to inking over him to keep a consistent look with the first three years of the title. Stan Lee would have to turn the writing over to Denny O’Neil, who as a newcomer would seem an unusual choice for the company’s top title, but I think Denny later nailed Peter’s bad luck trope when he finally got his chance in 1980 to write Spider-Man. Although some of Denny’s later creations, like Fusion the Twin Terror, seemed hokey in 1980, they would have been a step up from the likes of Man-Mountain Marko. Denny could get ideas from Stan and would hopefully use elements of the “Stone Tablet Saga”in his first year, including the Kingpin/Silvermane War -- and wouldn’t Madam Web have been a good addition to that storyline?

If I had to give Denny just one piece of advice, I would tell him that Peter had to stop pretending to be Gwen’s boyfriend if he was going to hide who he was from her. He didn’t have to tell Gwen his secret, and she could respect his privacy and still be friends with him, but if he did tell Gwen and she accepted it, she would make a good partner for Spider-Man, particularly if she learned about forensic science in college.   

Possible story synopses

Amazing Spider-Man #70: Still on the lam, Spider-Man hides the Tablet in his closet. As Peter, he broods about how he needs to break things off with Gwen, because their relationship is built on lies. Gwen and Mary Jane, though, are conferring at the same time about what they know about Peter, and agree to talk to Betty Brant. The Kingpin is out of jail on bond and, still wanting the Tablet, hires the Purple Man to get it. But the Purple Man has his own plans, lures Spider-Man to him, and tells Spider-Man to work for him. Spider-Man can’t resist and goes off to perform his first task: kill the Kingpin. He attacks the Kingpin while he’s being driven across town and easily defeats the Kingpin, but breaks the Purple Man’s spell because he won’t kill. Meanwhile, J. Jonah Jameson shows up at the scene (as does Ned Leeds), but while Jonah is ranting about Spider-Man, he has a heart attack.

Amazing Spider-Man #71: Betty tells Gwen and Mary Jane that Peter has always been connected to Spider-Man somehow. Peter learns that Robbie Robertson is taking over running the Daily Bugle, as Jonah may have to retire permanently following his heart attack. Robbie is too smart and suspects how Peter gets his photos, so Peter considers “retiring” himself and go to school full time. Meanwhile, the Purple Man meets with the Kingpin’s former lieutenants, tells them they work for him now, and asks for the secret of the Tablet. Also meanwhile, Quicksilver decides capturing Spider-Man would be a needed PR coup for him, but after they start to fight they find common cause in stopping the rampage of Fusion, the Twin Terror.  

Avengers

“Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” was a label this title was about to earn again, as Roy Thomas would soon bring back the team’s heaviest hitters from yesteryear. I like the weaker teams that have to fight smarter and will encourage Roy to stay on course with that. Roy’s stories were hit or miss, but when he hit he was producing masterpieces, like Avengers #61, that I would allow to proceed unaltered. Art-wise, the Avengers title had four different artists over the next year; I would hope that my new artist contracts would encourage John Buscema and Gene Colan to stay longer, so we’ll never need Barry Windsor-Smith (who wasn’t as good as he soon would be) nor Sal Buscema (who’s sketchy style was fast but of poor quality) to step in.   

I would ask Roy to tighten up the team, so it never slipped below five members, and never went over eight. I would ask him to bring back Black Knight for at least one more issue. I would give him 21 issues to keep Black Panther around before sending him back to Wakanda. I would give him 24 issues with Hawkeye-as-Goliath as-is, but then make him take up the bow again. Would a size-changing archer be more interesting? I think so. I would encourage Roy to tighten up the connection to the golden age Vision, Aarkus. Since Roy had not come up with the Human Torch connection, I would encourage him to say the Vision shared a consciousness with Aarkus, rather than the Human Torch’s body (which explains, to my mind, how a computer AI less than a year old could function as a mature adult already).   

Possible story synopses:

Avengers #62: Play up high-tech wonderland of Wakanda more. Man-Ape uses that tech to help capture Black Knight, and Black Panther, but totally owns Hawkeye and breaks his bow. Man-Ape can’t beat Dr. Strange and the Vision, but they agree to stay neutral in Man-Ape’s challenge to Black Panther’s leadership of Wakanda. When it appears that Man-Ape plans to kill Black Panther through treachery during their fight, Vision intervenes and Dr. Strange frees the other Avengers. Vision and Black Panther easily overpower Man-Ape together.

Avengers #63: The Avengers get a call from Black Widow, who is inside a nuclear power plant that has been taken over by Mad Thinker and Puppet Master, who have teamed up with Tyrannus. Yellowjacket and Wasp, now back from their honeymoon, respond to the call, as does Hawkeye, now calling himself Goliath and using Pym’s growth pills. The bad guys have been building a ring-shaped machine all around the plant, protected by a giant robot and underground monsters. Goliath and Vision take on the defenders while the others infiltrate inside. Just then, the nuclear plant takes off into the air, mounted on a giant rocket Tyrannus had built beneath it.  

Captain America

I would want Kirby to step in, not to fill in for Steranko, but to take over drawing Cap. Steranko would stick around, for the joy of working with Kirby so closely, as they co-plotted and split layout duties on the book (the ratio of the split depending on how much Steranko actually got done from month to month). Jack could use as many of his big ideas from the Fourth World in Cap's title as he wanted -- it might get to be more like a cross between Jimmy Olsen and Mister Miracle, with Steranko’s polish put on it. Substituting the Young Allies for the Newsboy Legion means a cloned Bucky Barnes would be coming back, and he and Rick would compete to be Cap’s sidekick. I would eventually want them to bring Sharon Carter back too.

Possible story synopses:

Captain America #111: Steve is invited to work as an investigative reporter for a Washington, D.C. area television station owned by Morgan Edge, who knows Steve’s secret of being Captain America. Steve’s first assignment will be investigating the return of the Young Allies -- which includes Bucky! Leaving as Cap, he is ambushed by HYDRA assassins at the command of Madame Hydra, but he defeats them handily. Rick Jones joins Cap as they meet with the Young Allies, who all seem to be teenage versions of the real Young Allies, including teenage Bucky. While Bucky is showing Cap their vehicle, the Whiz Wagon, Rick feels like a fifth wheel and takes a phone call the others are ignoring. The sound on the other end makes Rick hallucinate and wander off. As Cap and the Young Allies notice and follow, they are attacked by a robot and, while distracted, Rick and Jeff (of the Young Allies) are abducted.

Captain America #112: Jeff helps Rick escape from Hydra, but cannot get away himself. Rick contacts Cap and the other Young Allies, still out looking for him, and Cap wonders about how he was thinking of making Rick is partner, but now if Bucky is really back….The trail after Jeff leads out west and, after rendezvousing with Rick, they head into a place called the Wild Area, where the Outsiders live, and Cap briefly fights their leader, Yango, before Hydra agents arrive and attack.