Why Power Questers Should Be Outlawed, Reason #131313

Donovan (left) and Molly Fagan. Dono: "Aren't the Mercenaries of Krov supposed to be intimidating?!"

While investigating the damages from last week, the adventurers found a “mystical portal-rift-of-destruction-thingy.” Deciding that this might be something far beyond their power and help, they decided to take advice from Gary, a strange eccentric man with some kind of reflective greyish hat. Hearing his strange theories about some “new world order,” the adventurers went to investigate someone they had suspicions about who may-or-may-not have been involved with this “new world order.” This man was none other than Baron Ashcroft, one of King Pellinore's distant relative!

As the Baron listened to the Power Questers and their assumptions, he waved them away and pleaded innocence.

“I am not associated with this order of which you speak, but you are delaying my dinner!” However, the Baron, being oh-so-very-polite, did inform them about a Howler named Shiro, who was described only as “faceless. No, not like a shapeshifter, or wearing a mask. The OTHER kind of faceless.” Finding no leads besides this name, the seven adventurers searched the local library, just a few miles away from the Baron's marvelous estate. Sadly, the librarian had never heard of such a man, and was frankly disgusted by the description. As the conversation ended, a caravan of four Adamantium Guard parked outside the library. Before they could reach the door, an unseen archer took down the lead Guard as his accomplices were revealed to be hired Krov Mercenaries! After a small battle, the Krov were captured and held for questioning about this “Shiro” person. They only gave the questers one hint: a secret meeting in the Central Graveyard of Solaris, where the ancient Costello and Bartholomew families were buried.

Within the Bartholomew mausoleum, a chained up vampire was resting within his sealed coffin. From what he could hear outside, the vampire claimed to have heard about a meeting within the crematorium just on the outskirts of the Central Graveyard. Not wanting to be seen or heard, the questers set up an ambush, and disguised themselves as one of the Krov. As always with these power questers, one small mistake lead to their spotting! The crematorium's flames roared and bellowed around them as swords and sorcery flew about the room! The Krov at this meeting held no information about Shiro's current location, but he reported seeing a man in a tunic quickly move between the tombstones on the northeast side. At last, a valuable clue! The tunic had snagged slightly on one tombstone, leaving a square of cloth from Tsaidam, the capital city of The Empire of the Seven Stars.

Getting in to Tsaidam was easy. Getting out, not so much. While in Tsaidam, the seven questers investigated a local sushi shop that was ran by a family where each member was missing a pinky finger. Suspicious! Behind the counter was a trap door, leading into a dark hallway that several Krov were guarding. As the questers moved through various traps, an eruption of pure magic occurred in the hallway in front of them, creating a hole straight to the surface! Tragically, this was right below a popular local tea house. Seeing this explosion, a nearby disguised Krov dropped his jaw and threw his hands straight up and walked away. “I quit. I'm out.” Hearing the name Shiro, this Krov pointed a finger towards the Summerlands and kept walking.

Ladies and gentlemen, as I am not an elf, I was not allowed to follow the Power Questers inside, although from the sound of things, they are very close to catching this mysterious, faceless Howler

named Shiro! I hope all goes well for these brave adventurers.

Tune in next week for “Why Power Questers Should Be Outlawed, Reason #131314!”

Labyrinth of Vex

The Quest Leader, Sam Tracy, attacks Alanis from the Penumbra!

As reported by Sammuel Tracy, Quest Leader, mid-quest

Questers: Eli, James, Graham, Max, Luke, and Alanis

This week, the Questers braved the dangers and excitement of the Under-City to answer the summons of the Naga. There, in the pile of ruins and rubble, they received a mission to delve deep under the earth into the terrifying Penumbra in search of a mythical Labyrinth of Vex said to hold a shadowy portal at its heart that must be destroyed at all costs- the price of failure could spell doom for all of Thael!

The Questers were accompanied by Ma’iq, a simple but stalwart guide that knows the treacherous paths of the Penumbra, the Questers discovered that the Naga were spying on them through Ma’iq via Scrying spells and quickly rescued their new friend from the shadowy influence of his Scaly Overseers.

The Road to the Labyrinth was long and frought with danger. All manner of creatures and traps met the Questers at every turn, but at long last they persevered and found their way to the gates of the Labyrinth. Once there, they faced a formidable force of Minotaurs that patrol the paths of the Labyrinth to this very day. The Questers emerged victorious after a short but epic struggle and have delved through many levels of the increasingly deadly Labyrinth in search of the Portal- though they have yet to find it, and time is running out.

The Time Realm Revealed!

Notes from the Phoenix Overnight Quest, 2014.

It began with an archaeological dig, headed by Firos of the ATLAS Society and Lykar ("Lenny") of the College of All Magic. At the site of the old Seer College, a Time Gate was discovered, and the Seer Ruins were uncovered to explore. Soon, the entire College of All Magic was interested in researching the lost art of Time Magic. Powerful "Time Keys" were found that seemed to come in and out of existence.

More importantly, the archmages were able to scry upon eight Time Artifacts that were possibly needed to further unlock the Time Gate. These Time Artifacts were lost and scattered, and when the archmages contacted the current owners, it was a surprise to everyone. The organizations that had the artifacts were seemingly random: House Phoenix of the Empire, the Adamantium Guard, the Sable Dominion, the Brown Rangers from the Sun-on-the-Sands, the Mercenaries of Krov, the order of the Heralds Arcanos from the College, the Snake Eyes crew of pirates from Black Bart's crew, and finally, a group of spies that no one realized were spies, masquerading as dignitaries from the Sidhe Court of the Summerlands.

Within hours of the different organizations' arrival, the archmages were hit with disaster - they were frozen in time, seemingly the work of a mysterious being that could bend time to its will. The delegates from the organizations decided to delve into the depths of the ruins to find more Time Keys in the hopes that they could unlock the archmages from the Time Stop.

During their excavation and investigation, the Questers put the pieces of the mystery together: the mysterious being was "Konig Zeit" - a villain of the Mage Wars who was able to learn the secrets to Time Magic. Now, appearing from the past, he wanted back the Time Artifacts that he crafted. When the Questers realized that each of the Time Portals that seemingly took them back in time were really Time Pockets, they realized that Zeit could only exist in a Time Pocket. If they could unlock the power of the Time Gate and send his Time Artifacts into a collapsed Time Pocket, they could defeat this villain. In a final battle where they battled Zeit's incarnations from many different times, every organization used the Time Artifacts to first battle with Zeit and then destroy it by sending it through the Time Gate. The archmages, the Risen Lands, and perhaps all of Thael is saved!

Nightmares of the Yarn Girl

In a wheat field in the middle of nowhere, a group of adventurers met a man named Jack. Jack asked them to travel to the City of Gems and open up a new branch of his inn to expand his business. He sent them down a long, twisting, dark tunnel, which eventually opened up in a desert, where the sand was toxic. One touch and the poison would engulf anything it came in contact with, rendering it useless. Using elemental magic, they were able to construct a dirt bridge, and use that to navigate their way across. Once they had safely journeyed over the desert, they were attacked! Giant sand monstrosities emerged from the ground, and they were very strong. The Questers were hard pressed to defend themselves until all were unconscious, except one. He had turned into a mosquito. When the danger subsided, he healed his friends and they continued on their way.

They stumbled upon a tree grove where they were stopped by the trees themselves. The Questers came to an agreement with them that ensured them safe passage by, as long as they healed one of the trees in the grove, that had previously been injured. Once their end of the bargain was fulfilled, they were able to move on. They walked a ways until they were standing at the edge of a cliff, that guarded a moat, and in the center was the City of Gems.

In the moat was a shark, but this was no normal shark. He was the size of a leviathan! The group was unable to get across without being put in harms way. With caution and stealth, one of the heroes managed to transform the shark into a pea, allowing the group to move on into the city below.

When they arrived, they noticed immediate chaos. Gnome-Doll creations were rampaging the entire area. While looking at the damage, they got ambushed by a mass of live, terrifying rag dolls. Instead of fighting, the Questers summoned up two very powerful essentials: one Chaos and one Life. Together they fought off the rag dolls!

They made their way through the destroyed city and went directly into the palace. Inside, they encountered many traps, including one with strange kittens set to guard a door. The kittens would not let anyone pass, until their riddle was answered. The adventurers gave the correct answer, and all moved through the hardships successfully. Next, they walked into a throne room, and in the center was a girl who was sewn to the throne. They tried everything, but were unable to remove the girl because the thread that was strengthened by magic. As they were about to leave, the girl whispered to them telepathically. "Don't leave me!" it thought.

The adventurers realized that the girl was using telepathic communication and decided to give it another try. They attached wheels to the throne chair and pulled the girl along with them. Following her gaze, they returned to the town's center where they found an old building. Thinking that this was a crazy mission from the beginning, they decided that Jack's inn should be located in the old building. At that moment, Jack reappeared right inside and the entire group passed out.

Each of them, while still asleep, saw a story play out in their minds. They saw a young girl named Gwen and her older sister, Queen Eleanor. There were eight different dreams, all in different stages of their lives. During each one, Gwen would ask her sister to come and play, and each time Eleanor would refuse. The final vision of Gwen showed a gnome coming to visit. Still wanting someone to play with, Gwen asked the gnome if he would come play with her. He agreed! Blinded by excitement, Gwen let the gnome bring her down a dark stairwell, where there was an old woman sewing. Without hesitation, she pulled her needle out, attacking poor Gwen, while muttering the entire time about how she would use her to rule the world. When it was done, what used to be Gwen was transformed a doll!

The Questers awoke with a pain in their necks. They also noticed that the city looked completely different. It was underground, due to it's need to protect itself from outside harm. To avoid being stuck in this raging city, the Questers left, still bringing Gwen along with them. The moment they were back in the outside world, they noticed something very out of place. Many things, actually. The whole world was slowly morphing into yarn.

It did not take long for the heroes to realize this yarn was very dangerous. On their way, they encountered the same kittens as before, guarding yet another door. Only this time, the kittens were not friendly.

As it turns out, they were antibodies, created to adapt to their enemies' powers, and then use the power against them. Originally, the kittens were crafted to fight off the yarn only, but were now learning the Questers powers and attacking them as well!

To be continued...!