Pages

The World of Georic 1989-Present

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Ballad of the Pigeon God #26 (Talislanta) Getting Back is Half the Trip

2nd of Laedis, 151 N.A. Pleasure House of Duane Alberhold, Cymril
After Kannex the Wizard recovered from his fainting spell, he almost instantly returned to his jovial demeanor.

Everything was finally set.  The components, the accelerants, the amplifiers, and the stabilizers were all set.  To transport the entire building and everyone in it back to Hydincall, he would take days to prepare the grounds.  Some of the ritual designs needed to be placed under the house, so digging started immediately.  

9th of Laedis, 151 N.A. Pleasure House of Duane Alberhold, Cymril
At breakfast, Duane handed the following letter to Rolf Wolfsblood.  

Dear Rolf, 
I have very much enjoyed our time together on this world of Talislanta.  You are a fantastic warrior and great ally, but I fear reliance on Kannex to get you home has made you easily distracted   I know you have tried to be part of the Thrall families to hone your warrior spirit, but do not forget your adventuring family, which got you where you are today, for better or for worse.  

By the time you have read this letter, I have finally made contact with my patron and have left to where I need to be.   I wish I could take all of you with me, but there is only space for my possessions, including the four gruffans, my little pony, and Quaally.  I wish my transport was much bigger on the inside.

I shall see you again, Rolf.  I just don't know where and don't know when.

-Norm Dingleberry

14th of Laedis, 151 N.A. Pleasure House of Duane Alberhold, Cymril
After twelve days of prepping, the grounds around the brothel were finally complete.   Duane hosted one last evening for their clients and many went in Cymril to purchase various items: from trinkets to oddities to commodities to resell back in Crosedes.

Our four remaining heroes, Rolf, Ashe, Babette, and Kane helped Kannex double and triple check the ritual.  Rolf stayed on the porch while the rest funneled into the brothel, so he could thank Kannex in private...

"...if this works, of course."

With the barbarian sitting on a chair on the porch, staring at the wizard intently, Kannex began the ritual. There were lights, glowing auras, and sounds no one had ever experienced before.   As the wizard continued his incantation, a round portal appeared, exactly as he showed them previously, except this one began to grow in size.  As it reached the peaks of the roof, the portal turned over onto itself, then arched over the brothel.  Finally a haze of familiar green smoke poured from the base of the building and obscured everything as the portal flipped again and moved down towards the ground.


Rolf woke up with a face full of sand on a deserted beach.  He never seen any body of water larger than a lake, so he assumed the endless expanse of water in front of him was an ocean.  His weapons and a few key belongings he had kept to his side during the ritual, were still with him.

He stumbled off the beach, and after a few hours of wandering, found a small village.  He walked into the local inn, threw some of the oversized gold lumens on the bar and demanded, "A Mead, an ale, and how far is it to Hydincall?"

Five Days Later, Hydincall, Kingdom of Crosedes
Rolf entered Hydincall with just a nip in the air.  He would need furs soon enough, but for now it was still far warmer than a Fall on the steppes.

He found the brothel, exactly where it should be.

The Brothel.... Back in Hydincall
Inside the brothel, wine was flowing freely for everyone.  Some of the girls were showing off their trinkets, like it had been a long vacation and they grabbed souvenirs on the way home.

Finally, one of the girls looked over toward Rolf at the door and gasped.

The room fell silent.

Rolf stared out into the crowd. Taking a deep breath he pulled out his Thrall greatsword and uttered only three words:

"Where.... are.... they?"

DM Notes: There you have it, the Talislanta Summer Arc/Campaign.  Pretty routine adventures culminating in the dramatic return of the group to the larger party.  Except very, very little of this scenario transpired at the gaming table.  Norm did disappear the same way he showed up, although claims of a blue privy appearing near the brothel can not be substantiated.  

Since this concluded in the Summer of '99, I haven't run a Talislanta game since, and that's a shame.  The system is smooth, the magic system allows for great power... with chances of catastrophic disaster, and I would definitely run it more Conan style than I would two decades ago.  

Now, Rolf and the Brothel appear to be back in Crosedes... but where is everyone else?

You're going to have to wait on those answers, as we turn towards those adventurers who didn't travel to Talislanta.  Time to synch up the timelines and get back to full sessions very soon.

Next #27 - Talis Makolin - EXPOSED!

No comments:

Post a Comment