[Taocow PBEM] Book 3 - Chapter XVII - Return to Hoburn Hill

Aaron Clausen mightymartianca at gmail.com
Tue Mar 10 22:29:39 UTC 2015


>> [GM]
>> The navigator finds a ley line heading eastward. It is a smaller like
that
>> should avoid any major nexus points, and hopefully anyone seeking to
follow
>> them. Night slips over the company and then they can clearly see the
glow of
>> the ruins.
>>
>> Captain Neeson shakes her head, some worry on her face. "Those are the
Ghost
>> Lights of Liverman. Some of the light is the nexus points, some of it is
>> lingering radiation, and some of it, well if the tales are to be
believed,
>> are permanently opened rifts; gateways created during the dark days of
the
>> Apocalypse by the first great sorcerers of the new age; gates to
unimagined
>> hells."
>>
>> "What they usually mean," the navigator interjects, "is intense ley line
>> activity, which makes sailing on a ley line, even a minor one, dangerous.
>> I've seen this glow a few times, but never this bright. And the ozone,
it is
>> getting stronger."
>>
>> As the navigator speaks, everyone can smell the sharp odour of ozone, and
>> those sensitive to it can feel the growing tingling sensation. A ley line
>> storm is brewing.
>>
>> The area they are entering is hilly, and the ruins themselves are out of
>> sight, though the glow is not. A few bluish bolts of lightening flash in
the
>> sky, and the ship trembles slightly at the energies coursing down the ley
>> line.
>>
>> "We can try to outrun the storm," the Captain says, "or we can take the
ship
>> off the ley line and hunker down around here."
>>
>> It is reasonably sheltered. A few houses remain, half fallen down, but
large
>> and well built to have lasted through these centuries. They look to have
>> been mansions, so perhaps this was a suburb of the great city, an escape
and
>> retreat for its wealthier citizens.
>> [/GM]

> [Alex]
> "I am a soldier and scout, I certainly do not feel confident enough in
the ability to
> just the best course of actions. I certainly do not want to get caught in
a magical
> storm however," Alex responds.
>
> She looks over at Vesper, "You know far more about magic than I do, what
do
> you think." Does light up slightly speaking to him. At heart, she is more
than a
> bit of a romantic.
> [/Alex]

> [Vesper]
> Vesper nods to Alex, "Yes we should avoid the storm as much as possible.
It
> looks to be a ley line storm and since this is a magical vessel we should
if it is
> possible take it off the line and land someplace sheltered from it. I
have seen
> storms like this before. Lightning is drawn to magic and magical craft and
> items. If we stay on the line we risk getting rifted or worse." He looked
to Oz,
> "These storms are natural though on occasion happen when someone or thing
> is trying to harness a nexus. I can't tell what the case is but I will
alert
> everyone the moment I sense a rift open in that mess."
> [/Vesper]

> [Oz]
> Oz nods. "I bow to your superior knowledge. If you say we should go off
the
> line, we go off the line." He nods to the Captain. "Find us a good place
to
> hide, Captain."
> [/Oz]

[GM]
The Captain nods and begins commanding the crew to prepare to detach from
the ley line. The ship's large PPE batteries fire up and the ship gently
glides away from the ley line. Captain Neeson selects a wooded area between
two large and still reasonably intact buildings, great white Corinthian
columns glowing blue with the mystical light. The craft gently sets down on
the ground, about two thousand feet off the ley line.

The sergeant turns to Oz. "Sir, with permission, we'll set out a secure
perimeter. Not so much as a squirrel will get near the ship." The crew are
organized into watches. Neeson makes sure that they compliment the New
Camelot soldiers in keeping an eye on things.

As the night deepens, the storm grows more intense, putting on an
incredible light show. Blue fork lightning strikes the ley line, and it
steadily grows in size, until its at least three or four times its previous
diameter. The air tingles with mystical energy, and one of the psychics, a
young red-haired fellow named Brandon, amuses his crewmates by using
telekinesis to fire a metal ball at a nearby tree, taking great gouges out
of it with each strike, until the erratic nature of the mystical energy
turns the ball around and plunges into the deck of the ship at about two
hundred miles an hour.

Jacek and a few of his mercenaries take their turn at guarding the security
perimeter around 3AM, as the storm is hitting its peak. The wind is blowing
out from the ruins at nearly 100mph, bringing with it a warm rain and odd,
alien smells.
[/GM]

[Louissa]
Louissa, who hasn't been able to get any sleep, finally rolls over and
tells Ted and the rest of her companions "I'm going with Jacek on watch."
She grabs her gear and heads outside.
[/Louissa]

OOC: If anyone wants to go with her, they're welcome to, though maybe they
want to get some sleep. The following is for anybody that follows Louissa.

[GM]
Jacek sets his men to manning the part of the perimeter closest to the
hills dividing the ruins from this suburb. He sets a dozen men in squads of
three to patrol the area, including one of the the ruined mansions. No one
is permitted to be out of earshot, and everyone has their radios set to the
same encoded frequencies as the soldiers and the crew of the ship.

Louissa is assigned to the company that is closest to the mansion. It is a
magnificent building, and it is a credit to its builders that centuries
exposed to the elements; mystical and natural, have not toppled it. Its
columns stand fifty feet high, holding up a great roof that at first
appears to be stone, but is in fact some sort of decorated and molded
megadamage material. The windows, though clear, cannot be made of any
normal kind of glass, because the remain intact. Still, the doors were long
ago pushed or blown down, and what can be seen on the inside is generations
of squatters; fire pits, piles of refuse, animal bones and the like. Jacek
does not permit anyone inside the building, fearing at the very least it
could be unstable, and at worst it could be home to some menace.

As the night wanes, there is no sign of any danger. The winds are beginning
to die down, the rain continues, but is now normal cold February rain.
Jacek is preparing to end his team's watch and pass it on to the next group
when someone observes "Where is the Lady Louissa?"
[/GM]

OOC: Anybody left in the ship is woken up.

[GM]
Someone wakes the rest of the company up, indeed the whole ship. "We have a
man missing! It is the Lady Louissa! No one knows where she is.
[/GM]

OOC: I'm attaching a rough map of the area.

-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com

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