Here is my picture of the party who first explored the grounds of the abandoned mansion 2015-03-24. Caption the Picture, Left To Right: Mitel the Elf Archer NPC. Short even for an elf, he wears a hand-carved wooden bracelet, hand-made bow, handcrafted arrows, ceremonial clothes of the elf moonbow goddess Sehanine. Ned The Gardner Human NPC, he carries a scythe (for thrashing overgrown grass at the mansion) and a spade. Jade was suspicious of Ned from the start, Airen wondered if Ned might be a shapechanged form of the winged roof-cat, and Kryikh suspects Ned of using the party to gain entry to the mansion. Kryikh the Kenku Transmuter Mage PC, with feather colors of Western Scrub Jay, he communicates best by telepathy. Jaxon Cleric Of Zeus Human NPC, he has an electrical energy about him, reveres Greek Gods and studies lightning, and helped to revive and carry Kryikh back to the Greek church after Kryikh was struck by lightning flying above the mansion grounds. Fergel the Leprechaun Ninja NPC, just about 2 feet tall, he carries a shillelagh, and wears a mask hiding his beardless little face. He has a lucky clover tucked into the band of his bowler hat. This wee fellow was initially charmed by Kryikh in the St. Patrick's Day quest. Jade the Rakasta Catfolk Ninja Woman PC, she looks like a bipedal black cat. A pair of ninja-to swords are accessible at her back. On her hands she straps vicious claw weapons for slashing. Around her waist, the last ninja-training belt awarded by her missing teacher and Master. Airen the Bullywug Conjurer Mage PC, stands near 7-feet tall, an upright frog-man, he is more intelligent and reasonable than most members of the bullywug species, and has discovered he has magical powers of summoning and conjuration. He carries a spear, and has a knife strapped to his leg, but otherwise nearly unclothed. He sometimes has a leaf-shade device strapped to his back, but I didn't put it in the picture... presumably his shade-leaf was battered in the recent winds around the mansion and boating there. Next, DM responds to the latest Player journals, Note: You can change the words in the parentheses if you want more or different summary. The point is to put a description of what that XP was from. Chris put something like this on your character BIO Tab in the Experience Points section, +250 XP (Airen Journal of March 24 session going to abandoned manor house) NOW AT _______ (Tally your total XP to date) <<<< Also, remember Airen learned a new spell, Find Familiar, and we are going to talk about the scope-range of Familiar northern-swamp animals who might come to your call if you cast this one-time spell. I want to get your ideas and hopes in a list, but have some flexibility for a DM-decision or a randomized roll in the spirit of the spell description, but modified for this particular homebrew. Having a Familiar is a really neat, special bond, it's pretty weird too, and can give you some new abilities and roleplaying bits too. It's more than a pet, and it's different from your Mount (giant lizard). It's more of a magical, mental connection with the animal, almost a psychic connection, like best-friends-forever-pet. Gray put something like this on your character BIO Tab in the Experience Points section, +250 XP (Kryikh Journal of March 24 session going to abandoned manor house, got struck by lightning, lost flying ability) NOW AT _______ (Tally your total XP to date) <<<< While recuperating, Kryikh grilled Jaxon and his fellow priests on anything they knew about supernatural lightning, any theories they may have about what is happening with the strange weather patterns around the mansion. Responses varied. Jaxon insists it was clearly NOT Zeusian. "Zeus would not have a near-miss if he was trying to strike you down. He would electrify your heart not break your wing." Jaxon says "it seemed like a real lightning storm that formed suddenly in a concentrated area, and something about it seemed odd." He wants to return to the site to observe and study it more. Some other monks, priests, and lay-persons in the Greek church, are still fascinated, saying "it is a SIGN from Zeus but not an attack." Many feel it is a warning sign to stay away from that particular property, solidifying their self-satisfaction in the chosen location of the town of Portlandio and their prominent church building. Others feel it is a cleansing sign, Zeus wiping away the sins of that particular area of coastline, bringing holiness to the area. Some question whether Jaxon was qualified to assess the situation (basically saying "Oh he's just a first level cleric, he can't read the signs from Zeus like we cloistered monks can"). Some of the lower priest assistants started calling Kryikh "He who flies through lightning", they say "Petaxi mesa apo Keravno!" in a complimentary-affectionate-honorary Greek nickname πετάξει μέσα από κεραυνό It effectively means "He Who Flies Through Lightning". Pronunciation: petáxei mésa apó kerav̱nó PETAXI MESA APO KERAVNO Note: This might be terrible Greek, it's fantasy Greek, and I used Google Translate. No one around the church seems to believe there is simply bad weather on that stretch of coast. Only atheists and non-believers outside on the streets will say such dismissive statements as "Oh that's just the weather. What can you do? Bad weather on the coast. The ocean brings it in. Don't go outside in a storm unless you want to risk getting hit by lightning. Sounds like a normal event to me." Kryikh's Weather-Sense told you that it was natural electricity (not a magical bolt) , and it was a true lightning strike generated by the weather. But, the big but, you're fairly sure there is no natural way that such a thunderhead would have formed in that exact spot, at that exact minute, with such concentrated and directed energy, as quickly as it did. So it was a true storm, but appeared unnaturally suddenly and focused on a particular geographical ground-area. Weird, right? Kinda freaky. Like you got sent your own personal stormcloud. Additionally Kryikh remembers that there were some powerful Kenku back in your home region (near the gang-hit town of Alta, near the end of the Dragon Run where the river meets the coast), who were able to stimulate the clouds into forming a lightning strike. It took great effort, and years of training, but you have personally been in the same roost as a powerful kenku who was said to have the ability to call lightning strikes by seeding the clouds in a certain way. You never actually saw them do it, but it is known by reputation within the kenku culture where you came from. Next game time: 12 hours from now! Battalia , window is still open to post up Jade's thoughts about last week if you have time to type something up.
