Squallings of Ghostman

DM10 Followup

2011-11-22T12:23:00.001-08:00

A few questions in the comments - I hope these are helpful:

Anonymoussaid...: With midi note editing...you are saying that the hi hat and ride can not be changed using VST's? So the hi hat and ride would be factory sounds while every other drum/cymbal could be vst? Thanks!
My Answer: The sounds would still come from the DST. They may not be the sounds you want, because you cannot edit the MIDI note. You have to change the DST to respond to the MIDI note you are sending with the sound you want - remap the DST essentially. Or, in my case, the MIDI notes happen to be correct (thank you standard note numbers) and it's not a big deal. Anonymoussaid...: Hello, and nice review! Very helpful. I do have a question though. Can the inputs be assigned to any and all drum sounds? I play a 'hybrid' kit, with real cymbals, and muted acoustic drums with triggers on them, so I don't need cymbal sounds from the module. I noticed that the inputs are labeled, and I wondered if I would have any issues by plugging tom triggers into the inputs labeled for cymbals.

My Answer:
For the most part, yes, an input is an input. and you can edit whatever port you want to handle signal however you want. The labels are merely for ease of use when setting up a standard kit setup. Some cymbal ports are single-zone, not dual - like the hi-hat and the #7 main crash. The Ride is 3 zone, but you can set it up as 2 zone, and get another aux port..

Portland Juggling Festival 2011

2011-10-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Geez, is this my fourth year, or fifth? Fifth.. I just went back and checked some older blog postings.. (I know I am a cheater..) This year I was, once again, Gym Coordinator. I let the Late Night Czar job go as late nights and early mornings are a bad combo for me. Gym Coordinator means to set up the gym(s) before the fest starts, and clean it up after the fest ends. And I get 2 grunts to help - usually I have my friends help. This year, I got two friends from Sacramento who have been to the Fest before - even stayed at our house. (I would have offered them a place to stay, but our house is in a major state of upheaval remodeling wise right now..) And Late Night Czar requires me to stay up until 2am, then kick jugglers out of the gym - which is like herding cats with a laser pointer that won't shut off. So, I shunted the late night gig, and was just the Gym Coordinator.

Friday
Gym setup goes great, 2 of the 3 vendors are setup and in place, and the potluck dinner goes on later (outside). Friday generally flies along well, I get some passing in with folks, work on my 5 ball (still...) and learn a few new tricks, too. Then off to the Friday night Renegade show, the show and tell for jugglers. With drinking.

Renegade Show
New high or a new low, I am thinking a new low. There's always some risque acts (unicycle stripping comes to mind..) and drinking and sometimes one or two things get a little out of hand, but this year, the show went on a stripping tangent like no other show I'd seen before - drunk jugglers just stripping to strip with no act behind it. But there were some good acts, like Luke's screen show of the names of tricks, every throw was in sequence and called out. The balloon 'muscle man' was hilarious - a balloon 'animal' of a man; it could be manipulated. 'Nuff said. Those are the things that immediately pop out in my head, but I am sure there were other things I laughed a lot at, but hey, if you want a full experience, you gotta come.

Saturday
Got in a bit late - I should be there by 10:00 am or slightly before.. I get there at like 10:15. No biggie, the gym is in full swing with a lot of folks already starting their day. I go to a beginning 3-ball juggling so that I can learn new teaching techniques. I usually run the 'beginner corner', so any helpful teaching bits I can use are great. I also attend a 5 ball workshop, which I learned one or two more things to get me back on track to improving instead of the crap I've been trying. I want to go to a club passing workshop, but I never made it to one.. I spent a lot of time working with a few beginners (all a little older than I - so it's never too late to start folks!).

Saturday Show
The show this year is on the Reed Campus instead of a few miles away - I thought this was great, as I don't need to trek a few miles away and find parking. I just need to shoo jugglers from the gym, call security to lock up, and walk up the hill to the building next door. I see a few friends in the lower chairs, but I decide I want to go up and get a view that is above the stage more. There's a lot of chairs on the main floor with what I consider a pretty poor view, so I want to get a better view, looking down. Other than the complaining / whining kids next to me, the seat was good. One of the better acts was a guy in a checkered outfit who managed to get a kid to stand still and hold a stick with spinning plate and spinning ball. Rhys and Charlie were fun, as usual. Leapin' Louie did the best act I've ever seen him do, and Sarah Liane Foster did a clown bit with a trombone that hit my funny bone. The hosts opened with a great co-op club juggling act (they're from Colorado!) and kept the show moving well.

Sunday
Day #3, and I worked on 5 balls, club backcrosses (getting pretty good at them!), club overhead tosses, and starting the club backcross with my left hand. Passed with a gal (Cindy) from San Fransisco, we had a lot of fun. I attended Kricket's stilt-walking workshop and managed a 3 ball cascade while on stilts. After cleaning up, getting the vendor's out and generally picking up and collecting for 'lost and lost' I loaded up my truck and went to Rhys & Maria's for the volunteer thank you party. Drink, eat and be merry.

Next year, I think I want to work on the public show in some way - stage hand, green room, something like that. and maybe I'll be better at 5 ball.

Savage Worlds in spaaaaaaaaace!

2011-09-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

I think this post will be a lot of Savage bits, but the recent space stuff took hold of the title. That, and I liked the Muppet Show.

Mercenary Breed
Recently, I had the opportunity to playtest a new space opera 'mini-setting' called 'Mercenary Breed'. The short pitch is that your characters are an alien band of mercenaries, and it seems to me that the designer meant the more alien, the better. But keep 'em humanoid, or create edges / weapons for unique body structures. When I first read the blurb about it, I thought "Space Opera, mercenaries, hmmm.. Firefly with a bit more machismo." Not that I thought that this would be something I'd really want to play over and over, but I am always interested in source materials that might enhance another game someday. So, I got one of the 6 slots and got 2 groups together to playtest this thing.

First, alien creation - we got some real creative races (A Dargo-like alien from Farscpe) and not-so-creative races. (My friend tells me about his dark, brooding alien race, and I comment, "so, how is this not a Drow?". "Shit," he says. But we played him anyway.)

Reading through the source materials for the playtest, I admit I wasn't as thorough as I probably should have been, but neither were most of my players. We got caught up on a particular line of "Law enforcement is 95% effective". This was posted in comments to the authors, and I got back some clarification that we somehow linked this line from a PLANET description and we unabashedly applied that to the planetary SYSTEM. Oooops. So we were basically a little lost thinking that if law is that effective, what are mercs for? Well, we'll slide that bit o' info under the rug and move on to the adventure.

Space infestation of a bug race. Kind of a fun scenario but my first group were ill-equipped and struggled with the swarms, but making use of some creative weaponry, they managed ok. Swarms in Savage Worlds are both fun and annoying, they swarm over an opponent and don't even have to roll a 'to-hit', just start with straight damage, and, oh yeah, ignore armor because the swarm is in your clothing biting precious bits of your, ahem, self. Eventually, they meet the big bad bug, and fight it out. Then the adventure ends there, all happy and done. I decided to have the aliens have another ship show up so we could test the 'Chase rules' that Savage Worlds provides.

So, I guess this is turning into a review. What did I think? I think that the sandbox might be too big, but I think that the right group could have a LOT of fun with making aliens and forming a mercenary group, and having a lot of firefight action. If you have a group that wants high-action, fights and imagination, this might be up your alley.

The developers are going to continue creating content for this setting, so the source material will only expand, I think that's a great thing, an ever expanding universe.

Savage Space 1.0
Right after this playtest of Mercenary Breed, I ran across an announcement for this Savage Space generic source / setting. I thought it was funny that I found 2 space opera sources within weeks of each other, and since the SS1.0 was a FREE download, I snagged it and browsed it. This has more stuff, and less setting, but I felt it was meatier and fit what I was looking for in a space setting / source material.

Gear - it defined some great setting weapons, armor, cyberwear and gadgets.
Ship as a Character - the Serenity RPG had this concept, the ship as a character, and this setting had some guidelines on how to go about using this as a feature in your game. These include skills, stats, equipment and even ship Edges and Hindrances.
Random adventure generator - always a plus to get the creative juices going.
New Edges & Hindrances - One beef I had with Mercenary Breed was the new skills - they were basically just Knowledge skills that didn't need making. This setting did a little better - they brought up good Knowledge skills, and 'futureized' other skills. Lockpicking is security, healing is medicine, etc. It wasn't necessary, healing would still work, and most players/GM's would apply Lockpicking in the future to electronic locks and such, but I think that if you DON'T do this, you'll get some pin-headed goofball saying that lock-picking won't work on a card-reader, wahhhhh. I digress.
One of the BEST indexes I've seen recently in an RPG.

47 pages of goodness, free and pretty cool. If you want to run Star Trek, FireFly or even a Traveller game, check this out.

I think my next blog will be more Savage Worlds goodness - Savage Worlds Deluxe and the Savage Insider fan magazine.

Patrick Rothfuss book signing

2011-07-18T15:38:00.000-07:00

While in Brooklyn for work, Meran asked me to get to a book signing for her newest found author; Patrick Rothfuss. I was tasked because when he was in Portland, she hadn't heard of him yet. A co-worker and I braved the crowds (not too bad) and stood in line for about 2 hours.

Kelly took the photos, I was mostly unaware of it, although I should have known better.

Distractions!

Making sure he spells Meran's name correctly.

Since then, I've read both of his books that he signed that day. I liked them a lot.
The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear. Some of the best new fantasy I've read in years!

Brooklyn Bridge

2011-07-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

All my gaming blogs are up to date, and I'm not blogging anything. I feel I haven't done anything important enough. Well, I walked the Brooklyn Bridge this week. I've been in NYC on a contract for a while now (generally traveling every-other week..) and I've not said word one about my adventures.. Not that I've had many, mostly restaurants and work. I've managed to find a juggling group and a gaming group for my time during the week. I think that these pictures of my trip across the Brooklyn Bridge are pretty cool, even if they are from my Droid camera. Tim had a better camera, and I might update some photos when I get a copy of those.

We started from our hotel in Brooklyn, I didn't start taking pictures until about halfway across.

Half way across the bridge, looking back at Brooklyn. The pedestrian walkway is above where the cars are, so its a really nice walk. There were a lot of bicycles, but the walkers and the bikes have separate lanes.

Looking towards Manhattan, the bridge is under some maintenance, so the metal sides were there for some of the walk.

These arches are great!

Looking towards the south side of Manhattan.

Looking at the Manhattan Bridge.

I am sure someone knows what that building is.

More of the Manhattan bridge.

Arches up close!

Again!

This building is cool: all the metal is twisty and interesting. This is to the left as we were reaching the end of the bridge in Manhattan.

That's it. the bridge is 1.3 miles long, and with all of our exploring on the Manhattan side, we probably walked 4-5 miles. And overdid dinner.

Thieves' World - Black Snake Dawn

2011-04-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

“Dearest Kalima, The Palace continues to be a hotbed of activity. I've recently learned that as soon as the Beysib were spotted in the ocean a few weeks ago, a Ranken noble, Raiden Sa Velle, was brought to Sanctuary to discuss how Sanctuary may access a number of his mercenaries for hire. The Prince-Governor paid a substantial sum for this man and family to come to Sanctuary for the business dealings. The past few days have soured the relationship and the Sa Velle's have left the Palace and have taken up temporary residence at the Golden Oasis. The daughter, Jenna, has gone missing, as of the previous night. Sa Velle is crying foul play, and demands that the Prince do something to find his daughter, return her safely and to compensate for his worry and heartache. From what I know of these sordid people, the kidnapping may be true – by whom I could not guess – but the retribution demand is a just a play for some extra coin; no doubt to spend on the Street of Red Lanterns or similar pursuits. However, this does open up an opportunity for you and your friends. Molin Torchholder has been tasked with the return of Jenna and plans that between your past successful work for him in the past, and the current misunderstanding, as he puts it, with your friends, a deal can surely be negotiated. I believe he means to clear all of your names in return for a satisfactory investigation into this girl Jenna. Please take this note and the accompanying mark of Molin Torchholder and visit with him as soon as you can. Good luck, and I hope this leads to better days in the very near future; Sabellia knows Sanctuary can use some light in these dark times.”

Kalima shares the letter with her friends, and a quick decision is made that, as usual, things are not optimal, but this might be a solution, as dubious as it sounds. Preparing for a long night, the Group sets out for Torchholder's luxurious accommodations in the Temple of Vashanka.
At the Processional, Modig is immediately recognized and an arrest is made. Jack and Kalima get the guards to listen to them, and quickly present the Marque from Molin Torchholder. This results in an armed escort to the Temple of Vashanka and direct confirmation from Torchholder himself. Grumbling, the over zealous guards leave the Group in Molin's greeting room.
Molin essentially repeats what Sequina's letter has already told them, but without some of the personal observations. The Group works out a complete pardon for Olric and Modig, as well as a guard harassment cease-and-desist for Jack, Malkar, Kalima and Gagino. Torchholder agrees that if they find the girl, dead or alive, these particular woes will be overcome.

The Group asks few questions of Molin, and are interested in getting this over with. Molin gives them individual medallions that will keep the guards from arresting them in the near future, and the group decides to get to the Golden Oasis as soon as possible. They are turned away at the door for not having the 'proper attire' and are referred to a clothing shop down the street.

An hour or so later, and quite a bit of shabooza lighter, entrance to the dining room is attained. When asked, the serving girls talk about the Sa Velles, and a young man is pointed out in the room. It is Jerome, the son of Raiden and the brother of Jenna. Jerome is drinking, and is halfway through his second bottle of wine, each of which cost more than all of the clothes the Group just purchased. He's not too talkative or very helpful, but the Group presses him and convinces him that they are here to help. Eventually, he takes them up to the double suite that he shares with his sister.

The suite has two separate bedrooms; Jerome's is clean and tended to, but Jenna's is a disaster. Apparently, Jenna brought her lover with them, much to Jerome's obvious disgust. She and her lover have wrecked the room in the most horrendous of ways, from minor vandalism, to the disgusting act of a chamber pot kicked to disperse its foul contents onto the floor. Searching the room for any clues, they find a brick of krrf, a small disgusting idol and a painting of a man. Jerome reveals that it is of Treight, Jenna's lover.

After a cursory glance at Jerome's room, they decide the next person they want to talk to is the father, Raiden. Pounding on his door for several minutes, they don't receive any entrance. Listening at the door, there is no sound of any activity in the room. Jack busts the door down, and they see Raiden sprawled out on the floor, as if reaching towards the door. Kalima checks him, and finds that besides the stench of krrf and alcohol, in his throat is a piece of meat. Apparently, Raiden has choked to death, and it may actually have been accidental. Trying their best to put the grisly scene out of their minds, they set about searching the room. They find a half-consumed brick of krrf, and some letters about the reason why they are here, including letters from Kadakithis with payment details, transport papers, and a pouch of money with 12 gold Ranken Coronations still in it.

Feeling they missed something in Jenna's room, they search it again and figure out what isn't there – underclothes, an over-cloak and a small stiletto dagger, one that Raiden impressed upon her to always carry, to give him the false sense of her safety, according to Jerome, later. Returning downstairs to talk with Jerome some more, they learn of the Sa Velle's slave, Crezda, who is nowhere to be found.

Bored with Jerome, Jack focuses his attention on the pretty girls who work as maids and servers for the place. He asks them questions about the Sa Velles and gets little but shy giggles and the occasional comment about how much time the guests spent in their rooms. Their dislike for the father and of Jenna is obvious in their demeanor, but not their words. Jerome seems to be the only decent one in the group. When they are questioned about Crezda, they avoid a direct answer, but say they haven't seen her since this morning. Jack promises to come back and take them out sometime and returns to the dining room with the others.

The Group leaves the Golden Oasis for the Bazaar. The sun is setting as they get there and the Beggars have set up quite a vigilant watch. With their deal with Moruth, the Group gets through their perimeter and to Gagino's tent unscathed. They meddle with the painting they found in Jenna's room, and find an obsidian disk hidden under the painting. They look it over, and decide they have no clue what it is, but they do know it is magical in nature. Perhaps their sometimes benefactor, Enas Yorl, may be employed for an answer.

Preparing to walk to the other side of town yet again, there is an outcry from the Beggars; an undead mob is attacking the Bazaar. The Group joins in the battle, and eventually disperse the undead, earning a few more cuts than they would have liked. They resume their quest, and go to Pyrtanis Street to inquire about this obsidian disk they found.

At Enas Yorl's house, they march up to the door, and knock. Gagino and Jack catch a glimpse of something off to the side, and the Basilisk they see causes them to feel faint of heart for a few minutes. The door opens, seemingly on its own, and the others drag the stunned men into the house. From behind the door, the house imp closes the door behind them with strength not obvious from his size. He bows, and leads them to a sitting room where Enas Yorl is waiting for them. He's dressed in his robes, with the hood drawn back. He greets them in a form that is a mostly human, very dark skinned male with a bald head and eerie, shimmering red eyes. He greets them cordially and asks how he can be of service today. First, they show him the idol from Jenna's room. Enas tells them all about a ritual called Black Snake Dawn. It is a particularly gruesome ritual wherein a human is sacrificed to Mathrax, the god of one thousand pleasures and pains. This ritual is to gain his attention directly at the site of the sacrifice, in order to conjure up an additional bit of mischief like a plague or something similar. If this is what the new Nisibisi witch is up to, she should be stopped, and catching Jenna is merely one part of that goal.

Next, they show him the obsidian disc, and he looks at it for a little bit before informing them that it is a communication device forged with Nisibisi magic. He also mentions that using it may sometimes suffer some mental consequences. He tells them how to use the device, should it come to that, but warns that it should never be used, but usually such warnings go unheeded.

Barely out of Enas' house, Jack wants to use the disc to see who is behind the scheme. The Group puts him off by deciding to go back to the Golden Oasis first, thinking that they should use it from a place where it was probably used before. When they get there, Jack gets distracted and starts chatting with the girls again. Dropping their guard a little more, they mention how worried they are for the slave, Crezda, they helped escape this morning. Jack asks them to divulge all the details to him and his friends. They tell the story that she stole some money from Raiden, and that she was going to try to get to the Vulgar Unicorn before she tried to get home to Ilsig. The girls also talk about how awful Jenna and Treight were, threatening them with violence and offering them money for disgusting activities. The girls quickly went out of their way to avoid the pair, not cleaning their room in fear of being in the room with them, not talking to them or even serving them in the dining room. This earned them great displeasure from their boss, but when he attempted to make up for them, he was treated similarly. He agreed to ignore them, and was going to evict the whole lot in the next few days, after they had spent some more significant coin. The girls mention their knowledge of One-Thumb and thought he could help slip her out of town. The Group talks with Jerome a little more, getting more information about his disappointment in his sister's activities, her involvement with Treight and his father's penchant for spending a lot of coin on krrf and whores. The Group excuse themselves from the monotony of self pity, and quickly decide to go find Crezda in the Maze.

On the way there, they find two grisly scenes, even for Sanctuary. Though it's very dark, Malkar spots bodies that are stuffed into an alley and poorly hidden. The first is a single woman, most likely a prostitute. The second scene is a man and a woman, both also presumably for hire. Both scenes found the bodies dirty and naked with contorted faces, contorted from pain. The bodies are decorated with many, many poorly executed cuts in shapes of symbols, symbols the Group does not recognize. The Group thinks the killers might be Jenna and Treight, continuing their reign of debauchery and violence, meting out depraved acts on the poor and wretched in Sanctuary's streets.

From the journal of Kalima:
I looked down at the body Malkar had spotted, feeling suddenly very weary. I recognized the woman -- one of the near-countless poor streetwalkers in Sanctuary, selling their bodies for the few padpols they might fetch, enough to keep body and soul together for one more night. Her last customer had viciously turned on her. Here she lay, stripped completely naked, tortured and bloody, cast aside with no more thought than someone might give to emptying a chamber pot... probably less.

If I'd have had a choice, I would have carried the body back to Sabellia's temple and seen to it that she was properly shrouded and buried, repayment to Sabellia for failing in her mission to protect women such as this. But there wasn’t time for that, not with the lives of at least two more women at stake. One of them would die at dawn if I and my companions couldn’t find her. The other might die even sooner than that.

Still, I couldn’t leave this body as it lay. Quickly, I unslung the knapsack on my back and pulled my light cloak out of it. “Not suitable for admission to the Golden Orchid”, she thought with an audible snort, “but it will serve here well enough.”

I shook the fabric out and spread it gently over the body. “Lady Sabellia,” I murmured, “Watcher at the hearth, Guardian of the night, your sworn servant beseeches you to protect this soul who has passed from my realm into yours. Lift her into your grace, which she did not know in life, and guide her to safety and peace at your hearth eternal. So may it be.”

Slipping the knapsack over my shoulder, I hurried after my companions.

2nd of Hespar
Getting through the Westside to the Maze is fairly easy as they use Torchholder's medallion at the Processional, and the Stepsons recognize them. Getting into the Maze, though, proves difficult. A bunch of ex-Hawkmasks are in negotiations with a group of thugs. Things are tense, and everyone turns to the Group with weapons drawn. The Group decides their quest is more important than delivering a sound lesson to some dull skulls. They back off quickly, and find a different entrance to the Maze, getting to the Vulgar Unicorn just after the 1st bell. Malkar decides to remain outside on watch as the others go into the bar. Looking around inside, they don't see anyone that matches Crezda's description. Approaching the man behind the bar and laying a generous bribe in front of One-Thumb, they inquire about the girl. One-Thumb is surprised, but informs them that the girl is upstairs in a room she just rented.

The stairs to the rooms are on the outside of the building. Once outside, they inform Malkar, and start upstairs to find her room. Just inside the entry door, they hear a door being smashed open down the hallway. They rush to the sound and find three men menacing a frightened woman, who is cowering in a corner of the rented room. Jack and Kalima rush in to help her. One of the men swipes at Crezda, knocking her down and starting some blood flowing. Jack draws his weapons, fiercely attacking two of the three men. Kalima rushes to the aid of the girl, trying to stop the bleeding. With a quick tie of a bandage, she then stands up, defending the girl with attacks of her own, helping Jack take down two of the men. Modig awaits an opportunity, deftly tumbles in and takes out the last man from behind.

Bringing Crezda to awareness, and getting her to trust them is not easy, but eventually she is calmed and they can question her. She tells them a long tale of her initial capture by pirates several years ago, and falsely sold into slavery to the Ranke. Raiden bought her three years ago, and she's been looking for an opportunity to leave ever since. In Sanctuary, Jenna was still smitten with Treight (an awful man she had met in Ranke months ago), Raiden was drowning his troubles in krrf, and Jerome his own in wine. She was being ignored for the most part and figured that she could be gone a day before her absence was noticed. She took the money from Raiden, and set out for this awful place in the Maze, as directed by the girls at the Golden Oasis. One-Thumb was barely accommodating, but willing to take her money. When she had come upstairs, she'd been followed by those men. She thinks they caught a glimpse of the gold Coronation she used to pay One-Thumb with. The Group questions her about the ship and what she thought Jenna was up to.

She replies, “Jenna and Treight left last night, late and unobserved by anyone but myself. They were talking about the awful things they wanted to do in the name of fun. They wanted to find prostitutes and 'teach them a lesson', drink, and search out some Opah. They made some mention of a final night of entertainment.” She shudders visibly, and stops talking.
The Group decides to stop questioning her, and tell her they will get her out of Sanctuary, tonight, if possible. When they leave the Vulgar Unicorn, Malkar greets them, bow in hand. “Lookie who I ran into!” Their new friend, Zip, is at his side.

Zip hears the story of Crezda, and the Group's plight of the evening, and agrees to help them out. He sends word out and gets two of his PFLS revolutionaries to escort Crezda through the tunnels to make her way north to Ils. Modig tells her to take a few days to rest at the Brown Bear, a safe haven when she mentions his name. Olric may still be there, and would probably welcome a leisurely trip to Ils, in pleasant company. Crezda erupts in thankfulness and some tears, and soon leaves with Zip's men.

Refocusing on Jenna and Treight's trail, they guess that the new Witch may be working in the swamp, like Roxane was. That being true, the path that the two murder scenes they found seemed to be leading west. They decide to continue their way west, keeping a sharp eye out for more bodies carved up in this most vile fashion. Although an obvious place, they find more 'party favors' consisting of two mutilated girls near the Slippery Lily.

Leaving the Maze, the Group rounds a corner right into another hoard of undead. Surprised, the Group gets swarmed with undead, which causes a nauseous reaction to everyone from the horrendous smell. The Group retreats for a better attack formation. Jack uses the flat of his blades, Kalima her quarterstaff, and Modig makes use of a few leftover firetraps. Zip and Malkar provide ranged support with sling and bow, respectfully. Eventually the crowd is dispersed, but the encounter has left Jack heavily wounded and Kalima unconscious. They do what they can to make sure they can press on; Jack only slightly better off than Kalima.

They go on another few blocks and another body is found, but this one looks familiar. Horrified that this might be a friend, they take a good look, and it is not anyone they know, but they recognize Treight. He's similarly dispatched in an alley, but his throat is deeply cut, his clothes torn off and he's been emasculated; not tortured and killed like the others, but still left for dead like the rest. Modig steps in to search his nearby discarded belongings and Treight sits up, groaning unnaturally. His lifeless corpse is reanimated. Jack is staring agape while the others beat Treight to another death, maybe this time permanently.

Shuddering from that experience, the Group looks West, across Caravan Square to Downwind. It seems they only have one more place to go through before they reach the Swamp. Malkar goes out ahead to see what sort of trail he can pick up, and goes South a ways, presumably to cross the river at another place other than at the bridge. The remainder of the Group figures that going through Downwind may provide more clues or maybe that Jenna isn't that far ahead of them after all. The 3rd bell rings as they approach the bridge to Downwind. The guard shack that used to be here has been scavenged for resources, undoubtedly by the Downwinders.
Once entering Downwind, the shadows seem to move of their own accord, but it is really just the local populace circling the intruders. Not part of Moruth's beggar organization, these pitiful denizens organize in a poor, but concentrated attack in hopes of any boon; money or items they can sell or trade for food, drink or Opah. The Group stands their ground, and deflects the attack, killing half a dozen before the Downwinders scurry back to their respective holes.

Entering the swamp, Malkar seems to just appear out of nowhere, and says he found the trail to where they had found the Death Squads before. The dawn is fast approaching, and they must get to their destination quickly. They find the clearing, and see that the ritual is already in progress. Jenna is bound to a crucifix, and a half a dozen or so lizard-like creatures guard the perimeter. A dark-skinned witch is circling a strangely purple glowing fire, and performing a ceremony.

The Group forms a plan quickly and moves in to execute. Kalima makes use of her magical owl, summoning the large being again, and orders it to snatch Jenna, and take her to the Temple of Vashanka. Modig prepares the last of his fire traps. The owl swoops in and snatches Jenna just as planned. Modig leads the attack with a few smart tosses into the middle of the ceremony. Caught unawares, the guardian creatures shriek in pain, but not for long as they drop left and right. The witch stops pacing, and focuses on her chanting while the rest of the Group rush in with attacks of their own. Arrows and rocks thud into the witch from Malkar and Zip, and sword blows from Jack follow the arrows. The witch struggles to remain standing, but amazingly continues to chant. Kalima follows Jack and swings her greatsword in a mighty arc, cutting the Witch to the ground, finally stopping the infernal chanting.

No one says anything for a few minutes. As they take in the scene, the fire grows brighter and bigger, as if coming to life. The purple beam shoots into the oncoming dawn, leaving the fire burning like a normal campfire. A collective sigh of relief is heard, followed by nervous laughter and eventually a raucous congratulation of back slaps, arm punches and silent prayers. Now they just have to finalize their deal with Torchholder.

The journey back is uneventful. Morning is again finding Sanctuary, revealing its night of violence and action; there is plenty to clean up, but no one seems to be interested. While the Group walks the Wideway, they see the fishermen are already out. The fisherman seem to be the least concerned with the city's happenings; at least someone has some peace in this wretched place.

Finding themselves at the entrance to the Temple of Vashanka, the Group is escorted to Molin's rooms, where they find Jenna sitting nervously on a small couch, with Molin working at his desk. He finishes up the document he is working on, stands and sprinkles sand on the freshly written ink on the paper in front of him. He inspects it for a minute longer, and offers it to Kalima for her inspection.

“Here is our agreement. An owl depositing this girl on my balcony was surprising, but ample proof you completed what you set out to do. I wasn't sure how long it would be before I saw you, but I wanted to the paperwork out of the way. I suspect that this will be sufficient; simply present this to your Mother, and she will know what to do.”

With that, Kalima takes the paper and reads that not only are Olric and Modig pardoned, the rest are no longer wanted for questioning. The Group also have been awarded the most minor of Ranken titles. Jack speaks up and informs Molin of their extensive injuries, and requests compensation for healing. Molin scowls a bit before regaining his composure. He goes back to his desk and scribbles a quick note, and shoves it into Jack's hand saying, “Go to the Temple of Sabellia. And go now.”

The Group files out of the room, going downstairs and home.

Torchholder looks at the girl on his couch, “Come here, girl.”
She stands and walks tentatively towards the High Priest of Vashanka; he reaches out to her, embracing the shocked girl. She takes a moment and returns the embrace. A dagger from the priestly robes appears and he thrusts it into the neck of the unsuspecting girl. He holds her while her life escapes, whispering: “It's too bad they found you dead.”

Thieves' World - Turgurt

2011-04-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

“Dearest Kalima,
The Palace is rife with activity, and in turmoil from yesterday and last night's events. I can only assume that your band of friends were instrumental, although how, I cannot and should not know. The Palace is withdrawing behind the walls, and securing the Processional and the docks. All of the City Watch has been disbanded, and only Ranken soldiers are being retained to protect the Palace and the route along the Processional to the Docks. Beysib warriors from the docks have been filtering in all morning. The Beysib are gathering these forces in preparation to scour the city and the surrounding lands for your friends. I hope that whatever happens, your friends are difficult to find. I fear that we cannot meet personally; please give any communications to the servant, Kayla, who delivered this note, and they will reach me securely. I hope to hear back from you soon, so that I may rest knowing you are safe.”

Upon reading that, Kalima decides she can get the information she needs from her mother, and writes back a note, sealing it in a similar fashion.

“Mother,
You are correct, we found new friends to help us in our dire needs last night, and whatever you think happened, probably did. Our friends are safe, and we are good to have the information on what the Beysib are planning. I have a favor to ask: I need information on a male Beysib nobleman by the name of Turghurt. All I know is that he is in the Palace; we need to know when and how we may be able to meet with him. He cannot know of our inquiry of him, and my plan I cannot disclose for your safety. Suffice it to say, I need a description and some sort of idea about when he might be out of the Palace.”

Kalima hands the letter to the servant girl, and pays her a few shabooza to secure its safe delivery.

An hour later, the girl shows back up with the response:

“Kalima,
Yes, I know of Turghurt; he is, I understand, a High Lord in the Beysib court of Nobility, fifth highest rank in court, second highest obtainable by males. He is in the military wing of their court, and is one of many leaders of the search parties throughout the countryside. I have a feeling he will be out of the city searching in a matter of hours. I hope this information is useful, and anything I can do to help that is within my power, I will do.”

Jack meets up with Kalima at the temple to discuss their predicament. Jack uses his military knowledge that any rumor that gets to a military leader that would give him an advantage over his fellow lieutenants would be appreciated, as success will be well rewarded with this high profile turn of events. Kalima and Jack come up with a loose plan for Kalima's mother to execute on their behalf, and write another letter.

“Mother,
That is interesting news, indeed. We think that if we could leak some information to Turghurt (and only Turghurt) that we can can intercept him for our dealings. There is a Magistrate from before the Prince took power, and he may remember that we did some favors for him, if we can convince him to be the 'source' of this information, we can manipulate Turghurt's actions. The information he could leak is that our friends are probably hiding at the Brown Bear Inn, which is located a half of a day's walk north on the General's Road. You know the climate and workings of the Palace better than I, so please use your best efforts to execute this. We await your answer, and I am including a pouch of goods, that is also hiding 450 sh for any political use you may need.”

Nervous of the amount of money going to her mother, they pay Kayla several more shabooza for her diligence in her task. They wait nervously for nearly an hour for the response to come back from Kalima's mother.

“Kalima,
Your package arrived safely, and it took nearly all of that money to grease the proper wheels to sufficiently generate a believable rumor. I believe that Turghurt is sufficiently convinced enough that he is doing what he can to secure that search route for himself. I cannot bring myself to think what is going to happen, and I am sorry to believe that my little girl has succumbed to this city's worst habits. I am sure that it was not by choice, but by happenstance. I only hope Sabellia can keep you right with yourself and that what you are doing will not darken your soul. Please contact me as soon as whatever you are doing is finished. We will meet for a nice dinner, well, as nice as Sanctuary can provide. May you have Sabellia's blessing for you and your friends.”

The plan seems to have taken root. Jack and Kalima decide that Gagino's tent is the best place to meet up with Malkar before they go out of town to prepare for Turghurt and his faction of warriors. They still need to get a message to Modig at the Brown Bear to properly update him on the happenings in Sanctuary, so they can have an extra ally against Turghurt. The Wideway is their choice to get back to the Bazaar, a little longer route, but it seems safer from the guards along the Processional.

Back in the Bazaar, Gagino watches in horror as Moruth's beggars seem to have taken over, pressing all of the merchants for payment for the security of their goods. It is a sad day in the Bazaar when protection is the sheer numbers of the dirtiest, nastiest denizens of Downwind. Fortunately for Gagino, the previous dealings with Moruth seem to have remained intact, his tent is left alone, and he is not approached for any 'security donations'. Dubious as it is, with the lack of guards, the beggars actually seem to provide a determined vigilance and crime is much lower than would normally be expected in times like these. A note from Modig is delivered by Engelina, Duncan's daughter. He says that Olric has decided he's had enough in Sanctuary, and feels he is safer in the wars up North. He will be leaving as soon as he breaks his fast today. Modig is happy to have an ally this far out of Sanctuary, and he's doing as well as expected in these circumstances.

Once Malkar shows up at Gagino's tent, the three decide that they should go as fast as possible and decide to purchase three horses for their trip North. The merchant fleeces them by overcharging the Group three times what horses should cost. They need to get out fast, so they pay reluctantly. Saddled up and ready to go, they start their journey North, with the Brown Bear Inn as their destination.

They reach the Brown Bear in a little over an hour. Duncan is glad to see them all, though he is a little worried about the trouble following them. Last time they met was under dire circumstances and repairs were needed to his inn, so he'd like not to repeat those circumstances. The Group tells him that if everything goes well, any people from Sanctuary after them will be dealt with on the road, and not within a mile of his inn.

They eat some of Duncan's fine food, and begin forming a plan. It is unknown how many soldiers will be with Turghurt, but they assume that they will be outnumbered. Looking around the inn, there seems to be quite a few folks who are leaving Sanctuary's troubles behind. Kalima talks with a group of three toughs, and pays them a hefty sum of a Coronation each when they join the Group in a fight against some Beysib that are on their way here. She hires two more similar toughs, and Jack finds one more to round out their numbers. Once the promised payment is handed out, the extended Group sets out to find a good place to ambush Turghurt and his Group of warriors that they assume are coming soon.

Malkar and Jack concur on a solid site for an ambush, and Malkar continues South to watch for the approach of the Group of Beysib soldiers. Kalima, Jack and Modig set up the ambush, complete with Modig setting some of the left-over Death Squad explosive traps along the road. After a long wait, a signal from Malkar informs them that their prey is on the road, and approaching. Everyone is in place; the mercenaries are ready to set off the traps with crossbows and throwing daggers. The formation of Beysib are marching along the road, not very aware of their surroundings. The fighters reach the first line of traps; the Group waits a little longer for the front of the Beysib fighters to get to the last placed trap. The Group initiates their ambush with Fersun throwing a dagger at one trap, and two other mercenaries firing crossbows at two more. The dagger hits, but the crossbow bolts miss. One trap explodes, which injures the two Beysib soldiers in the lead. Their surprise attack used up; Modig is quick to react, rushing in and attacking a wounded Beysib, dispatching him. Two of the mercenaries also engage the wounded enemies in the front, injuring them. Turghurt breaks from the formation and draws a crossbow, looking around for his attackers. Kalima joins the fray behind a few more crossbow shots from her allies, which causes two more exploding traps to go off, injuring more Beysib. The Beysib warriors attack back with swords against foes near them, while the back of the formation pull out what look like blowguns, armed with darts. Jack sprints towards Turghurt in a fury of speed, and takes a poisoned crossbow bolt from Turghurt; Jack feels the poison sap some of his strength. This enrages Jack, and he deals a fury of sword blows upon Turghurt, who miraculously remains battle worthy. Turghurt returns the attack, a little less efficiently, but still wounding Jack with yet more poison from his blade. Jack's fury state keeps him from succumbing to the poison. Turghurt steps out of Jack's reach and allows three of his men to fire more poisoned darts at Jack, and who then step up to protect Turghurt, who takes advantage of the situation, turns tail and runs.

On the other side of the battlefield, Kalima and Modig work together to cut the Beysib soldiers down. In the meantime, their mercenaries take damage and fall, succumbing to their wounds. Kalima and Modig manage to avoid the effects of the poisoned darts, but take some cuts from the Beysib soldiers' swords. They see a few Beysib fleeing while they finish off their immediate combatants. They also hear Jack yelling that Turghurt is getting away. Jack is surround by three armed Beysib, still giving more blows than he receives. After a dozen or so blows are traded, Jack stands as the sole survivor, and immediately starts after Turghurt. He catches up with him easily, engaging him in single combat. Turghurt gets a blow on him, and takes three in return, falling unconscious from Jack's unrelenting strikes. At the end of the battle, Turghurt isn't dead, and neither are any of his troops. Two of the hired mercenaries are dead, but the other three are healed by Jack's army medic tricks and Kalima's magic. Together, they bind up the wounded Beysib, and then discuss what to do with them.

After some discussion, any surviving Beysib are put to death, and Turghurt's hand and uniform go with the Group as proof to Myrtis. They wrangle the bodies off the road and hide them in the greenery nearby. Returning to the Brown Bear, they sell the horses to Duncan for a third of what they paid for them, and start the long walk back to Sanctuary.

Approaching Sanctuary, the Group notices a few plumes of smoke curling into the sky. Apparently, someone has been busy, and it looks like it might be more Nisibisi Death Squads. When they enter the town from the North, they notice that the City Watch is still not on post. There also seems to be quite a few PFLS members stalking around the Street of Red Lanterns. The Group wastes little time, reaching the Aphrodisia House and showing Myrtis their proof of Turghurt's death. She would have preferred his head, but she has no reason to doubt them.

The Group asks about the past few days in Sanctuary, since there seem to be many fires and they were wondering what happened to the Watch on the north end of town. She tells them that the Watch has been disbanded, and the guards now consist entirely of Ranken and Beysib soldiers. They are only protecting the Palace, the Processional and the Wharf, and the Street of Temples, in high numbers. Crossing the Processional is somewhat troublesome, but not impossible. The PFLS have taken over the policing of the Street of Red Lanterns, and she has learned that more independent factions are taking over various parts of the city, too. Jubal's organization was broken up, but is reforming loosely in the Maze, the beggars are controlling the Bazaar, and the Stepsons are policing the Westside. She's heard rumors that Kama is back in town with some 3rd Commandos and are watching over the Eastside. The Promise of Heaven is heavily populated with gladiators. It seems that the Nisibisi Death Squads are back, and there are increasing reports of undead and other random street gangs.

She considers their business concluded, and invites them back anytime as guests, and hints that maybe they'll even get a discount or perhaps something special.

GameStorm 13

2011-03-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

This year, I did more RPGS - mostly Savage Worlds. I am going to summarize each game and maybe eventually make each game more detailed with its own posting. With the exception of one game because I may get the source materials and run it for my own group and don't want to give anything away. Hmmmm.. maybe two.. heck, if you're reading this, you probably don't care about my random decision process, so here goes the Con report for this year!

Thursday - Didn't attend. I took the day off, but since I am traveling a lot, I decided to do some chore catch-up and since I convinced Meran to go to the Con this year, we spent time getting ready and packing stuff up.

Friday - Got there early, like 8:30 am, signed in and got my swag bag (a little light this year, but that's okay, I usually read the stuff then toss it, so less waste..) and started looking around the big board game room - and found a spot in Game Lab - the GameStorm game design / test play area. A couple of game buddies (Ben and KC) are involved with this, and KC (from SunRiver games) actually runs it every year, and Ben helps out. It's a great thing to have support for your fledgling game at a con. Anyway, I sat down at a game called "Murder Mansion".

Murder Mansion - Game Lab Prototype
I am lame and don't remember the guy's name who was the creator of this game, but I just might have to look out for it. He said it was only a week old, so it was new even for Game Lab standards. Anyway, the board reminded everyone of 'Clue', but the game is definitely not. Maybe Clue in reverse, but not really. Basically, you and the other players are running around the mansion killing people. Rooms have weapons, and specify what other weapons can be used in that room. You know who you are after, but you need to find them, get the weapon that matches the room they are in, and go do the deed. Three times in 6 hours - every 30 minutes is a turn. Then, at the end, you have to figure out who of your fellow players (also murderers) killed whom. It was fun. I left out a lot of detail since the game is still a prototype.

Savage Worlds - Marines vs. Zombies
Save the scientists from the mind drug taking over the people in the building. We managed to save the corporate executives and lawyers since we started at the top. Next time, it will have to be a ground entry.

Savage Worlds - Hyperdrive
Based on the BBC comedy of the same name. We ran up against the Shiny Red Robots, the Zorns (a clone race based on Jim Zorn). This was a game that was run for comedy's sake and it delivered. A good group made it fun and it was well done.

Spirit of the Century - The Final Frontier
A pulp action adventure with us as a superhero group called E.D.G.E. We were to track down the Jade Emperor who was building a secret base on the moon, but didn't make it due to time. We did manage to save a scientist's life, however.

This was also my first Spirit of the Century game. The game uses the 'Fate' system which is similar to Fudge in some respects, as it uses Fudge dice. I liked the system and how you can 'tag' aspects in the scene to better your chances to do something, but the same mechanism slowed combat down drastically. The GM was fantastic - very animated and active, and it is obvious he really digs the system. I personally wouldn't want to run this system but I'd play it again in certain circumstances.

Saturday - Meran and I stayed at the hotel and I was able to get up to get to my first game at 9am.

Savage Worlds - Hellride: A Line in the Bloodsand
My second year playing in Tim's Hellride series. This time we're back to take a peace offering to a fire elemental race in the desert, and to take a load of Boric Acid to the nuclear reactors in trouble in Japan. Nice plot line from real world events for a modern game. While on a peaceful mission, we try to talk our way past some trolls at a bridge, and after some misunderstandings, one of our trucks ends up in the crevasse. We finish off the trolls, and pull the truck out and continue on the way to the desert city, Brass. We arrive and manage to make the peace treaty happen, although it seems like we tried to fail. With the promise of a shipment of grenades, we also retrieve our POWs enslaved by them. We can now continue to Japan with our other shipment. The portal area is in an area of Bloodsand, a surface that sucks the blood from your body if you are touching it. We also notice an anthill nearby, one that houses giant ants, each the size of a Labrador Retriever. We activate the gate and get to Japan where there are ants in a line marking a food source. The line is leading to a nuclear reactor and we see the behemoth of a queen ant making its way to the reactor. Long story short, we manage to stop the Queen Ant from destroying the reactor.

Savage Worlds - Just When You Thought It Was Safe...
An odd multi-part dungeon that I may run for my group so I won't go into a lot of detail. Suffice it to say, it had a lot of twists, turns and false leads. This game took a lot of GM preparation; congrats, Ron, great game!

Sunday - One more night in the Hilton; I am glad I get a lot of free Hilton points from traveling for work!

Savage Worlds - Realms of Cthuhlu: The Witch of November
And though I thought Ron's game was great, this was awesome! The GM, Scott, took an event from history and put us through his twisted idea of what could have happened, if. Another great game that I may procure and run for my group. A hint: November, 1975, aboard the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

It was Meran's first time at a Game convention, she attended a lot of the panel discussions and watched a few games, but didn't play anything. Somehow she had fun though; talking with game designers and getting ideas for some games she may run.

We picked up a few games, too:
Dixit
Cutthroats
a Delta Green book from Pagan Publishing
Dresden Files: Our World
and a few books from the mighty fine folks at Crucifiction Games: the Basic Rules, Book #1 and Book #2

Thieves' World - Beysib Debacle

2011-02-04T21:55:00.000-08:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV : Prince and Steel : Festival : Kadakithis & HellHounds : Sikkintairs & Portals : The Swans : Stepsons vs. Jubal : Roxane : Beggars Revenge

The Beysib Debacle

17th of Sperraz
The Group finds itself gathered for breakfast in Marta's, once again. A familiar face, Lisle, swishes by their table, and drops off a sealed letter. It is from Malkar. He's at home in the Marsh with his family for an unknown amount of time. His letter introduces a friend of his by the name of Olric, with a request for them to show him the sights.

The town is preparing for war, as best as it can. The ships on the horizon have been lurking in the distance for a day now, making everyone nervous; paranoia is settling in, city-wide. Kalima answers a call-to-arms for magical reinforcement to help the town prepare for the invading fleet. After a day of casting these ritual spells, she adds some additional protection spells to her Books.

After a long day, the Group is again at dinner at Marta’s; all of the overheard conversation is about the ships on the horizon, and what it might mean to Sanctuary’s future.

18th of Sperraz
At dawn, one of the ships dock at the Empire's Wharf, the dock Ranke built a decade or so ago. A large group of Beysib warriors disembarks on the dock, and is followed shortly by a small group of finely dressed Beysib dignitaries. Hakiem is watching from the Wideway, preserving the moments for his future retelling. The people seem human at first glance, but a longer look finds wide and staring eyes, pale green skin, and webbed fingers, although the webbing is cut to allow for individual finger movement. Their eyes are the most disconcerting, being very large and with no eyelids, but having instead a membrane that serves the same purpose. Hakiem is spotted, and the new people approach him. They call themselves the Beysib and ask to be taken to the Leader of Sanctuary. They speak Ranken far better than a lot of the locals. Hakiem talks with them as he leads them to the Palace along the Processional. Once there, a large contingent of palace guards escort the visitors to the Palace proper.

As the sun approaches midday, bell ringers and criers are sent out across the city to inform the populace of an announcement from the Prince concerning the ships in the harbor. People cram through the gates and are allowed into the main area surrounding the Palace. Modig, Jack and Olric are at the Palace to watch the announcement, while Gagino goes to his tent in the Bazaar to prevent his tent from being ransacked. His tent is safe, but there are others that weren't so lucky. Gagino tries to note the looters for future recognition, but he keeps himself content that the nearby tents are safer under his watch.

Meanwhile, the Prince and the leader of the Beysib make their appearance on the balcony of the Palace. The Prince introduces Shupansea, the Empress of the Beysib, and announces that a peace treaty between Sanctuary and the Beysib has been formed. Kadikithis publicly welcomes the Beysib into the city, and encourages all the citizens to treat the Beysib with respect and kindness. During the formalities, Modig lifts a little coin off of a few others, and finds himself a little better off than before, monetarily speaking.

On the Wide Way, the Beysib begin disembarking and roving about the city. There seem to be a far greater number of females than males. The Beysib patronize Sanctuary’s eateries and taverns, hungry for food and drink that aren’t ship's rations.

The Bazaar is soon teeming with Beysib shoppers; they use a silver coin that they trade equally as a shaboozah, and the Beysib are happy to spend and buy goods. Gagino does a brisk business, easily making in one afternoon what he would normally make in a week. Other Bazaar folk around him experience a similar boon in sales. Jack finds work on the docks and sees a lot of goods going onto the ships, but not many coming off of them. Jack and Gagino both notice that the Beysib are oddly non-communicative; they only seem to speak when dealing with a sale or work instructions, and never use any unnecessary friendly banter.

19th-25th of Sperazz
The city adapts to the Beysib over the next week. Some people find the Beysib odd, but are fine with the way that there is more money flowing throughout Sanctuary. Other people thing that the Beysib are corrupting Prince-Governor Kadakithis. The Empress is always by his side, and the Beysib seem to be getting special treatment. The city seems to be splitting into two halves.

25th of Sperazz
One night, Marta’s is busy with regulars and the addition of quite a few Beysib that have made themselves at home in Sanctuary. Gagino decides to celebrate his good business with some mandolin music, and after a few attempts to get some music out of it, he notes that the strings need to be replaced. Another patron takes his place to try his own hand at some tips for music and song.

Jack, Modig, Gagino and Olric decide to call it a night and head for Gagino’s tent. On their way back to the Bazaar, Jack spots a Beysib hiding in an alleyway, which strikes him as odd. They round a corner, and Jack tells the others what he saw. Modig goes and sees what is what, and follows the Beysib on a course to the Maze. He quickly returns to recruit some help. Olric goes with Modig, while Jack complains of fatigue and sore muscles from the day of work on the docks, and hits the hay.

In the Maze, Olric and Modig pick up the trail of the Beysib from some local hoods who saw her pass. They find her outside of the Paddling Duck, hidden across from the front door, as if waiting for someone to come out. She spots Modig and Olric. In an instant, she rushes across the street, attacking in a fury. The two think they've been recognized from nearby the Bazaar. Charging, she draws two swords, one shorter than the other, and charges Olric. With three swift blows, she hits Olric squarely once, the blade delivering a poison that was coating her longer sword. Olric takes the blow, feels the toxin burning in the cut, but manages to shrug it off. Olric returns the blows, and Modig tries tumbling behind the Beysib. His tumble is clumsy, and he feels the blow of the shorter sword, also coated with poison. Modig’s resistance to the poison is not as strong as Olric’s, and he can feel the toxin slowing him down. He still swings at the Beysib, but misses while his eyes cross and the world starts to darken. The Beysib nimbly tumbles away, casts a quick spell, and prepares for another attack. Olric charges back into battle, and finds his blows aren’t landing as surely as before; the spell must have been a protective invocation. Modig steps up and, once again, swings wildly at the Beysib. She looks at the two, and attacks with renewed vigor, swinging with both long and short swords on Olric, landing a few blows. Olric returns like for like, managing a few strikes against his opponent, with one stupendous and fatal blow, killing the foreigner. She lays crumpled on the ground, blood pooling underneath her.

The two strip the Beysib of her possessions and leave the body in one of the many, many garbage heaps in the Maze. Modig falls to his knees from the effects of the poison, whispers “Sabellia”, and flattens onto the ground. Olric hefts him over his shoulder and hauls him to the temple of Sabellia in the Promise of Heaven. The Temple, as usual, takes good care of the two. Olric and Modig go back to their respective beds.

26th of Sperraz
Modig shows the loot to Gagino, and Gagino thinks it will fetch quite a price, but being of Beysib design, may be too difficult to sell. Gagino is quite certain that he is probably the only vendor in the City with Beysib weapons to sell. He quickly takes a rough estimate of the value; this is possibly the richest set of possessions he's ever seen. Worry comes to Gagino and Modig; surely this person will be missed, and the rich always get their way, who can know how this death will be paid for?

The Beysib body is found by the guards. There is much concern; the woman found was one of the advisers to the Beysib Empress. This is an outright slap in the face to the Beysib, and retribution will be required. Olric is rousted from the barracks and sent into the Maze with all of the other soldiers. Unclear on orders until they are told to start kicking in doors, and hauling any able-bodied person, male or female, to the jail near the Palace. The press gang works all day and manages to do a very good job of clearing out the Maze. Many Maze residents managed to escape, but the ones that didn’t are facing an unknown fate.

The Beysib are demanding justice; this is an unacceptable event, and there is outrage in the Court, the Palace and the barracks. The Beysib will deny any challenges of the woman being so capable in battle. The woman was a Harka Bey assassin, a secret to all the Beysib except the highest tiers of the Court. Their plans are to set up the most probable, suspicious people that they can, and mete out any disciplinary sentence that they can, most likely death. The Prince, clueless of the Beysib plan, will do anything to find the murderer. At the least, he must find someone that the Beysib will accept for doing the deed.

27th of Sperraz
After a close up review of the body, the wounds bear the telltale marks of axes, not swords or knives. This turn in the investigation demands the arrest of any men who carry axes as their weapons.

In the Palace barracks, Zalbar requests Olric and a few of his other fellow soldiers to come to his office. They are all notified that they are to remain in the immediate area around the Barracks and not to leave without talking to Zalbar himself. Olric notes that all the fellows in the room with him all wield axes, same as himself. Zalbar hands out duties to keep them busy and near the Barracks, and then dismisses them from his office.

Meanwhile, a reward is being offered for anyone who saw anything that can lead to a positive ID for the murderers. Town criers walk the city announcing a prize of 5 gold coins for any information that pans out. For anyone who cares to notice, there are more than a few people trying to sell their 'information' to the Guards. Unfortunately, there seem to be a few actual witnesses to the end of the battle, and to the discarding of the corpse: a few young men from the Maze, from the same group who were pressing the Dead Dog for protection. These men describe the last part of the fighting, and say that they know one of the men, but not the other. They provide accurate enough details about how the wounds would have been caused, and the men are escorted to Zalbar's office. After hearing their story, and questioning them in great length, Zalbar is convinced that these men truly did see the murder, even if it was the only the last few seconds of it. The men name Modig, and describe Olric, although vaguely. Zalbar needs to clear his men, and sends for all of the men under house arrest. Olric and the rest enter the office, are asked a few more questions, and then are asked to leave. Olric sees the men in Zalbar's office, but does not know who they are. After the soldiers leave, the Maze rats identify Olric as the other man.

Olric barely gets back to his cot and is immediately summoned back to Zalbar's office. Olric swallows hard, and steps in with his escort back to the Hell Hound captain's office. A mage is present, and Olric feels the touch of magic; a truth spell is cast on him, but he repels the charm. Olric is questioned about the murder, and he denies everything. Zalbar doesn't trust the magic, and his instincts lead him to believe that Olric is lying. Why, though, is another question that won't be answered immediately. Olric is formally arrested and taken to the jail. He goes peacefully, not sure what to do about his dire circumstances.

Meanwhile, Modig, Gagino and Kalima have decided that the loot they have is not going to be easy to sell, and may be used as proof against Modig and Olric. They need to be rid of this stuff, and fast. They decide to take it all to the White Foal River to dump it, but they have to wait until after it is dark to do it. They sit tight in Gagino's tent, wary of any approaching guards. Night finally falls, and Kalima prepares them with a spell of protection. She and Modig head out with their bags of contraband. They approach the Common Gate leading out of the Bazaar, when they realize that security has been heightened, and that there might be trouble with their bags that they are carrying. Kalima summons a giant owl to take the bags west to the river, where they will deal with the contents. The owl takes off, smoothly taking to the air, but not escaping the attention of one of the guards at the gate. He sees it and points it out to the others around him, making everyone on watch wary. Kalima and Modig approach the gate a few minutes later, and a guard stops them, waves a wand at them, and starts asking questions. Modig feels compelled to tell the truth and the whole truth, while Kalima shakes off the spell. The two are questioned heavily, with Kalima answering most of the questions. Modig manages to tell the truth, but not give himself up. At the river, Kalima and Modig approach their avian pack bearer, and start discussing the fate of these ill-fated goods. During their conversation, they hear a sound coming from the copse of trees nearby, and spot a guard watching them. He sees them turn and look at him. He then turns around and starts running away, yelling loudly for the other guards to capture them. Modig flings a couple of daggers at the retreating man, hitting him, but not significantly enough to slow him. Kalima thinks fast, orders the owl to take the bags South, fly over the ocean for two hours, to drop them into the water, and then return to her. The owl takes off, and disappears into the southern night sky.

Modig and Kalima hear the sounds of many guards approaching. They quickly discern that they are greatly outnumbered and surrounded, but not yet sighted. They decide the river is their best escape, and jump into the cold spring waters, swimming for the west bank. They hear the twang of several crossbows firing, and feel the sting of a few bolts hit them. Thanks to Kalima's protection spell, the damage is largely nullified. Once on the opposite bank of the White Foal, they make a run for the countryside.

28th of Sperraz
Wet, dirty and miserable, the two spend the rest of their night circumnavigating farms and ranches, circling around north of Sanctuary, and ending up northeast of the city. From there, it is fairly easy to slip into the Temple of Sebellia, and try get some rest. Rest does not come, however, and the day is already pressing them. While they get cleaned up when Kalima decides that she needs to send word to her mother, Sequina, for some aid. While they wait for a response from her, they start discussing possible plans. Sequina arrives and updates them on what is happening in the Palace. She tells them that a man has been arrested, and describes Olric. She also states that Modig has been named by the same witnesses who identified Olric. The Palace hasn't spared any coin looking for them, and is going to continue to pay out for information. Her guess as to what will happen next is that all of Modig's friends and acquaintances will start getting harassed until he is caught.

Modig makes the decision to turn himself in, for he doesn't want his friends to pay for what he's done, and it was self defense after all, since she attacked them. To help their case, they get signed testimonies from the acolytes of Sebellia about the poison in the wounds of Modig and Olric. With Sequina escorting them, Kalima and Modig walk to the Palace. They are met at the gate, and are escorted to Zalbar. He takes Modig's statement, then takes him to share a cell with Olric. Zalbar tells them that their trial will be later on that same day. The guys think that the proceedings seem to be moving along too quickly.

After Modig's incarceration, criers again descend upon the town to announce the trial of the murderers, and offer an open invitation to the public to the event that will take place on the Palace grounds. Rumors are fast and furious; Jack and Gagino worry for their friends. Kalima seeks out Gagino after Modig's arrest, to make sure he knows she is okay. During the nervous wait for the trial, Malkar shows up, back from a visit to his family in the swamp. He's got bad news, but with what everyone tells him about the happenings of the past few days, he decides to hold off on sharing his misery, at least until this is over with.

The time for the trial approaches agonizingly slowly, but does arrive; the Group finds themselves packed in the Palace grounds with at least half of the rest of Sanctuary's citizens. Ranken guards are everywhere trying to keep the crowd contained and relatively calm. The blare of trumpets announce the Prince-Governor's presence from his balcony where he is flanked by the Beysib Empress, and all of their advisers. He announces, “The trial for the murder of the Beysib girl will now commence. Bring out the accused!”.

At the jailhouse, Modig and Olric are surrounded by guards, then escorted through the grounds and led to the auction block. The escort of guards rings the block, while one man in formal robes and three cleaned-up gutter scum also walk up on the block.

The robed man points at Olric and starts speaking; “Olric, you are accused of murdering a Beysib woman. She was found dead in the Maze with wounds that were determined to be from the blades of axes. Your axes have been compared to the wounds, and have been determined to have caused them.” He moves his hand to point at Modig; “Modig, you are accused as an accomplice to this heinous crime, in the fact that you were nearby serving as a lookout, and are a known friend of the murderer.”

He pauses, and lowers his hands. “I bring you the testimonies of three witnesses; Morgan, Kenton and Dario”, he says.

The tallest man steps forward, who is obviously a Maze rat dressed up in clothes not his own.

“My name is Morgan, and on that night, this is what we saw. We stepped out of the Paddling Duck, to see a struggle across the street, a common sight in the Maze. It was a man pulling a woman into an alley. His hand is over her mouth, and around her body. As they go into the alley, another man steps in front of the alley as if to stand watch. We duck into the shadows to see what is going to happen next. We see the man start beating the woman, and after a few swings, he un-slings an axe, and cuts her down in cold blood. He then drops her to the ground, and the two take off into the night. We went over to investigate, maybe see if they left anything valuable behind, and when we saw it was a Beysib woman, we just left.”

Dario and Kenton similarly step forward and proceed to tell the same story about that night's happenings. The din of the crowd grows in volume, with many opinions of what should be done to the men on the block.

The robed magistrate calls out, “The defendants will now have a chance to speak their story.”

Olric tells his story, that he was attacked, and that the person was a very skilled warrior, and that the blades were poisoned. The crowd's reaction is stronger, louder and just as confused as before.

After he's done speaking, an evidence chest is brought out. The Magistrate pulls out a bloody dress, and shows it to the crowd, “This was the dress she was wearing. It's a fine dress; she was obviously lost and out of her element.” He reaches back into the chest and pulls out a pair of swords that are flimsy and one is broken. The Magistrate continues, “These are the 'swords' the defendant speaks of, tin replicas of Beysib ceremonial swords; obviously these do not have the ability to cause any wounds whatsoever.” The Group collectively look at the evidence with horror; this is obviously a set-up to make someone, them, pay for the death of a Beysib. The crowd starts to turn on the defendants, with only a very few shouting out that they are innocent.

Up in the balcony, there is commotion; Kalima's mother is showing the Acolytes' testimonies to the Prince. He reviews the new evidence and feels the need to deliberate. The Beysib in the balcony leave quickly. The accused are escorted back their cell while the public is told to leave the palace grounds being somewhat forcefully ejected.

Outside on the streets, the locals start rising up against the oppression of the guards, badmouthing the Beysib and their obvious control over the Palace. People are shouting for freedom, the ousting of the Beysib from the city, and the shouting of the name of the Resistance: Popular Front for the Liberation of Sanctuary (PFLS). The crowd is dispersed forcefully by guards. Many who protest are arrested, with the overflow put in an extra warehouse. An hour before dark, more guards walk the streets, and announce a curfew for the night. Kalima runs out of the Temple, and goes to Gagino's tent to make sure everyone is okay.

At Gagino’s, Malkar shows up, deciding it was a really bad day for him to return from his visit to family in the swamp. The Group relates the current issues, and Malkar is considering going back home again, but will definitely stay the night.

During the night, a loud noise is heard from just outside of the Bazaar, to the West. A few minutes later, one of the guard posts raises an alarm, and the sounds of fighting are also heard. The Group gets out of bed, arm themselves, and run outside. They get to Caravan Square, and see a group of guards swinging at a hoard of rotting, walking corpses. Men long dead are somehow up and attacking everything in their path. Kalima rushes in to help, swinging a strong blow, causing herself to almost become ill due to the stench of the decomposing flesh around her. Gagino starts strumming his mandolin, and summons up a Hell Hound. Jack decides he wants his long spears, and runs back to the tent for them. Malkar shoots a steady barrage of arrows into the crowd of undead, arrows sinking in a sickly manner into the decaying flesh. The Hell Hound attacks, breathing fire on the undead, and the group of walking death decides to focus their attention on the fire-breathing dog. Kalima staggers away from the death mass, recovering from the awful stench. The Hell Hound attacks again, just before the mass of dead snuffs it out. Guards are continually attacking the undead mass, trying to slow its progress through the town. Kalima and Malkar continue their attacks, and the undead mass falters, and finally disperses, allowing the remaining bodies to be cut down efficiently and quickly. The horror is over.

Jack makes it back in time to stab a few walking corpses to bits, and finds his swords more efficiently suited to the task. The Group returns to the tent, and tries to sleep, worried thoughts of Modig and Olric making it a rough night.

29th of Sperraz
In the morning, more town criers circulate to announce the finalization of the trial at noon. The Group stays put in the Bazaar, not going to Marta's for breakfast, but eating the fare from the Bazaar vendors.

Jack becomes a bit stir crazy, and is wanting to get some answers. He decides to visit some of his guard friends to see if he can get into the Jailhouse to talk to Olric or Modig. He starts with some of his Sacred Bander buddies, who don't have any official ties and aren't very useful. Jack then tries his luck with Zalbar. His guard friends get him in to see Zalbar for a few shaboozah, and when he sees Zalbar, he puts a gold coronation on his desk. Zalbar ignores the coin but doesn't speak until Jack puts it back in his pocket. Zalbar allows Jack a visit with his friends in the Jail, but has him escorted the entire visit.

Jack, Olric and Modig discuss the trial, the murder and Jack wants to know the truth. Olric and Modig convince Jack that they did do it, but in self-defense, and that the testimonies against them are wrong. The girl was not helpless, and she was the aggressor.

Jack leaves the jail glad to find out that they didn't kill the woman in cold blood. However, he is now disgusted that this fabricated story has been brought up against his friends.

Meanwhile in the Bazaar, a man named Zip introduces himself to Gagino, Kalima and Malkar, and offers to help their friends in jail. They are very suspicious and therefore hesitant to accept his help, and want details, but Zip won't tell them any until they are committed to helping their friends. Jack returns and they all talk it out; they are short on time, but this will have to wait until after the trial.

The Group makes its way to the trial, hoping for the best. There is more guard presence than yesterday, including additional Beysib wearing armor and carrying weapons. The formality of yesterday's proceedings are the same, except the Prince-Governor is not present in the viewing box. Only the Prince's advisers and the Beysib are present. The finalization of the trial is brought underway with little to no fanfare.

As yesterday, Olric and Modig are brought out to the block, and the proceedings are cut short with the announcement: “The evidence has been reviewed, and the accusations will remain. The testimonies of the Sebellia Acolytes don't change the fact that a murder still occurred, and the defendants' claim of self-defense is not a creditable defense against an unarmed woman. The defendants obviously got the wounds and poison in another manner, and attempted to use that to get away with their crime. The sentencing will be as follows: For the murder of a Beysib woman, Olric will be executed, by decapitation with an axe. For Modig, the accomplice who stood watch, his punishment will be for a hot iron to put out his eyes. These punishments will be carried out at dawn, tomorrow.”

With that, the prisoners are escorted back to their cells, and all of the Sanctuary citizens are forced to leave the palace grounds immediately. Any upstart or challenge is met forcefully, and dealt with quickly; there are no arrests, but a lot of broken bones and egos among the populace.

After the city settles down a little bit, the Group meet with Zip. The Group decides that it is essential to free their innocent friends, and quickly. Zip thinks he can get into the Jailhouse from the long-forgotten tunnels under the city, one of which should have a passageway that leads to the cellar of the Jailhouse. The problem is that there are magical wards set up, and which will need to be removed in order to get into that tunnel section. He tells them that Myrtis of the Aphrodisia House on the Street of Red Lanterns controls the wards, and that they just need to convince her of the necessity.

Going to the Aphrodisia House, Gagino tips the house girl to carry a message of urgency to her mistress, and gives the girl a golden coronation for Myrtis, payment for her to just listen to them. They are brought into an empty sitting room, at least it is empty at this time of day. Myrtis agrees to see them fairly quickly. They explain the situation with their friends, and their innocence. The conversation turns to the fact that they need to get to the jailhouse, and that they understand that they cannot get there with the magical wards in place. Myrtis is concerned that they know this information and demands to be told who supplied them this information. The Group doesn't want to rat out Zip, but eventually tells Myrtis, at her insistence. She cools down after hearing of Zip's involvement, and says that they can work out a deal.

Myrtis tells a story about one of her girls, Bekin. She was simple-minded, and one of only a few girls who would service Beysib customers. Last night, she was found dead in her room, with telltale snake bite marks and signs of poison in her body. Her last customer was Turghurt, a Beysib client who has been in a few times before. He was long gone by the time they found Bekin dead, and Myrtis is pretty sure he won't come back, and is probably hiding in the Palace. Retribution will be the only way to keep her as the top house on the Street; politically, strength must be displayed. Myrtis requires Turghurt's death for the killing of Bekin. After some discussion, the characters agree to perform this task for Myrtis in exchange for her to drop the magical wards in the tunnels.

A few hours later, the Group meets Zip and some of his followers at the Aphrodisia House. Myrtis made it a requirement that they use her entrance into the tunnels. They light some torches, and they enter the underground through a barred door from the cellar of the Aphrodisia House. Dark, damp and foul smelling, the Group stays for a minute to adjust to the dark. Zip says, “This way”, and they begin their journey into the underground, sharing the space with rats and the wastes of Sanctuary on a long-unused route. Travel is quiet for the next several minutes, and a few twists and turns later, Zip slows down. “We are nearing where the wards should be, and I think this is as far as I've ever gotten. That's a good sign that the wards are down.”

Another short stretch of tunnel goes by, and Zip stops. “This is where the tunnel to the Jailhouse should be. Start searching around.”

Searching proves that one of the nearby collapsed areas proves to be an even more obscure tunnel. It takes a little while to clear out the rubble to clear the passageway, then they continue on to a dead-end. A quick search again finds a secret door in the wall. They open it, and enter into a small chamber and dead-end, with yet another secret door. They open the second one, and it leads to the cellar of the jailhouse. The opening is blocked by crates and barrels of supplies. The door is obviously unused and probably unknown to anyone who stocks this place. Another round of clearing items is performed so that they can get into the empty space of the cellar. They look around a bit and find an area stocked with implements used for torturing people, and then stairs leading up. At the top of the stairs, there is another door, presumably leading to the main jailhouse. In this storage area, they see stacks of confiscated personal possessions and see Olric's equipment amongst the various items stored here.

They steel themselves for the action ahead. Through that door awaits a difficult night, with the reward of freeing their companions. No one is fond of the idea of slaughtering who knows how many guards, people they may know personally, but what must be done, will be done. Perhaps their own lives will be sacrificed, as well.

Zip pulls on a mask, and hands out one to everyone else. He opens the door and sneaks in. A large common cell is the first next to the door opening, and a few of the prisoners notice Zip, and start to make some commotion. Zip lifts his mask and asks them if they know who he is, and tells them if they want to get out alive, to act like nothing is happening. He continues on, and finds a few guards in a common area, relaxing somewhat. He prepares a sling bullet, and lets one fly, shouting at the same time, “Charge!”

His followers storm out of the storage area, and rush forward. Jack, Kalima, Gagino and Malkar follow closely, readying their weapons for attack. They rush in, and split up and down the two main side hallways and rush the guards there, desperate for keys to open the cells. A few guards go down quickly, and a few of Zip's PFLS members drop. The Warden steps out of his office, sees what's happening and quickly steps back in. A few seconds later, a loud bell starts ringing; the alarm has been sounded. Of the two Guard Captains who are fighting off the intruders, one takes a strong blow from Kalima, and collapses. The other sees his friend go down, and retreats back into his office trying to close the door. Kalima steps in the way, preventing the door from closing, but the Guard Captain is stronger and obviously more inspired. The door closes and a bolt is heard slamming into place from the inside.

Meanwhile, Malkar is firing arrows, Jack is swinging ferociously, and Zip and the PFLS members are aiding the best that they can. The Warden rushes from his office to the door leading out, attacking a PLFS member trying to prevent any escape through that door. In his rush, the Warden drops his sword, but still manages to punch the man blocking his route. The PLFS member returns the attack, while the Warden scrabbles for his sword. The Warden regains a solid grip on his sword, cutting down the man in his way. He steps over the body and out of the room to get reinforcements, bolting the door from the other side. Zip makes his way over to the door, and bolts the inside, too. Meanwhile, a few sets of keys are lifted off of a few dead guards, and doors start opening; the freeing of prisoners begins; the chaos is just getting started. Gagino finally gets to the cell that his friends are in; Modig and Olric are freed. He continues opening more cell doors, letting more prisoners out. The keys are passed on to the freed prisoners, allowing them to continue to free others, and the rescue team attempts to slip out the way they came, hoping the chaos will mask their escape. They are partially successful, although it seems they have a dozen or more prisoners to take with them through the tunnels. They carefully re-stack the crates to mask their entrance point, and retrace their way back through the underground tunnels. Modig and Olric take a northern tunnel, heading for the farms outside of town. The rest follow Zip to the Maze underground, where they find themselves able to sneak back into the city. They prepare for possible consequences, and Zip starts talking the ex-prisoners into the PFLS as new recruits.

BGG Con 2010

2010-11-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

From November 17th to 21st, BGG Con happened. 5 days of gaming goodness. My brother in law, Dennis, decided that for my birthday, he'd buy me a ticket to BGG Con. So, we made plans to go. With points (so it was free-ish) I got us a room (3 of us, Dennis, Martin and myself), Martin got the rental car.

Oh, for those of you NOT in the know, BGG stands for BoardGameGeek - a website dedicated to better our board game experience.

Wednesday
Loch Ness
Children's game, simple - good for filler. I liked how Nessie moved and the 3 part piece.

Smallworld
This was my first play of this, even though I've been wanting to play it for a while. The game is different than what I originally thought it would be like, and I like it well enough. Wouldn't buy it, but would play it occasionally.

London
This is a newer game that has heavy card management. You balance money, re-building portions of London and running those boroughs, and poverty. I liked it but didn't get another play, and I need more plays.

Aton
Dennis' freebie from the Con registration. It played ok, pretty light. Fair 2 player game. We played it while awaiting the car to show up with Martin. Or the other way around.

Domaine
My first game of the con with both Dennis & Martin. Time and travel weariness forced a lighter game. This seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I love this game, its quick, easy and has a bit of an element of tension in the mid / end game. I managed the mid-game massive land grab, and won the game with exactly the needed number of points.

Thursday
Age of Industry
I was walking by one of the rooms and a guy was sitting there reading the rules for what looked like Brass. I inspected closer and saw it was a new game, called Age of Industry, but had a lot of the same Brass elements. We got 2 more newbies and played it. Right before we started, we got a coach for a quick rules review and confirmation. It was a good game, and what probably made it better was that I won. I can't say I like it better than Brass, but it is more streamlined, and has a few less fiddly rules.

Ubongo 3D
After a heady game with new rules, I found a lighter game. It was still a thinker since we had to put together a block from 3D tetris-like blocks. Really fun, and frustrating at the same time. Get some blocks, build the shape, get points. Oh, and there is a timer.

Titan
Classic, and since I made all 3 of us t-shirts with the Titan counters from the Avalon Hill release, we had to play it. Plus, this is a game I introduced to the Burke brothers. We had a fourth, Tony, who ended up whomping us all.

Rock Band 3
same as Rock Band, new songs, new features, yadda, yadda, yadda..

Crows
this was kind of an abstract collection game. You place your 'shiny object' and the crows flock to it in a straight path. Various things give you better scores, you can thwart your opponents with trash piles', and there are bonus points. Good short game, great for filler. the bits were good, too.

Friday
Age of Industry
New opponents, two had played before, one hadn't. We played the same map, and I managed 2nd place, which I was fairly happy with.

Fresco
Played a 4 person game in the demo area. We played the the 'basic' game, and after one play (and 2nd place again), the game seems dry. Maybe the expansions make it a bit better, but I don't think I'd be interested enough to try them.

Thunderstone
Dennis was looking for a game to take home. I recommended this over Dominion, simply because Dominion was a little vague for me, but Thunderstone has a more obvious goal, and that is to beat up monsters in a dungeon. Dennis bought this (and the expansion) and we played the basic game.

Poker
Free Texas Hold 'em tournament for a bunch of games for prizes. Out of 175ish folks, I was out fairly early, with 100 people still playing.

Stronghold
This game, two players are assaulting the castle, two are defending. I was talked into this because this was the game that Martin and Dennis talked so much about from last year. Sadly, it didn't do it for me. I think the game is a great representation of what it is - defending / storming a castle. I am just a rotten tactician and I quickly grow bored of being stomped. Also, if you play thins, make sure you find the best rules translation. There were a lot of questions about this game and its rules.

Saturday
Saturday was the flea market, with lines as long as the eye could see. I guess this is a huge deal at BGG Con - people selling used games for low prices. I managed to sneak in a few minutes before it closed, and saw some cool stuff, but nothing I really couldn't pass on.

Parade
While waiting for the flea market to finish up, I jumped in on this quick card game. You play a card and take cards of the same color, and those that are lower in value. Your card that you play 'freezes' that number of cards so you don't have to take them. Lowest score wins, so taking cards is against your goal.

7 Wonders
One of my new game buddies, Tony, said to try this game, it's fast, fun and short. So, I went to where a game was just being started, and played. It's got a lot of game for so short, too bad the group I was playing with was neither fast nor fun. But, with the right people, it would be a great short game as filler.

Cyclades
This game has a war game element - you get armies and navies and invade / hold your islands. The war aspect is pretty low, so it wasn't too bad for me. The interesting part of the game is the monsters that you can use to do various things, the Kraken will obliterate a navy, the Pegasus flies a unit anywhere on the board, etc. Turn order is set in reverse of who went first last time, and that is determined by the god you activated. You bid for the god you want to utilize, which are in random order each turn, and do that action. I crippled myself on the first turn, and the game wasn't fun for me, but I think it would be fun, should I play it again.

Thunderstone
More dungeon delving carnage! Dennis branched out and used some other cards.

Prolix
This was taught to me by the designer, Gil. He places it on the table, and it is obviously a word game. He says "I hate word games, so I made one that I like". The game has no vowel tiles, and you basically just call out a word you see in the 8 visible letters and score it. 2 letters shift off the board each time a word is made, keeping it fresh for each player. You can 'steal' or 'interrupt' the current player to score, but it is scored slightly less. I like this one.

Age of Industry
3rd play, and we finally got to use the other side, or map #2. It is more difficult, only 2 coal spaces for players to build, but a lot of off-shore coal. Very odd, but fun. I tied for last.

Tichu
Played this with a couple of guys I found playing another card game. I got my first Grand Tichu.

Sunday
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Last day of the con, and Dennis and Martin were flying out soon, I had a late flight, so I looked for a few games. I played this with 3 other folks, and I turned out to be the Traitor. another player was one room away with the revolver and made short work of my character, so I focused on the creeping vines. I managed to 'mulch' one other player before the plants died a nasty death.

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer
This was getting a lot of buzz, and there was a guy demoing it. I played it and I liked it. It's easier to set up and reset than Dominion and Thunderstone, which may be the reason I buy it over the other two. I think I need at least one deck building game..

Peloponnes
I played this with the owner (and his wife) of Fun Again Games, a fact I didn't know until almost the second game. We played once, and messed up the rules enough, that a second play was in order. The game is fun, but I need more plays. It's pretty light, but has a good bidding part to make you think a little more. The game finished right when I needed to leave for the airport.

That's it! For the most part, one highlight was hard 8 BBQ, and the fact that I got to spend time with Dennis & Martin playing Titan and other games. The travel was wearing, so I don't think I'll do BGG Con yearly.. maybe every 3-5 years.

Game on!

Portland Juggling Festival, 2010

2010-10-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

The annual festival has come and gone. It was a good weekend. I took a lot of workshops, and did some great progress. Also, it was great to have my friends Marcus and Tim in town for the weekend. The shows were good, and I got to see a few friends at the show.

I took some 3 ball, 4 ball and 5 ball workshops, and a clubs back-cross workshop. I made good progress on my 4 ball tricks, and finally got the 3 ball shower going. 5 balls is still eluding me beyond 6 or 7 catches. I also got my first few successful club back-crosses. I didn't do a lot of passing.

I was a volunteer again, Gym Coordinator and Late Night Czar. We also tried something new this year to try to get more people who wanted to learn in a 'learning corner'.

The Friday Night 'renegade' show was pretty cool some of the acts were:

Juggling 2 balls in one hand while making a balloon animal in the other
A bit on how Cannibalism will save the environment
A juggling act to the song 'Pour some sugar on me'
Juggling on a giraffe unicycle
3 ball contact juggling
Two person club passing with 3 clubs, lots of switching out and swapping
A great street juggler act

There were over 20 bits at the renegade show, and most of them were entertaining.

The public show was great, too. My friends Jamie and Joe showed up, as they have in the past. Whitten showed up with his kids, and they thoroughly enjoyed the show. It was great to see the kids enjoy themselves so much.

A few of the acts from the public show that I thought were really great:

An acrobat / contortionist did a great routine, ending with shooting a bow and arrow with her feet. Accurately.
A bounce juggling act combined with beat-boxing.
The headliner act, Justin, did 7 clubs, all back-crosses, plus a lot of other great stuff.

Some web resources I found on the web:
A Picsaweb Gallery
7 Ball Endurance
Another PJF goer's blog posting

R.I.P. Grendel

2010-10-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

Grendel was our Cairn Terrier that was given 3 weeks to live. 2 years ago. If you don't remember, here's the post:
http://jghostman.blogspot.com/2008/07/grendels-pain.html

Anyway, he had liver failure that was causing his skin to slough off, and it was ugly and sad. We ended up changing his food (and in fact, all of the dogs) to a home cooked diet. Meran calls it doggy stew. Grendel made a fast recovery, and lived on.

His whole life, we joked his name should have been Eyor, not Grendel. He was not a scary monster at all, just the complete opposite. He was always the sick one, it was at least a year after we first got him that we found out that he had a urinal tract infection, and had probably had it for the year (or before) we had him.

Here's some photos of his better days.

Grendel in the back, he had some red in his coat.

Close up of 'hang dog'

Leaning tower of Grendel

Trying to get some sleep.

Well, that's it. We loved him, and we know a lot of folks enjoyed him. We're glad he is finally pain free...

Thieves' World - Beggar's Revenge

2010-08-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV : Prince and Steel : Festival : Kadakithis & HellHounds : Sikkintairs & Portals : The Swans : Stepsons vs. Jubal : Roxane

Beggar's Revenge

12th of Sperraz, Ilsday
After a few unnaturally quiet days, Gagino opens up his shop in the Bazaar and takes stock of the potential prospects for the day. There has been a noticeable, steady increase of Moruth’s beggars around the Bazaar, and business has been steadily dropping off. After a few minutes of self-deliberation, he decides to take the day off from business, and heads off for a drink or two at Marta’s with his friends.

At Marta’s, Gagino joins Modig and Jack, who are already wolfing down their breakfasts. Malkar has been missing since the attack on Roxane, and his absence is the top discussion. Lisle saunters in and subtly delivers a message to Modig. The note is from Gastov and inquires about Malkar’s recent activities; there is also an offer of some work. Modig and the group discuss the note and the prospect of a job. When breakfast is finished, the Group finds themselves on their way to the Happy Beaver to talk with Gastov.

At the Beaver, the Group and Gastov talk about the offer for work in the Maze. Gastov has a friend who owns a place in the Maze called The Dead Dog Tavern. His name is Jackson, and he’s having problems with some beggars and local riffraff causing problems that normally Jubal’s protection would have taken care of. Since Jubal’s protection is gone, the Group is going to go and see what they can do to help.

With Modig leading the way, the Group navigates the Maze to the Dead Dog. They drink the only good mead in the Maze with Jackson, who proves to be a surly man who’s definitely come to age in the Maze. Jackson has known Gastov for a few years during their business together and is glad to have an offer of protection from him. Over the drinks, Jackson talks of the toughs coming in and causing problems. The Dead Dog is a local place that attracts the weaker elements of the Maze, and Jubal’s protection was useful in this regard. Another new occurance is that there has been a significant increase of beggars in the area. The Group asks if there is a place they can stay, but Jackson doesn’t rent rooms; however, there is a building down the street that some beggars are squatting in. Maybe they can kill two birds with one stone by clearing out the beggars.

They go scout the building; their efforts reveal one door and a very small opening that might be a window, but it is more of a “murder hole”. The Group decides to press the attack since they have the element of surprise. They spread out, Gagino at the murder hole, Jack at the front door, and Modig coming down through the roof. Jack rushes in and springs a trap on the door, getting shot with poisoned darts. His strong constitution proves stronger than the poison. The room has six people inside. For appearing as beggars, they seem to be well armed. Jack rushes in and starts swinging at them, meanwhile Gagino starts playing a raucous tune on his mandolin, summoning a creature to aid them. Modig climbs along the roof, pulls a few loose boards away and drops into the building from the roof above. One of the beggars moves to block up the murder hole, and the rest focus on Jack. Gagino’s summoned monster is a hellhound, and it attacks the man trying to block the murder hole. Modig finally makes it through the roof and drops in to aid in the battle. It ends fairly quickly, but two of the beggars end up getting away. The Group searches the space, and finds a stash of weapons: poor crossbows and cheap swords. Hidden in a corner, there’s a strongbox with the beggar’s cache, a dozen or so shabooza – all in padpols.

The Group sets up defensive preparations for the building. Gagino goes to purchase a mallet and some nails, and is severely overcharged due to his upscale manner of dress. Gagino is steamed about the expensive tools, and takes it out on the repair he’s making. The building is livable, still not nice, but livable. They finish their repair tasks and go try the Dead Dog Tavern for a meal.

Trying to relax in the Maze after eating a surprisingly poor dinner at the Dead Dog, the Group hears some noise outside and they prepare for an attack. Someone tries the door, setting off the trap that Modig had reset. The door remains closed, and the Group hears ‘Ok, light it up’. Men outside the building with torches are attempting to set the ramshackle building on fire. Not as easy as it could be, as the building’s exterior of adobe is still decently intact. More men with crossbows have set up positions around the building on rooftops. Some flames catch and Gagino battles the minor flames fairly successfully. Jack sprints outside to attack anyone he can get to, which are only the torchbearers trying to start the building on fire. Modig attacks the crossbowmen, surrounding them on the rooftops, killing a few, and the rest run away. The attackers now fended off, the Group focuses their efforts on quashing the last fire. This attack and new damage to the building sparks a discussion on what to do with the building now, whether to fix it or move their Maze base somewhere else. They’ll decide tomorrow; right now they need some sleep, even if the building smells of charred wood.

13th of Sperraz
The Group decides to repair the building and stay where they are, but this time will have Gagino find better materials for better prices. Malkar shows up at Marta’s, and Kalima finds him there; both of them are not sure where the rest of the Group is. Malkar suggests that Gastov at the Happy Beaver might know something. Gastov fills them in on the job in the Maze, and the two of them go into the Maze to look for the others.

The rest of the Group is waiting in the Maze, near the beggar building looking out for more beggars and the toughs that should be around. Gagino takes his leave to open his shop in the Bazaar, and to run down some supplies. Jack goes with Gagino to take a bath, to return in a few hours. Malkar and Kalima manage to find their way to the Dead Dog, and has little problem finding their friends. Malkar and Modig seek and find the gang that they were hired to deal with and they watch what they suspect is the gang’s headquarters all morning. The gang leaves in the early afternoon, and Modig follows them around. Modig watches as the gang visits a few places, and when they start approaching the Dead Dog tavern, Modig slips away to inform the Group of the gang’s approach. As the gang nears the tavern, the Group prepares for confrontation.

The gang is made up of five tough-looking older men; they could easily be ex-Hawkmasks. The Group tells them that the Dead Dog is under their protection now. The gang recognizes the characters from their reputation around the area, and decides to leave without further incident.

“That was too easy”, says Modig. The group agrees and decides to remain in the area just in case there is any further trouble. The Group sets up watch over the Dead Dog and starts cleaning up the scorched building. Kalima fashions a crude hammock out of a length of rope. She’s slept better, but it is better than the floor. The others decide the hammock is a good idea, and decide to get some more rope or actual hammocks the next day.

14th of Sperraz
Early in the morning, Jack is outside the building when two young urchins approach him selling baked goods, and services. Jack recognizes Gabe and Jilly; they also recognize Jack from a few months ago. Jilly sells them the baked goods and Gabe works for them in the building cleaning up the fire damage and soot, after rushing off to find some decent cleaning supplies. The Group continues to stay outside of the Dead Dog and notices the beggars are all watching them. Gabe gets paid for his day of work, and goes home. The Group tries their luck with dinner at the Dead Dog again. The results are the same: they need to find a more pleasant source of food in the Maze. When they return, Kalima’s makeshift hammock has been cut to bits; the few items in the building are broken or tossed around. And to top it off, there is a fresh leaving of human waste in the center of the room. The Group believes that the beggars are responsible for this vandalism, as there are suspiciously very few beggars around.

15th of Sperraz
Gabe and Jilly meet the group at the door for more breakfast goodies and work. The Group buys more baked goods for breakfast and sends Gabe out for supplies: Hammocks, canvas and other items for their headquarters in the Maze. They tell him to go to Gagino in the Bazaar, and he’ll set everything up. The Group makes sure that there is always one of them in the building to keep the beggars from vandalizing it again. During the watch on the Dead Dog, one of the gang members visits the tavern; it looks like a peaceful enough visit, as nothing happens. On his return, Gabe tells the group about an attack on Gagino’s tent. Yesterday, the first thing in the morning, Gagino’s tent was attacked by a group of beggars: the tent sides were cut, and a few items were stolen. The tent is okay, as fellow Bazaar residents helped with repairs. The Group discusses the event with surprise, and is becoming very wary of the beggars around them.

Gabe informs the Group that the beggars are organizing a different kind of attack against Gagino in the Bazaar. The beggars are uncomfortably close to the tent and are keeping customers away from shopping with Gagino. Halfway throughout the day, the beggars increase their actions by spreading to the neighboring tents. Gagino’s neighboring merchants threaten the beggars with guards, but as soon as they are moved away, others slink in to take their places. Gagino starts playing his mandolin nonchalantly, and summons a couple of wolves to attack the beggars. The two wolves attack four of the beggars, killing one and chasing the other 3 off. Gagino releases the wolves as soon as the beggars run away. A guard comes rushing to the scene and starts asking everyone what happened. Since the dead beggar is directly in front of Gagino’s tent, the Guard starts with Gagino. Gagino slips the man a couple of shabooza, and relates that the beggars were a problem, and that something happened that took care of them. The Guard does some additional questioning, but leaves fairly quickly.

In the Maze, the rest of the Group keeps watch over their building and the tavern. They discuss a plan to fake leaving in the morning, to see if the gang of toughs leaves the Dead Dog alone or not. Additionally, the beggars have become a little more brazen: they begin throwing odd bits of whatever they can find at the Group members whenever they are within range. The beggars scamper and scurry off quickly after a throw, and it isn’t worth the Group’s time to chase after them, annoying as the pithy attacks are.

16th of Sperraz
The Group continues with their plan to make it look like they are leaving. After the show of them leaving is orchestrated, Malkar and Modig sneak back to see if the Gang stays away from The Dead Dog Tavern. They set up watch near their building, but watch from separate hidden locations.

Meanwhile, at Gagino’s tent in the Bazaar, the beggars continue to keep business away with their presence and pushy nature towards potential customers. Kalima stalks down a beggar and tries to get to the reason to why the beggars are focusing their efforts them. The beggar replies with “You attacked us first!” and scrambles away without any more words.

At dusk, a beggar approaches with a note, informing the Group of a chance to meet with Moruth, the Beggar King of Downwind. Kalima sends an owl to Malkar and Modig, informing them of the meet-up. Malkar and Modig tie a return note to the owl with “wait for us” and start out for the Bazaar, vacating their post. When they get there Kalima is finishing up some spellcasting, in preparation for the confrontation with Moruth as it could easily get dangerous. One spell is Zone of Truth, so that they can make sure that Moruth is honest with them; other spells are for the protection of the Group.

Entering Downwind, they are greeted with a barrage of items being thrown at them: rocks, pottery shards, dirt clods, sticks of wood and whatever else that can be found handy. The Group doesn’t retaliate, but lower their heads for protection and continue on. Eventually, one item that is thrown at them is a piece of white cloth tied to a stick. Kalima picks it up and holds it above their heads. The assault dies off and they see a man step out from an alley. He tells them to follow him to Mama Beecho’s place. The building they arrive at is “nice” by Maze standards, and “amazing” by Downwind standards. They enter into a single room tavern, with a curtain down the middle. The tables are low to the ground, as they are meant for cushions or pillows, of which there are none visible. Their guide motions at the curtain and hastily leaves the building.

Entering the side of the room hidden with the curtain, the Group sees a lone man sitting at another low table; it seems all the cushions have been appropriated for this table. Jack recognizes the Beggar King, Moruth. Moruth smiles a jagged smile, and waves at the table, inviting them to sit down. There are cups for drink, rags soaked with Opah, and little else. As soon as they sit, a young man comes in and starts pouring what must pass for wine in Downwind into all of the cups. Moruth encourages the Group to drink, and inhale the Opah provided. The group drinks shallowly, but doesn’t partake in the Opah.

Moruth quickly gets down to business, and makes three offers for a truce. The first offer is that the Group leaves town – permanently. Second, Moruth wants any member of the Group to come to the aid of any beggar in trouble, be it from the hand of a guard or a citizen. The third and final offer is a single payment of 1,000 shabooza. The Group tells Moruth that they need time to answer him, and he gives them until sunset tomorrow. With the offers that have been made, and Moruth’s hospitality assumedly slighted, the Group is hasty to leave. At least leaving Downwind is easier than it was entering and who would have thought the stenches of the far Westside would be a welcome odor?

After some drinks at Marta’s, the Group comes up with two counteroffers, and they write them in a letter to Moruth. First offer is a one-time payment of 500 sh and assistance to any beggar in legitimate trouble on the street in the Westside or the Bazaar. The second offer is one of an alliance of the Group and the beggars for defense against any Hawkmask oppression, and the beggars will also get the Maze building back. Happy with their progress with the beggars, the Group goes to their respective homes for the night.

17th of Sperraz
In the Bazaar, a beggar shows up at Gagino’s test and Gagino hands her a sealed note for Moruth, along with a few padpols. Around midday, Moruth sends an answer and declines both of their offers. Not wanting to leave town or pay the 1000 shabooza, the Group decides to start helping the beggars around town. They start in the bazaar, which keeps Jack busy everywhere he goes. Now that they are on watch for it, beggars seem to be getting pushed around or roughed up on every corner. The Group can hardly walk more than a few blocks without intervening on a beggar’s behalf.

A scribe approaches Gagino offering his services. The two men seem to hit it off and they start discussing jobs and future plans.

Meanwhile, Malkar shows up at the Happy Beaver to talk to Gastov about Jackson and the Dead Dog Tavern. Gastov sees him enter, and jumps off of his usual bar stool in a wild rush. Gastov attacks him screaming “You sonuva froggin’ whore! Jackson is dead, and the Dead Dog is burned to the ground!” Gastov pounds wildly on Malkar and Malkar is spitting out apologies between hits. He quickly escapes Gastov and retreats from the Happy Beaver, wondering where he’s going to stay now. He wanders down to the WideWay and sees the crowds gathered, all looking at the sea; on the horizon, there are dozens of sails that can be made out, maybe more. That many ships can’t be good for Sanctuary. Word is spreading through town quickly as the others join Malkar on the WideWay. Kalima says her goodbyes to the Group and heads for her temple to inform them of the ships; but the Temple has already heard the news. The city is starting to set up defenses, as it appears to be an attack. The Temple suggests to Kalima that she go to the Promise of Heaven where other mages are gathering.

At the docks, Modig has a lengthy discussion with Hakeem about the ships. Hakeem doesn’t have much information, he’s never seen these sails or ship configurations before. Modig decides he needs to get some rest; tomorrow looks like it’s going to be a big day. He makes it back to his apartment for the first time in a week and finds it ransacked, including one of the Group stashes of money hidden under a floorboard.

Jack wanders around the WideWay and ends up at the docks, stopping to talk to any Stepson he encounters in the area. Everyone is preparing for the worst, an invasion of some sort. The Palace is setting up magical wards and defenses and bringing all soldiers and guards in to guard the Palace. Seems the Rankens are going to let the common folk of Sanctuary fend for themselves.

At the end of the day, The Group still needs to remedy the beggar situation, and after a day of helping the beggars, they find that it is a full time job and not worth it. They decide to make the payment to Moruth, only to find out that after their counteroffer, the payout has been increased to 1250 shabooza. The Group digs into their shared treasury to pay off the beggars. Maybe now they will get some peace, although with the ships on the Horizon, maybe the beggars were the least of their problems.

GameStorm 12 - Pictures

2010-06-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Somehow I temporarily lost the pictures I took at GameStorm 12 this year - specifically during the Savage Worlds Hellride adventure.

So, here's a re-post of the adventure, and the pictures will follow.
Savage Worlds RPG
Hellride - Hellforce One
This game was a sequel from last year, although I didn't play it. The genre is modern. There is a gate to another world, which seems to be high fantasy - Demons, Gorgons, Dragons, etc. So, there are high-powered monsters, but we also have missiles, tanks, fully automatic guns, grenades, and gate magic to transport across the worlds. I played the medic, and took a gambling quirk. We were recruited for a mission to the other world, due to Air Force One being attacked by demon-looking creatures, which then disappeared. The President and about 40 other passengers were on board. We got a tank requisitioned, some guns, ammo, and a gate 'Go Back Box'. Simple. Find the President, activate box, bickety-bam, we're home.

We gate over, and the first thing I do is lay out a betting pool for what would break first on the assault vehicle. We look around and see a big column of light that is obvious enough for us to see it a few dozen miles away; we figure that's where we're going.

First thing we run into is a stampeding herd of creatures - which turned out to be Gorgons - thousands of them. We manage to duck into a cave (vehicle and all) while they pass. In the cave, an interested pack of rats emerge. The commander got a claymore mine positioned in time, however. After the Gorgons go by, and the rat bits are cleaned off the windshield, we're ready to go.

We drive into a canyon, and notice figures on the rim of the cliffs above us. We watch them, and after a few miles, they start tossing rocks down at the vehicle - one lucky hit, but no damage. We use the turreted machine gun to suppress further attacks. We round a corner and see a crudely built rock wall; we come to a stop. Rocks come down, and we decide to go for the rock wall - which is more like a long pile of rocks than a wall. The vehicle struggles through the pile - the loose rocks aren't a problem, though they do slow down progress. On the other side, there are 5 creatures standing there, with what looks like war paint. One of them is obviously the chief. Surprisingly, they speak a broken English. They are wanting us to leave; we tell them we are looking for our Chief. They are concerned that we are here for 'gems'. We convince them we have no interest in these gems, and that we need to get to the column of light in the distance. They decide to trust us and show us a short cut towards the column of light.

Driving at a creeping pace uphill towards the light, we get to the plateau where the light is coming from. The scene: Air Force One is hovering about 30' off of the ground, and there are actually 5 beams of light that make up the column. The 5 beams form a pentagram, where each point has a small ritual of dancing and spell casting - apparently keeping the magical 'threads' intact. In addition to the five groups, there is a massive Demon-looking thing, and he's flanked by two important looking smaller guys - all three of them seem to be in the middle of supporting a spell, as well. Behind these three, is a regiment of Arabs, which we're none-to-keen on seeing.

Pour on the attack! Our first shot is a LAW missile into one of the five dancing groups (I voted for the big, nasty, ugly demon-looking guy, but was out-voted) and the group goes down. So does the magical thread. The plane rocks ominously in the sky, but stays where it is, just not as stable as before. Then the vehicle starts going, we track a path around the plane, aiming to run down each group at the base of each thread. During the whole loop, various other monsters jump the vehicle, and we manage to brush them off with gunfire and grenades. The Arabs split up and start setting up rocket launchers and the Big Demon decides to fly up in the air. Meanwhile, our gate expert is starting counter spells for the threads. The Demon comes down and throws a cone of flames on the vehicle, barely scorching it; one of the Arabs manages to get a missile off, it hits but the impact was low. The gate expert manages to work the spell so that he can swing the plane around, trying to hit the flying Demon with Air Force One! The second LAW missile is targeted on the big Demon, with a direct hit. This crushes the morale of the monsters running around attacking us, and we can concentrate on the missile launchers still being set up. The plane drops to the ground, hopefully not injuring anyone inside. The Arab groups are dealt with, and we get a few prisoners to 'question'. A few minutes later, we board the plane, get the vehicle against the plane, and make it back to Earth with a mostly-intact Air Force One. Casualties are surprisingly low for our side. After the excitement of returning, we are invited to the White House for a huge highfalutin reception.

Oh, and the driver won the bet - the windshield wipers were the first thing to break.

Overall, I really like the Savage Worlds system; I bought the 'Explorers Edition' for $10 - cheapest RPG I've bought so far!

No, on to the pictures, the GM had some killer props. This was the final scene, with airforce one in the center of the scene.

The airplane was cool, and the armored vehicle worked great, too!

The armored truck was a force to be reckoned with, we were mowing down opponents with it. I giant, steerable bowling ball. hehehe.

Still running down demons.

Here's where our gate expert starts swinging the plane as a weapon.
The wings are starting to rip off.

The plane is unusable, but we're gating back to Earth, not flying.

R.I.P. Colin

2010-06-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Our oldest dog was put down a few weeks back, I wanted to post something with pictures, so we spent time going through old pictures and scanning them. So, here's a memory lane of photos:

A very young Colin.

A very young Colin, probably focused on a toy (tennis ball most likely)

Colin and Daisy.

He loved playing fetch! His rapt attention on the Frisbee..

He was smart always figured it out. The Frisbee was too big for him, but he figured a way to carry it anyway.

And he loved the snow!

Older, more mature Colin.

Of course, with his beloved Tennis Ball.

Treats! Prairie Dog pose.

A trick we taught him - to balance stuff on his muzzle.

What's that boy? Timmy fall down a well?

Waiting for another throw.

TWO Tennis balls nearby!

Colin, Daisy and Grendel on their matching couch.

Colin and Grendel after enjoying the snow.

Colin will be missed.

New front door

2010-06-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

We ordered a new door, and finally got it installed. Our favorite contractor (Jerry) installed it while I was out of town on business. Meran is super pleased with it.
It's an Atruim Entry / Patio Door.

The key is that the side lights open and are screened so we can have airflow without opening the door. We are looking for a working screen door / storm door solution for the door itself, but right now, that's not a priority. And, the entryway to the house is soooo much brighter, since everything is full-light.

The down side, is the size of our opening was such that the door we ended up with is a 32" door, instead of a 36" door. We are planning on ordering another one, and move this door to another spot in the house. In a year or so, we'll see.

Now on to the pictures!

Walking up to the house, some finish work is done, but we still need to paint the porch.

Looking through the plants on the porch.

Closer view.

Inside view. the interior trim work is being painted, then installed. The white is just primer, so we can paint it whatever color we want. and the linoleum is going to be swapped out with some nice slate tile.

That's it. Short post, huh?

Review - Alesis DM10 drum module

2010-05-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

I've had this sucker for over a month now, and I think I have enough data to compose a review, and I do this after finding out something that is super annoying. But, we'll get to that.

First, a quick review for the impatient. This is, IMHO, the best module for it's price on the market today. Alesis could probably charge 50% more (and maybe more) and it would still be a good price. With extra purchasable 'sound sets', the DM10 is also expandable without having to go the full VST / Laptop / computer route, this isn't the first module to allow uploads (I have heard the ddrum modules did), but it is the first in recent years, and is definitely a feature that is unique in the current market. The triggering and editing capabilities are excellent and easy to learn. A few minor annoyances aside, I am very, very happy with this module.

The fuller, longer version for the detail gluttons:
The DM10 module is the newest offering from Alesis for their e-drums set. A full kit runs about $1000 (US) for the 'Studio' and about $1500 for the 'Pro' kit. Personally, if I were buying a full kit, I'd get the 'Studio' kit.

Since I built my own e-drums using acoustic shells, and I already own a bunch of e-cymbals, I only wanted to purchase the module. Cost $639, plus the mounting hardware of $40. (purchased from RMC Audio)

Comparison vs. Roland (functionality & price)
Functionally, it compares in between the Roland TD-9 and the TD-12. It has some high-end features which makes it a better module than the TD-9, but there are features that the TD-12 have that the DM10 doesn't, so I rate it in-between for functionality. But for cost, it is LESS than the TD-9, making it a great deal.

Comparison vs. Yamaha (functionality & price)
If you're a Yamaha edrummer, it's got a lot of the features of the DTXtreme III (layering comes to mind) and completely out classes the DTXPress IV. I think the only thing that the DTXtreme III has on it is on-board sampling (which even Roland TD-20 doesn't have!). The DM10 is definitely better than the DTXPress, but not quite the level of the Extreme.

After that, the DM10 is a very good module for low/mid-entry level e-drummers, it's just slightly short of the other companies top-end offerings, making it a great deal. For expereinced e-drummers, if you are used to a top-of the line modules, this may not do what you want, but it is cheaper, so if you are looking for the mondo kit and one more module, maybe this would be a good second / add-on module.

My experiences with it:
The good:
excellent editing capabilities - I get excellent dynamic response from my drum pads after tweaking the module a bit, and once I learned some settings, I could apply them across all my pads to get good response from all of them.

Lot's of inputs - The DM10 has 11 stereo inputs that an industrious user could use and configure 22 single-input pads. the 12th input is the hi-hat, and it is not stereo, only mono.

Hi-hat dynamics - This was the primary reason I bought this module, I wanted a newer module with excellent hi-hat reaction and definition. I can get about 5-6 different levels of 'openness' that I can hear. Maybe there are more, but I can't hear the difference. I can get a foot chik, and a splash.

3-zone ride feature - this takes 2 inputs (2 stereo cables) but you get a ride that has a bow, bell, edge crash and choke functionality.

Built-in kits - 100 pre-programmed kits out of the box. This thing sounds really quite good. Even kit 001, Fusion, is decent and I find myself using a lot of the default kits. You can modify these kits, too, if you want. But there are a lot of room to customize, read on.

Editable kits - the DM10 gives you 100 more kits to edit to your hearts content, what is better, you can copy a pre-programmed kit, and make changes to it, leaving the default kit alone, and allowing some significant tweak room to make your perfect kit.

Third party kits - the DM10 is going to soon feature down-loadable sound sets. These are specific kits that are made for the DM10 from companies like ToonTrack, FXPansion and others. These sound sets will allow you to replace the default sounds with a purchased 'high definition sound set'. Alesis hasn't quite gotten these out yet - to my current disappointment - but they are planning to have some for purchase soon.

Expandability - The DM10 has a unique feature to allow access to 35 additional customized sounds via MIDI. And this could be user-custom sounds, not just stock sounds. So, with my Trigger IO, I could build a monster kit with this option.

The Bad:
Single Zone hi-hat. tip and shank - is that really too much to ask for?

One choke-able crash - for some reason, only the input #7 for a crash cymbal allows choke. True, the ride allows choke, but only when configured as a 3-zone. I have a second crash that I cannot configure to choke, and I am slightly disappointed in that.

MIDI note editing - I just found this out, I was testing the DM10 into VST - I own Steven Slate Drums and I wanted to check out the DM10's MIDI capability / functionality. I found the that the hi-hat and Ride MIDI notes cannot be edited - and the manual confirms this. I found this super annoying, and while I am resourceful and can get around this in at least 3 different ways, the easiest way is to edit the note in the module. Why would Alesis hard-code MIDI note numbers for certain inputs? It baffles me.

That's my review, and as usual, I was long-winded. Maybe you'll find this useful, I hope so. If there are questions you have, feel free to post them, and I will answer them as best I can.
Tschuss!

Thieves' World - Roxane

2010-04-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV : Prince and Steel : Festival : Kadakithis & HellHounds : Sikkintairs & Portals : The Swans : Stepsons vs. Jubal

Roxane

5^th of Sperraz, Ilsday
The Group decides to scout out Roxane’s headquarters to gain some ideas on how to best attack her. Gagino and Modig go to Roxane’s building; they approach from the Street of Red Lanterns and circle around to the back. Once the two get close to the building, an overwhelming feeling of discontent rises up their backs, and they hastily retreat from the building. Discussing this with the others, it is decided that Roxane probably has a magical ward around the building to discourage curious people.
Everyone rests until dusk. The Group decides to try to strike at Roxane’s Death Squads before they can even make it into the City. They find a suitable location in a copse of trees that are near a ford in the White Foal River. Their ambush is planned and set up; now they just await the victims. The Group hears the Death Squads approach from the Marsh, cross the river at the ford, and wend south towards the trees the Group is hiding in. The Group hides as best as they can, but Kalima is spotted, and the three approaching death squads attack the Group immediately.
Everyone engages with the Death Squad members, and start exchanging blows. Modig and Kalima fight valiantly, but get overwhelmed and taken down. Malkar and Nick get some wounds but manage to stay up the entire fight. Jack goes into a berserker rage, and manages to take out the bulk of them, and a very few manage to escape. The Group quickly grabs up some of the Death Squad equipment and get Modig and Kalima to the Temple of Sabellia.
On the way to the Temple, Tempus crosses with the Group. They give him a report on the Death Squads. He listens, but doesn’t seem too concerned with the news. The Group continues on to the Temple, grumbling about Tempus’ lack of concern. The Priestesses take very good care of the wounded two, and Modig is feeling much better by the next morning; Kalima will need another day of rest.

6^th of Sperraz
Malkar, Jack, Akhir, Kama and Modig meet at Marta’s for breakfast. After a quick breakfast, Kama and Modig head over to where Roxane is, in order to set up some traps. The traps they are using are the explosive traps they have appropriated from the Death Squads they pounded in the fight last night. Carefully, Modig starts setting up some traps; his fingers fumble a bit while setting the first trap and it explodes! Modig gets a blackened face, and a hurt ego. The explosion alerts Roxane, and she looks out the window to investigate. She sees the two running away, and casts a spell on them. They are both engulfed in a column of fire, damaging Modig to the point of unconsciousness. Kama hefts Modig up and heads back to the familiar Temple of Sabellia. Jack meets up with Kama and helps to carry Modig. Malkar picks up on their trail and gets to the temple as well. The group discusses the beginnings of a plan to take care of Roxane, once and for all.

Malkar goes to the Happy Beaver for some rest and relaxation. One of Gastov’s men approaches him and chats him up. Since Jubal is apparently out of business, this guy is recruiting for his own gang of thugs. Malkar tells the guy he’ll think about it, and goes to his room to sleep off the day’s events.
The next morning at Marta’s, Malkar tells Jack about the man in the Happy Beaver recruiting. They discuss some of what might be happening with Jubal gone. Akhir listens in and makes comments over his breakfast.

Gagino goes to the Temple to visit the recovering Kalima; they both leave and meet up with Modig and Kama in the courtyard. They head West to meet up with the rest of the Group. They discuss their plans to attack Roxane, everyone is very optimistic about their chances of defeating the witch. Kama has her reservations about success but she celebrates the night before battle by inviting Jack to her bed.

7^th of Sperraz
Akhir loads up the Group with magical enhancements: Fly, Armor, Protection, and Speed spells. The Group is ready to take on Roxane. Kama, Akhir, and Malkar get on a wall near the Palace while Kalima and Jack await for the signal to rush the building from the front door. The attack is set, and the Group awaits Roxane’s appearance.
Roxane gets to the top of her building and summons the nightly Sikkintair using a Summon spell. The Group uses this as their cue to attack from their positions; Kama and Malkar fly in magically, and surprise Roxane with a few attacks. Kalima and Jack burst through the front door and start running through the building, doors opening in the hallway as they run through. Roxane uses a Lightning spell and commands the Sikkintair to defend her. Kama, Malkar, Jack and Kalima pound on Roxane, and they manage to kill her in their swift attack. The Group finishes off the two Soul Sniffers on the roof, along with her two serpentine guardians. As they exit the building, there are more Soul Sniffers on the ground floor that had come out of the doors earlier. These are easily dispatched as well. Kama insists on visiting Tempus for a status update, and then the Group goes to celebrate at Marta’s. Kama and Jack celebrate again by going to Kama’s room at the barracks.

8^th of Sperraz
With the witch dead, Kama’s duty is done, and she can’t wait to get the hell out of Sanctuary. She wakes early, but doesn’t disturb the sleeping Jack in her bed, and she prepares to leave town quickly. She makes her goodbyes to her father, Tempus. Tempus presents her with a new horse, and she rides out as the sun is starting to rise. Jack comes out of the Barracks an hour later or so, and makes his way to the usual Marta’s for breakfast. The Group meets up at Marta’s and hopes for some quieter days now that Roxane is gone.

Game Storm 12

2010-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

I know you've all been awaiting this with huge expectations. Here is my annual GameStorm report. Enjoy!

The format is basically this: Game name, followed by a brief description (could be lifted from BGG) and then my personal experience of the play.

Thursday
Snow Tails
A race game on snow using dog sleds. To maneuver / turn, one dog must be pulling harder than another. Dodging trees is interesting.

We didn't finish the race; I'm not surprised, with 3 newbie players and only an hour to play - and the person running the game showed up 20 minutes late. Still, I like the game with the unique race method of dogs and pull for steering. If you like race games, this is a good one.

Power Grid - Factory Manager
Basically, this game is supposed to be in the Power Grid family, but it doesn't really have much to do with Power Grid. You run a factory producing goods, and buy tiles (Robots, Machines, Storage, and Optimization) to increase your income. The game is 5 turns and the player with the most money wins.

I've only played this once (twice, but the first time was a rules knowledge disaster), so I decided to set up the orange cone and see who would play. I got 2 players after about 20-30 minutes of waiting, and we were starting the second phase of the first turn when another guy showed up. So, we had four, which is good - I've played with 5 before, and I was interested in seeing how (or if) it played differently. No opinion there, the players played differently, and I'm not sure if the differences were in the number of players or the players themselves, but I tend to think the latter is more true. I came in 3rd out of 4 players, but I realized I was doing poorly on the 2nd to the last turn, and I was still planning growth instead of my end game. All in all, I enjoyed the game.

Agricola
A farming game, using your people to take actions. Build your house up, get animals, fences and stables. Plow and sow fields. Slaughter animals, bake bread, cook vegetables to feed your family.

I was teaching a new player (one who just played Factory Manager with me) and we played "Family Style" without the Occupations and Minor Improvements. I still think this is a good game. I probably could have been more helpful in my teaching, but he did well learning the game.

Merchants: Lords of the Sea
A card game where you trade goods, sell them on a variable market (prices are set by players) and sell goods. Whenever you sell, all players with that item makes money. There are extra cards that give you bonus powers - dockworker, etc.

Simple game; Dave snagged me on my way out for a late night quick last game. It was fun, but I won't go out of my way to play it. A good filler game. I tied for 1st out of 3 players.

Friday
Agricola
I saw the recruiter of the game walking around the game room with the box lid in his hand to advertise the game to be played. I just walked in and was not sure what to play yet, so I jumped in and started. And began looking at what I'd play next. I did okay; I had animals and fences earlier than the rest of the players, but was late getting kids / actions. I came in 3rd of 4 players.

Power Grid: Brazil
In Brazil, power providers prefer biogas for the production of electricity. Thus, players should consider the garbage power plants as biogas-fired power plants and the garbage resources as biogas tanks when playing with the Brazil maps. The fight for scarce resources is intense and will keep the players focused during the game!

Interesting game, tho we never made it to Step 3 - the winning player built to 15 plants, and powered 13; I and another could power 12, tying for 2nd place - we didn't count money so we didn't work out the tie. Not really worth it!

Bonus for me: I had my copy of the expansion and lent it to the organizer so that he could run 2 games later in the Con for Spain/Portugal and for the tournament on Sunday. I got a Flux Capacitor power plant card as a thank you gift.. Sweeeet! (its cost is 33 1/3, and it takes 4 of ANYTHING to power 6 cities).

Middle Earth Quest
A game of adventure and conflict set in the time leading up to the creation of the Fellowship. One player will adopt the mantle of Sauron and do his best to spread his evil influence across the lands. Up to three players become heroes and will do their best to foil Sauron's foul plots, and rally the peoples of Middle-Earth to their side.

Great game; I had a lot of fun playing it. We were doing our best to defeat Sauron (played by Dave) and in the end, both sides won and lost at the same time. Both sides won because we got the victory track markers to the winning area at the same time. We both lost because neither side's 'secret goals' were accomplished. Overall, I think it was an odd outcome, but the game was fun enough I didn't care who won.

Dragon Dice - Sealed Starter Tournament
The dice represent armies of different fantasy races and monsters which battle to control essential pieces of terrain. Any number of players can share in this struggle, although it's normally only 2 players. The first player to capture two terrains wins the game immediately. You might use spells for certain kind of armies to get better attacks or defense.

Our own Stumptown Dice Rollers Guild held its first tournament - run by the Washington rep, Dave. With several games, I won some, and I lost some - a few in great fashion. The end of the tournament was called due to time (JT conceded). The new player won the tournament, and got a starter army for his efforts.

Saturday
Dungeon Lords
You are the Dungeon owner! Pesky adventurers are going to maraude your beautiful dungeon, and you need to get monsters and traps to destroy them before they destroy your dungeon. Use imps to get gold, food and other resources to manage your dungeon.

This is a fun game, and the winning strategy is usually to go evil and get the points for killing the paladin that comes in to the most evil players dungeon. This was not the case, as I won the game by 2 points, and I didn't kill the paladin. I was never even evil enough to attract his attention. I basically was able to handle the standard adventurers and limit destruction to my dungeon. I think that it's not a winning strategy every time, but would depend on the players.

Mike Pondsmith
I was browsing the GameStorm12 booklet for the weekend and saw that Mike Pondsmith was going to be a guest designer for the Con. He designed one of my favorite RPGs - Teenagers from Outer Space. I picked this game up in my late teens (over 20 yrs ago!) and played it for a while with some friends - we all went to the same high school so it was great to run a game in an area everyone was very familiar with. My first read through the book had me laughing pretty hard, and the game itself is simple and fun to play.

Anyway, I met up with Mike and we chatted for a few minutes about TFOS and how hard it is for a game to be good and funny. "Funny is hard", Mike says, "It takes a lot of work to be funny in the right way for RGPs to work like TFOS should." He signed my first edition (he hadn't seen one in years) and although the 'little dice' that came with the game were missing, I remember them in the book when I bought it. He gave me his email address for more little dice, should I want them.

With Mike was his son, who was the inspiration for TFOS - he wanted to have an RPG for the younger generation to play. His son hadn't known that, and it was neat to see that interaction.

Savage Worlds RPG
Hellride - Hellforce One
This game was a sequel from last year, although I didn't play it. The genre is modern. There is a gate to another world, which seems to be high fantasy - Demons, Gorgons, Dragons, etc. So, there are high-powered monsters, but we also have missiles, tanks, fully automatic guns, grenades, and gate magic to transport across the worlds. I played the medic, and took a gambling quirk. We were recruited for a mission to the other world, due to Air Force One being attacked by demon-looking creatures, which then disappeared. The President and about 40 other passengers were on board. We got a tank requisitioned, some guns, ammo, and a gate 'Go Back Box'. Simple. Find the President, activate box, bickety-bam, we're home.

We gate over, and the first thing I do is lay out a betting pool for what would break first on the assault vehicle. We look around and see a big column of light that is obvious enough for us to see it a few dozen miles away; we figure that's where we're going.

First thing we run into is a stampeding herd of creatures - which turned out to be Gorgons - thousands of them. We manage to duck into a cave (vehicle and all) while they pass. In the cave, an interested pack of rats emerge. The commander got a claymore mine positioned in time, however. After the Gorgons go by, and the rat bits are cleaned off the windshield, we're ready to go.

We drive into a canyon, and notice figures on the rim of the cliffs above us. We watch them, and after a few miles, they start tossing rocks down at the vehicle - one lucky hit, but no damage. We use the turreted machine gun to suppress further attacks. We round a corner and see a crudely built rock wall; we come to a stop. Rocks come down, and we decide to go for the rock wall - which is more like a long pile of rocks than a wall. The vehicle struggles through the pile - the loose rocks aren't a problem, though they do slow down progress. On the other side, there are 5 creatures standing there, with what looks like war paint. One of them is obviously the chief. Surprisingly, they speak a broken English. They are wanting us to leave; we tell them we are looking for our Chief. They are concerned that we are here for 'gems'. We convince them we have no interest in these gems, and that we need to get to the column of light in the distance. They decide to trust us and show us a short cut towards the column of light.

Driving at a creeping pace uphill towards the light, we get to the plateau where the light is coming from. The scene: Air Force One is hovering about 30' off of the ground, and there are actually 5 beams of light that make up the column. The 5 beams form a pentagram, where each point has a small ritual of dancing and spell casting - apparently keeping the magical 'threads' intact. In addition to the five groups, there is a massive Demon-looking thing, and he's flanked by two important looking smaller guys - all three of them seem to be in the middle of supporting a spell, as well. Behind these three, is a regiment of Arabs, which we're none-to-keen on seeing.

Pour on the attack! Our first shot is a LAW missile into one of the five dancing groups (I voted for the big, nasty, ugly demon-looking guy, but was out-voted) and the group goes down. So does the magical thread. The plane rocks ominously in the sky, but stays where it is, just not as stable as before. Then the vehicle starts going, we track a path around the plane, aiming to run down each group at the base of each thread. During the whole loop, various other monsters jump the vehicle, and we manage to brush them off with gunfire and grenades. The Arabs split up and start setting up rocket launchers and the Big Demon decides to fly up in the air. Meanwhile, our gate expert is starting counter spells for the threads. The Demon comes down and throws a cone of flames on the vehicle, barely scorching it; one of the Arabs manages to get a missile off, it hits but the impact was low. The gate expert manages to work the spell so that he can swing the plane around, trying to hit the flying Demon with Air Force One! The second LAW missile is targeted on the big Demon, with a direct hit. This crushes the morale of the monsters running around attacking us, and we can concentrate on the missile launchers still being set up. The plane drops to the ground, hopefully not injuring anyone inside. The Arab groups are dealt with, and we get a few prisoners to 'question'. A few minutes later, we board the plane, get the vehicle against the plane, and make it back to Earth with a mostly-intact Air Force One. Casualties are surprisingly low for our side. After the excitement of returning, we are invited to the White House for a huge highfalutin reception.

Oh, and the driver won the bet - the windshield wipers were the first thing to break.

Overall, I really like the Savage Worlds system; I bought the 'Explorers Edition' for $10 - cheapest RPG I've bought so far!

Dragon Dice - 60 point battles
I picked an army of Undead - I used the Minor Death monster for the first time - I like the Plague special ability. In the first game, the Undead rocked the other two races, and I won quickly and quite soundly. The second game, well, we called it at 12:30 am as a draw; each army had one terrain, and not much was happening at the other one. Lotsa dice-rolling, lotsa magic, and lotsa high numbers. At one point, my army in an 8th face was hit for 66 points of melee damage; I saved for over 75 points. Both numbers were pretty high!

Sunday
Dragon Dice - Dice Trade
I managed to trade a bunch of extra Dwarves, Undead and Coral elves for some Treefolk - including the Unicorn.

NeverWhen RPG
NeverWhen was converted from d20 to 4e, and this was the 4e version. Neverwhen is a campaign setting that allows you to multi-genre a D&D game. You can have lasers and swords; plate mail and power armor; horses and hovercraft. It's interesting, if you want that sort of thing. Personally, I like playing the system, but I'd hate running it. Too much stuff going on.

Our party consisted of two shape shifters (Spell caster and a fighter type), a female space Orc (fighter), a blind leopard / cat person (monk), and myself, a natural construct (android with a soul) who was a technoMage.

Our task is pretty simple - escort a delegate for negotiations. We get jumped immediately by street thugs on the way. We manage to fight them off. Once at the location, we find out that there is a part two: we need to go and recover a stolen idol, which is on yet another planet.

On the new planet, magic works, but not lasers or much technology at all. We make it to the temple where this idol is supposed to be and are confronted by two guards. We manage to scare one off (one of the party shape shifters shifted into a demon), while the other one remains steadfast to his post. We rolled amazingly poorly and it took us forever to best the guard. We finally get into the temple, and there are two more guards inside. Well, with our luck so far, I decide enough was enough, so I didn't bother with the guards, and ran up to grab the idol immediately and run out. The blind cat person decides that a stick of dynamite would work out well in this situation, so as we make our leave of the temple, there is an explosion loud enough to be heard around the city. The idol is bigger than we thought, so I cast a magic bag spell, and pop it in the bag. Good thing, too, as security has been stepped up significantly. We get through security to the gate, and step back to the world where the negotiations are taking place.

They are happy we retrieved the idol, and everything turns out just ducky. We get paid a bonus, and wrap up the adventure pretty quickly.

Wrap-up
So, that was my weekend. I spent a lot of time with my friend Jacob (aka JT); we specifically wanted to check out a Savage Worlds game, and play in the sealed box Dragon Dice tournament. We got to do both. I also wanted to play Power Grid-Brazil and Spain/Portugal - I got Brazil in, but not Spain/Portugal. Oh well, I'll get it soon enough.

Next year, Jacob and I are thinking about running some d20 Thieves' World games. Maybe we'll even do the work to convert it to Savage Worlds. We've got a year, after all.

2009 / 2010 e-kit

2010-03-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

I set out to build my own e-drum shells and renovate my kit to a more modern e-kit. Here were my thoughts and goals for this purpose:

Implement mesh heads for quieter playing for when I am using headphones.
Use my kit as a standard e-kit for my personal drumming, and to dual purpose it for 'Rock Band' / 'Guitar Hero' use. The mesh heads for quieter playing would come in handy here, too. I hear a lot of complaints from people who own them, about the plastic thwack noises from the 'drum kits' that come with the games.
Utilize standard drum shells for a more pleasing look and for tom mounts on the side of the drum instead of the middle of the pad.

With these thoughts in mind, I planned on replacing my current setup with a similar shell setup. Currently, I use 8 pads in two rows of 4, all 8" in diameter, with 2 bass drums, also using the 8" pad design. The issue with this setup is it is not very mobile, as the bass pedals don't attach to the bass drums and are screwed down to the riser I built out of particle board. So, easy multi-use for me and the PS3 games was out of the question. I decided I could build a kit that could be multi-purposed and usable for both of my desires.

I want to add a huge THANKS to Don, my drum teacher / drum building mentor for his help. He provided me a loaner step drill for drilling, he guided me through the lug and drum leg layout, advice on wrapping, etc. And some good prices on the parts and various bits. Visit him here: Portland Drums and Don's Drum Studio.

I got started with 8" shells that I bought off of Keller's overstock Ebay store. I got 2 shells that were 8" in diameter and 18" deep. I figured I could cut them down myself, and get my 8 shells, and they would all be about 4.25" deep. Then I got 2 shells for the bass drums 18" in diameter, and 9" deep. I was set to do a complete replacement of my kit.

Along the way, fellow e-drummer (AxeGrinder or 'Ron') sent me a 13" shell that was used for an e-tom. I decided this needed to be my e-snare. Now, 8 toms seems a little ridiculous, since I was planning on using 2 of them as 'snares' as I do in my current layout. With the addition of the 13" snare, my layout may be too much. I guess it's always nice to have backups, eh?

Mesh drum heads

Home made mesh heads made from a fiberglass screen material found in the hardware store. I also used old drum rings from old drum heads. I trimmed out the mylar head, and used a dremel to 'route' out the old glue. I pressed in my head into the rim, and glued it. I used Gorilla Glue - which expands, so the yellow bubbly stuff is Gorilla Glue. Trim with an exacto blade, and it's not nearly as ug-o-lee.

8" diameter Tom drums

8" shells cut from the 18" long stock pieces

Gouge from me and my table saw will be hidden with some finish work (rubber hose trim). Just wanted to show some of my hardships. The finished product came out great. Just wait.

Wrapped shell - cheap vinyl sign material in a metallic copper color. Not quite the brilliance in the pic, better in person, but still nice. Also shows how the gouge is minimized.

Mounted on my rack. you can see the difference between this new one and my old ones (above it a bit) , and even the middle step of experimentation - the 'hybrid - old pad w/ mesh head - lower left in the image.

Back side, you can see the l-rod mounting on the Superstrut rack, and the jack hanging free. I need to decide how I am going to attach that jack. I'll probably drill another hole for it.

Top view, the green dot is my 'trigger foam' - a 2" Nerf bullet cut in half to a dome. This is done for the padded trigger - most drum pads on the market use a dense foam to make cylinders or cones for this purpose. I have seen folks selling these cones for $8 each. I got 10 'domes' for $5.

Bass drums!

Bass Drum shell - drilled for hardware - lugs and legs.

Bass Drum shell - drilled and wrapped in the copper wrap I found at the sign store.

Bass drum with hoops - no hardware

Hoops, no edge finish

Both drums 100% done. Electronics installed, hoop edges finished - I used some copper foil tape that Meran has. Since she does stained glass, she has scads of this in her shop.

E-snare!

Here is the 13" shell - it was used with a different lug pattern (6 lugs, I am using 8) and had a big hole in it for a tom mount or something. I used some wood filler to patch the holes and sanded it to mostly smooth. The wood is super soft, but it doesn't really matter a lot; I will be covering the drum in a wrap.

I decided to go a little extravagant on the snare, so I got rims and lugs in a black powder-coated chrome. I found some really cool hardware at Ego Drum Supply ; mostly they had some really cool colors that you could get hardware in. Anyway, I figured copper and black was pretty cool, so there you are.

Electronics installed. I have a hole cut in the bottom clear drum head while I am working on it - eventually it will also be converted to a mesh head. I built this drum to be dual-zone, so there is a piezo under the head, and on the shell. I am still working on isolating them from each other. Dual zone is new to me; I am pretty content with one zone drums.

Finished and on the snare stand I bought. I bought it for the hammered brass acoustic snare I got a while ago, and will probably be buying a 2nd stand so that I can have both available.

New hi-hats!
So, I got these new electronic hi-hat cymbals. They are cool; the controller is in between the cymbals, and they work with a drop clutch (critical for double bass drumming!). I got these in trade from a buddy of mine. Sweeeeeet.

Top view - pretty. He tried to give me a set in a dark red, which would have kinda been cool, but I think the color would have worn on me. Basic black for me, thank you!

Underside, two connectors, one for the trigger, one for the hi-hat mechanism for detecting how 'open' they are.

The guts. Kind of. They are in the cylinder in the middle. Suffice it to say - it's in there!

Full Kit!
The next task was putting it all together. I went a new route on the rack - I still use the Superstrut, but I am phasing out the keyboard as a sound source, and going with a drum module (the Alesis DM10). And I am keeping the trigger IO for RockBand / Guitar Hero and for potential expansion into the DM10. Anyway, instead of having one rack that is 4 feet long, I used my mini e-kit and just doubled it, so I made 2 smaller racks at 24" long each, and angled them for a more ergonomic feel. The entire right hand side pulls away, moving easily into the media room for PS3 game playing.

Okay, okay, I need to clean up the cables. Agreed.

The bass drums will have a mesh head on the rear, too. Eventually.

Side view: 5 toms, 2 bass drums, snare, 2 crashes (with choke!), dual zone ride (bow and bell), and my newest gear, the Pintech hi-hats with the controller in between the hats.

Bird's eye view.

Squirrel's eye view of the bass drums. I still need to adjust the left pedal; it's riding higher / closer than the right pedal.

Well, that's it, thanks for viewing. It took me a long time, but since I was traveling a lot last year, I had my time split up with the game room remodel, other household tasks, and whatnot. I got this project done a little before the game room was done, but final setup had to wait until I could do it in the game room. I still am waiting for the new DM10 module, and I need to clean up the cables. The right bass drum seems to be double triggering, so I need to figure that out.

Gaming Room!

2010-03-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

We decided to rebuild the room that is downstairs and in the back - it had been used as a 4th bedroom, but we decided it was to be my gaming room (and drums). It was always smelling kinda musty, and we thought there might be a mold issue.

The original layout:
The room was a long rectangle with a closet on one long side, cutting into the rectangle, making the room narrower where the closet was. On two sides, the walls are underground w/ concrete behind them; the outside wall is a short wall, with a window. The 4th wall shares with the library and has the door. We took the door off the hinges because the swing pattern was annoying. There was a 220 heater in there that didn't work, so we also pulled that (and the wires) out.

The plans:

Move closet to the end of the room. This will shorten the room rather than narrowing one end. leaving more usable space.
Pocket door! No swing pattern, and a door we can close to keep pesky animals out. (Cat) Soccer w/ D&D minis DENIED! (Dogs) random place in the house far from the usual use pattern to find a spot to pee in if humans aren't paying attention; after all, it is further from the main living area of the house. (dog logic)
Redo outside facing window wall for mold and insulation concerns and extend the wall 1 inch inside to cover the concrete footing rather than having the drywall end on top of it, making it easy to add baseboard molding. Also add a vapor barrier and enlarge some electrical outlets from 2 bangers to 4 bangers.
Seal the concrete floor and wall footer with a moisture blocker.
Add a ceiling fan and better lighting. Lighting was one bulb on each end of room. Not enough light to even read. New lighting has 2 bulbs in the fixture by the closet, and the fan has four bulbs; fan is over the gaming table. Also, added a light in the closet.
Install speakers into the closet header for built-in sound, connecting to built-in shelves (see number 7). This includes running speaker wire through the new walls for easy and hidden connections.
A built-in shelving unit for stereo components - including a 4-plex of power outlets, the speaker connections, and generally more game room storage.
Look for different shelving options for games and miniatures. (We were using free-standing cheap book shelves.)

The Build:

Closet. Pretty good, some issues with plumb-ness and square-ness, but that's to be expected with my level of framing skill. Built-in shelves on one side, and the built-in unit to the right of the closet came out pretty good. Power and speaker cables were run and look pretty good. Problem is, header is waaaaaaay too small for any decent speakers to be embedded as planned. We compromised and found some Bose wall-mounted speakers that are of a good quality for the price.

Pocket Door. We hired Jerry (our contractor) to help out with this. The pocket door was bought from a local builder's supply called ProBuild. They aren't open on weekends, but they are way better on supplies than Home Depot, though Home Depot is open on weekends. I try to go to ProBuild whenever I can when my planning allows for it. The key to hiring Jerry was to try to install the pocket door without removing both sides of drywall (leave the Library drywall there). He managed to do it, and we were all very happy with the results. (Library wall still shows screw heads; those will be fixed once all gaming room stuff is placed in its new home.)

Outside wall. Added 1x2s to the 2x6s to add the depth necessary for covering the concrete footer. Replaced the insulation, added a vapor barrier, and added 6 outlets to the wall - 8 up from 2.(Now there are two new 4 bangers.) New drywall - used the mold proof stuff; nice.

Water proofing. Drylock brand water barrier painted on floor and footer, 2 layers. Had to scrape up 2 layers of crappy asphalt tiles and clean off the glue. Also had a bunch of pock marks where floor anchors were used into the concrete for the old closet and the carpet tack strips.
Ceiling fan and new lights - other than the fact that I've never seen the electrical wire pattern that was used to connect the two ceiling lights, (5 wires: red, white, black, blue and green) this went well.
Built-in speakers. Unfortunately, the header for the closet wound up to be too small for built-in speakers. We found some appropriately-sized Bose speakers that will mount on the wall above the closet. Not quite what we wanted, but it'll be okay.
Built-in shelf. Not only 3 built-in shelves, but an old recycled kitchen cabinet we bought from the Re-building Center for $5.00. Yup!! Five bucks, some sanding, paint and it was almost a perfect fit - within a 1/2" or so. Pretty sweet. And it has a cool slide out shelf.
We found a book store going out of business, and bought some book shelves. My friend Matt helped me hang them on the wall. They are tall - 7 feet high. and we got 2 that were 48" wide, and one that was 42" wide. They were designed for paperback books, so they are only 6-8" deep. They will be perfect for all my gaming stuff, especially minis. The big blank area will be used for map display.

Flooring. We decided on carpet. We put in 1/2" Celotex insulation and then 1/8" masonite board on top of that. Then, we were ready for the carpet. After a visit to Home Depot, Lowes, and a random flooring store, we found a place called Great Floors which seems to be an overage outlet for carpet; not a huge selection, but what they do have, is reasonably priced. They have full rolls of carpet and a lot of extra leftover rolls priced better. We walked in and found the exact color we wanted on one of his remnants. AND it was only about 10% too big for the room, so it was perfect. We had it installed; the first guy whined a lot about the lack of "proper subfloor", and the next couple to come out were way more accommodating and did the job well.
Trim work. Trim around the closet, window and door all match trim that is upstairs in the house in one of the rooms. This has become the trend in the house.
Paint. Meran did a really cool faux paint job in the room, a random pattern with 3 colors. We'll see how easy it is to touch up. [Meran says it was surprisingly easy to touch up after James installed the built-in cabinet and knicked up the paint.]
New table! My 4x6 piece of plywood with fold-up table legs has seen its end. We found a really nice table and chairs at CostCo, and got it. It's narrower, so it fits better, and longer. And looks really good, to boot! And has much better chairs to sit in.

Well, that's that. it took us WAY too long to get it done, but now it is. We're ready for gaming!

Mini E-Kit, part duex

2010-01-18T01:42:00.000-08:00

To start, I want to make some notes about the edrum offerings coming to the market - a sort of a note for the future.

Last year, PinTech offered a new hi-hat that has the controller between the cymbals, and is the first electronic hi-hat that works with a drop clutch. This is still unique in the market today. Here's a secret you'll hear only here. I might be getting one for free.. more on that later.

The Alesis DM-10 was released standalone at Winter NAMM, which was this past weekend. I am personally looking forward to this module. It's a lot like my Trigger IO, but has onboard sounds. AND it will have the ability to have uploaded sounds replace the sounds on the module. Not just stock sounds that modules come with - specially crafted VST sounds built for the module. VST companies like FXPansion and ToonTrack will be offering kit downloads. These 'high resolution' kits will take up the entire module's memory, so instead of 100s of sounds, you will be limited to one kit, but with the VST's quality, it should be worth it. Of course, you can load other kits and reset the module back to factory defaults.

Pearl has a new edrum offering, the "E-ProLive". Interesting, they have a module called the REDbox. but put the picture of it right next to an Alesis DM-10.. hmmmmm. Maybe Pearl didn't spend a lot to develop a new module, which matches feature-to-feature of the DM-10.

DM-10:

REDbox:
Anyway, Pearl has some cool features, 'drop-in' pads so you can convert your edrum set to an acoustic kit with just a head change. These look great for someone just entering the e-drum market but who still wants the look of traditional acoustic drums. They may just have something here. Then again, they may price themselves out of the market... Whatever; good luck to them, tho.

Also, Yamaha is entering the foray again with new drum heads. The last few years have been rubber (Yamaha and even some Roland kits) vs. mesh (Roland's claim to fame). Well, Yamaha introduced a new drum head - silicone! Check out Yamaha's DTX900 series.

Now, onto the regularly scheduled program. After my last post, New Year's Day came and went. I assembled the e-kit for a day of Rock Band / Guitar Hero. I added the cymbals to it and mapped it out for playing.

After a few hours of playing, I like Guitar Hero drumming better than Rock Band drumming. Guitar Hero differs slightly with 2 dedicated cymbals (yellow and orange) and three drums. They do some interesting switch-overs with the two cymbals. Both are entertaining, so we all win. Whitten got the most seat time on the drums on New Year's.

So, same kit as before, but with 3 cymbals added. For RockBand, I mapped the hi-hat to yellow (if you've played, this is obvious), the ride to Blue, and the crash to green. It pretty much matches the drum mapping, but you get the choice of what to hit now, a cymbal or a tom. I even tried something clever: in the game, Rock Band maps an open hi-hat to blue, so I mapped the hi-hat to yellow on closed, and blue on open. Realistically, it works, but due to extra triggering, it really messes up the game play.

For Guitar Hero, I mapped two toms (left and center) to the same color, and both the ride and the crash to Orange, hi-hat still yellow, and right tom to the low tom color. This worked out okay; there was some difficulty getting back to the hi-hat for some cymbal crashes during a ride segment of the songs. But, it still worked out pretty well.

The kit was sitting kinda close to the PS3 - I've gotten a longer USB cable. I am hoping that doesn't introduce any lag. We'll find out the next time I play.

Mini E-kit

2009-12-15T15:32:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a new set of e-drums using acoustic shells. I am still working on the final arrangement for a full posting of THAT project. But, as was the plan, I was going to use part of the full kit to use as a mini kit for the PS3 - for Rock Band and Guitar Hero use.

Key to this was finding out that GH4 came with one of those cheap, lame drum kits, but it had a MIDI input in the kit. I figured if the drum kit came with a MIDI option, then a MIDI converter without a crappy drum kit would soon be an option. Well, not an official one, but I did find one. IF you are on the Rock Band or Guitar Hero forums online, you'll probably find the 'Seth' MIDI-PS3 adapter. Well, I did, and I bought it. It took me about a year to finally hook it up to a drum kit, and play with it. Basically, my existing drum brain (to MIDI) is an Alesis IO. This then sends MIDI to the 'Sethbox' converter, which acts as a PS3 adapter and controller - it's got all the buttons like the square, triangle, circle, x and the Start PS3 and select buttons. Much like the drum kit controllers for the PS3 or any other console.

So, on to the details and pictures!

Implements of construction: hacksaw and file for cutting and de-burring the strut, nuts bolts, washers, wrenches, brackets, braces, extra strut, flannel shirt (cutting strut outside in the cold!) and an extra 1/4" patch cable. And, etc.

This is it. I built the rack out of my typical Super Strut rack construction. The feet are 18" long, and the verticals and horizontal are 24" long / tall. The 18" bass drum (12" deep) fits in great, with some room to spare. I am happy how this ended up fitting together.

Rotating around a bit, you can see the toms and snare. I opted to use my e-snare on a snare stand like a typical drum kit rather than 4 toms mounted on the rack. Mostly for space reasons. I'd need a longer bar for 4 toms, and I like the visual of the snare.
The white caps on the strut are to minimize clothing and carpet snags from the cut ends of the strut - even tho I filed it smooth, can't be too careful for Meran!

Another angle. One tom head is white - it's the first mesh head I got - I bought it. Making the black mesh heads myself is more cost effective. The green 'dots' are nerf gun bullets (2" in diameter) cut in half to serve as a dome for the piezo underneath. Roland vdrums uses foam 'cones' and cost about $8 each. I got 10 'domes' for $5.

Mostly straight-on front view. I plan on making the back resonant head out of mesh eventually. I cut a hole in the mylar head because I was getting some resonant sound from it when it was whole. I'm trying to cut down on as much acoustical noise as possible.

Higher angle

Top view, it's pretty compact!! I plan to add my electronic hi-hat and 2 e-cymbals for more realism during play. All it takes is duplication of Rock Band / GH colors on the game to map to the additional bits. Example: Blue is used in Rock band for a middle tom, a ride and the open hi-hat sound. I can map the second (middle) tom to blue, my electronic ride, and the open action on the hi-hat to all blue, so depending on the song I can use it more realistically. Or not, choice is yours on which blue to use.

Left side, nothing too new here

The "bits". The Alesis Trigger IO - translates the piezo signal from the pad to a MIDI signal. This normally goes to a laptop, keyboard or other MIDI sound source to produce the sounds.
The little white box is the 'Sethbox' or 'sethmeisterg's EDRUM-USB adapter" converter. Built by a RockBand forum member named Seth. This takes the MIDI signal from the IO and sends it to the PS3 for game play. It's also got the standard PS3 controller buttons - Square, Circle, Triangle, X, Select, Start and the PS3 button. It's also got flashing LEDs to indicate mode, setup and hit registers. I am impressed; it came with 20+ pages of documentation for some super customization and setup options.

Who's ready to give it a try?

Playing Cards and Dice Tower

2009-11-23T22:33:00.000-08:00

I tell people not to bother with gifts for my for my birthday, but I usually get a good gift from Meran. This year was no different, with an added surprise.

First up, Meran's awesome card decks she found; a bunch of really cool deck themes, with some really good art in them, too.

First up, the Pirate deck! Yarr! Really neat and clever deck. All the Jacks, Queens and Kings are famous pirates, and have an antique feel and look to them.

The rest of the decks are from Bicycle and are all from their 'custom decks' line. Or magic decks. If I were into card tricks, these would be great to play around with and learn. They are also usable for regular cards. Cribbage or Poker, anyone?

And some I can't find reference to anymore:

Black Spider
Purple
Guardians
Black Scorpion
Black Light Glow in the Dark

If you want a unique deck of cards, check out Bicycle's arcane line.

I hosted a Titan game in my new game room, there will be a post for that soon, too (The game room, not Titan). Probably after Thanksgiving. One of my friends gave me some passes to get into the Portland Chinese Gardens. We've been to the Japanese Gardens (mostly for the Bonsai showings) but not the Chinese Gardens - we are looking forward to going.

I got a package from UPS today. It was from my brother-in-law, Dennis. I had an inkling this was coming, but I wasn't going to expect it, but enjoy it if / when it showed up. It was a dice tower. I love dice games, rolling dice, and dice towers. I've never really gotten around to making or even buying a dice tower, or a rolling surface. Best I ever did was to line my dice box with a soft, rubbery surface that Meran got for me at a hobby shop. It's a great surface - I may line this dice tower with it, but the cork Dennis used is probably sufficient. Anyway, the dice tower collapses for better / easier transport. Many of my friends' nice wooden dice towers are all-in-ones that are bulky to carry. Other friends have collapsible dice towers made from cardboard or even PVC pipe. Enough squall, on to the pictures:

Pretty cool, huh?

Here it is collapsed, ready for transport!

Close up of the dragon graphic.

That's my gift synopsis. If you don't know how old I am, I won't divulge that intel in this post. You'll just have to figure it out on your own. Here's to another year on the planet.

Green Chile

2009-11-19T23:04:00.000-08:00

Green Chile - This is by far my favorite dish. I was introduced to it by a friend of mine (Brooke!) at a Rock Bottom Grill in downtown Denver. It was only offered as an appetizer in a cup like soup. I was hooked. I was constantly on the lookout for green chile in any restaurant. I found that it varies from a watery greenish sauce to a think, hearty stew. I tend to like the thicker stuff, not so much the watery stuff.

I've learned to cook it to the capacity where I enjoy it immensely, although I usually forget the cumin until late (usually Meran reminds me to put it in). We've done variants with potatoes instead of pork for a vegetarian green chile, and changed out some of the ingredients, but it is pretty consistent of Hatch chiles, tomatoes, pork, onions, garlic and spices to taste.

Whenever I make it, I am always trying to do different things with the end product; smother burritos, nachos, or quesadillas. Eat it alone as soup / stew, with flour tortillas. Huevos Rancheros. And during my last gallon of chile, it got me thinking. When I see (or saw) kids eating french fries, they didn't really eat the fries. The fries were mostly a ketchup delivery device. So, with all my burritos and various dishes, was I really just delegating them to a green chile delivery system of my own? Well, yes, I guess so. Although, I do eat it on its own, I also use it as a gravy or condiment of sorts.

With the last batch I made I committed a holy sin of Green Chile - I used canned chiles. I just haven't found a source of fresh fire-roasted green chiles in Oregon. I've heard rumors of an occasional farmer's market, but I haven't found anything solid. Oregon is a 'Chile free' zone, it seems. It's even tough to find big cans of green chiles. I can find big ass cans of jalapenos, but not green chiles. (I finally found them at WinCo and Cash & Carry.) This last batch, along with the cardinal sin of canned chiles, I used tomatillos instead of tomatoes, and that kept the green chile green! Boy howdy! It was a good experiment; I've seen recipes with tomatoes and tomatillos, and the tomatillos are a keeper. Now I gotta find fresh ones because, alas, these were canned, too. This whole batch was the 'canned chile' recipe. It still came out really good, tho.

What do you like YOUR green chile on?

New Carport

2009-10-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

Remember my post about the 30" of snow that took down our carport? If not, remind yourself of the carnage here. I'll wait while you go look.

Back? Okay, so, here's the NEW and IMPROVED carport. It's much sturdier, so we've upgraded its status to a shed. (Candy calls it a "garage extension".) We've got a concrete block base wall (there is a small hill behind it, so we wanted some water / soil proof barrier wall, but it didn't need to be the full height, so a 3-block-high base was built. Then the framing was put on top of that. We hired someone, so don't get all impressed that I did this myself. It went up while I was in Florida at a customer site. It was nice coming back and seeing this:
Here's a quick shot of our temporary storage area.. not covered.

The new structure sat there like that for a few weeks as I was still traveling. I finally got some siding on there. Kudos to Matt who came over and held up the other end of the 12' Hardie Plank siding.
Below is the old metal roofing, cleaned up for reuse.

Again, a few weeks pass. Then, the roofing. I recycled the original metal roofing. This time, Since I am an equal opportunity friend abuser, Jacob came over to help with the roofing. Candy took some action shots. Also, this was the first time I put my new Ryobi impact driver to some real work. I was impressed.

We put in two sections of some clear plastic roofing for some light. We'll see if the theory holds out.

That's the end of the post. I guess I had one more 'done' picture, but I don't. It's not that much different from the last shot here, though. There's still some work to be done, but for now, it is functional as an outside rain-free storage zone. And, I can move my table saw and use it as a work shop for the multitude of other endless projects.

Stay tuned.. the Game Room is reaching critical mass...

Portland Juggling Festival 2009

2009-10-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

The weekend is over - well last weekend, it took me longer than anticipated to finish this post. Since I was traveling a lot right before the festival, I didn't do the Volunteer Coordinator this year. So, I volunteered to be put to work as "Gym Coordinator" and "Late Night Czar".

As Gym Coordinator, I was responsible for keeping the back door closed, general upkeep, and initial setup and cleanup at the end of the festival.

As Late Night Czar, I was there to open the doors for late night juggling and close the gym down at 2am, when we kicked all the jugglers out for the night. Kicking jugglers out at 2am is a lot tougher than you'd think. Like herding cats. it helped when security showed up, but not a lot.

Friday night Renegade Show - Late Friday night is 'Club Renegade'. This is a tradition for most juggling festivals for folks to do some acts that wouldn't be too acceptable for a public show. Beer (this year, tequila was added), partial nudity, and other questionable bits are to enjoyed.

Some of the top acts from the night:

Rhys - Steven Hawking does stand-up. This bit was hilarious. Rhys was merely sitting in a wheel chair, head lilting off to the side, and a laptop in his lap. Meanwhile, over the PA, the sound of a Steven Hawking voice over. Jokes consisted of classic jokes with a science boost. (I just flew in from the outer nebula and boy are my arms imperceptibly younger). The jokes were pretty rough, but I hadn't laughed that hard in a while.
Diabolo - Two guys, one was a narrator doing the Diaboloist's talking for him. The other was pretty damn good at the Diabolo. The voice-over / narration was funny, and contained a lot of Emu references for whatever reason.
Devilstick - A lone soul looking for a place to stay was trying to work the crowd with good Devilstick skills. The crowd managed to convinced him to take off his shirt.. He found a place to stay.
Bekka - From Vancouver, Canada. She's awesome! She does a lot of club tricks that involve rolling them and manipulating them around her body. Always fun to watch.
Poki & Parasol - The bit consisted of a contact juggling routine with a parasol, lots of isolation tricks to make it seem like the parasol was under its own power. Poki's fantastic at object manipulation.

Saturday night Extravaganza - the big show!
First off, since I am volunteering and we volunteers can't always get to the theater in a timely fashion for some really good seats, we get seats saved for us, so we are guaranteed good seats. This year, I got the front row! Unfortunately, my friends had a family emergency come up and I was left with some open seats. I browsed around and found a small child and his father (Rob Brown - unicyclist and his son Quinn) to take up some killer seats with no heads in the way.

The show was awesome, as usual, here's are some of the highlights:

Poki (and another guy, I forgot his name! Sorry!) This was awesome, they had on black suits and came out with their hands behind their backs. did some minor dance steps, and then, the big reveal, their arms were twice as long as they should be, and amazingly flexible. They had put gloves on the ends of some sticks and starting doing poi / swinging moves. It was fabulous! I thought it was clever and very well executed, too.
Poetic Motion Machine. Club passing mania! 4 guys doing some very entertaining club passing, with some really long and high throws mixed in. Really fantastic.
Sweet Can - A slack rope routine that was very good, and then, she lays on her back (on the slack rope) and does foot juggling with a rolled up carpet. Very entertaining.
Curtis Carlyle did a bit where he got an audience member to help him as he worked his body through a tennis racket. Great bit, good jokes, and fun.
Last year, we had a Japanese champion unicyclist. This year, Kawri returned, and was joined by another champion unicyclist. They each did a routine, then they did a duet routine. Really amazing uni-cycling!
Sean Blue - the headliner. He did ball spinning with small balls, contact juggling, and some high number juggling. Some of his ring manipulation / juggling was very visually incredible.

After the show, back to Reed for late night juggling!

On the last day, Sunday, Bernard hosted some juggling games. This consisted of a few games:

Club collecting contest - I managed 14. The winner of the game did 68.
Quarters - each contestant juggles 3 quarters. when you drop, throw your quarters in the middle. Last person juggling takes 'em all.
Club passing for distance - done like an egg toss. Standard 4 count passing, and every 2 rotations (8 throws) one of them takes a step back. The winners were from the Poetic Motion Machine group, and were probably 40-50 feet apart.
Combat - Juggle 3 clubs, everyone runs around trying to get others to drop by either using your clubs to hit other clubs, or just however it happens. Last person juggling wins. This game went on for at least an hour with a lot of rounds happening. I know this was Bernard's favorite.

Well, that's the report. No pictures this year, I think juggling pictures are kinda weak, I can take a picture of me 'juggling' 7 or 9 balls.. it really needs to be video. Last year I got some good pictures of people passing clubs from unicycles, but really, how many pictures of that do I need to post? It was a great time, and I am already looking forward to next year's festival!

District 9 Review

2009-08-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't really know about it much before I saw it. I heard some DJs spouting about it on the radio, and I decided it was going to be different than what I thought it would be. And it was even different from that. I think it was a Alien Nation meets Starship Troopers; Alien Nation due to the race trying to live with humans. Starship Troopers due to the total mayhem of guns, explosions and humans popping like meat balloons. But in a fun way. I'd see it again, but I wouldn't pay over $5 for it - so in a 'second' theater or if it comes out on DVD, I might NetFlix it. I probably wouldn't buy it on DVD, but I wouldn't throw it away if I got it as a gift.

But, I digress. The movie was produced by Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson. And the movie is an extended version of a short film made by the director, Neill Blomkamp.

I liked it because of the political / social commentary. And the first few blood bag meat explosions. There was some witty comments and dialog, but my favorite part was the mech scene. When you see it, you'll know what I am talking about. Much like something out of a Japanese anime, but not Japanese, and not anime. The mech was well done, as was all of the CGI, and they did the scene justice all the way through to the end. It was long enough to get the maximum out of the mech, without it getting campy or overdone. And more blood bag meat explosions.

This movie had the best CGI I've seen in a while. I do think the aliens were a little over-detailed - but they were still damn good. I am very glad I saw it on the big screen. Some movies I've wished I would have seen on the big screen, and others I bummed shelling out $10 per ticket (or$7.50, as we tend to go to daytime showings as much as possible when we go).

There was a lot of 'hand camera' shots which made one of my movie-going buddies annoyed - he hated it to the point that he will never see it again. This style was made popular by the BSG TV series that just wrapped up. This info I got from my woman who is an addict to scifiwire - she reads it daily on her iPod Touch. The movie starts out as a documentary style, and I think it worked out OK, and I wasn't as sensitive, so I didn't really mind the camerawork. I thought it did add some 'realism' to the scenes due to people running with the camera and whatnot.

Overall, I'd rate it 4 out of 5. It was very entertaining, had some good social commentary / message, and additionally was very fun. The explosions were amusing (did I mention it has blood bag meat explosions in it?) but the action scenes really didn't add much to the movie for me. Except the mech scene - awesome.

Hammered Brass Snare

2009-08-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

At the end of last year, I started looking for drum lessons to give me a new view. I was always just doing metal / rock drumming and felt there was stuff I was missing. So I found my drum teacher, Don. He's been expanding me into blues, swing and shuffles. I've gotten the feel of acoustic drums again by playing on his kit whenever I took a lesson. That sparked the bug to get my e-drums updated and more realistic. The new eDrums are better, but I still really desired the range of expression you can only get from an acoustic snare drum. Also, I've been learning how to use brushes, and honestly you cannot do that on eDrums. They have brush sounds, but it's still not very good, especially for the constant contact 'rub'.

Don also builds drums, and sells them. Check out his site: www.portlanddrum.com
I've also been helping him maintain his web site - his new titanium shell snare is super.

But, I fell for the hammered brass snare he had. I saw it the first or second time I was over there for a lesson. I thought it'd be cool to convert it to an eDrum, but after working with Don for a while, I decided I really wanted a nice acoustic snare. So, here it is:

Thieves' World - Stepsons and Jubal

2009-08-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV : Prince and Steel : Festival : Kadakithis & HellHounds : Sikkintairs & Portals : The Swans

Stepsons and Jubal
2nd of Sperraz
Inside Marta’s for dinner, the Group is once again alerted to happenings outside by screaming people. Outside, there are two more Sikkintairs in the sky; these are much larger than the ones from yesterday. The Sikkintairs are circling, looking for prey on the East side. They swoop down and grab some people and fly off. All the arrows from the guards and the Group are not enough to kill one. Afterwards, the Group goes back into Marta’s for a while, and then heads out on the streets for home. On the way through the East side, Kalima and Modig see a group of thugs hanging out at a doorway, and when the thugs leave, they follow them. They recognize it as one of Roxane’s Death Squads – with a Soul Sniffer with them. They seem to randomly pick another doorway, and hang there for a few minutes, and move on to yet another doorway. Modig goes to get some of the others while Kalima watches the Death Squad. Malkar, Nicolas, Modig and Kalima attack the Death Squad, which flee immediately. The Group manages to knock one member is unconscious and the Group takes a prisoner. An explosion is heard nearby, and the Group checks it out. The first doorway was trapped with a trap that exploded in a fiery ball, and was set off by someone. The Guard is there and looking for suspects. The Group sneaks off to look at the other doorways, and find them trapped as well. Modig attempts to disable the trap, but accidentally sets it off instead. Modig has some mighty quick reflexes, and doesn’t get hurt. He’s a little embarrassed, but the black marks from the fire covers the red. The second trap goes a little worse for Modig, as he is not quick this time, he gets slightly hurt. He’s confident that the next time he comes across any more of these Death Squad traps, he will best them. The Group decides to take their prisoner to the temple of Sabelia for questioning and healing – both for the prisoner and Modig. On the way, the Guard stops them, as they are still looking for suspects or witnesses to the explosions. The guard contingent consists of several members of the Watch, and a Hell Hound captain. After some discussion about what the Group saw and witnessed, the captain assigns a member of the Watch to go with the Group to make sure that everything is accounted for. They get to the Temple and find that their prisoner has died during the travel. They pay for a “Speak with Dead” spell and they get to ask 5 questions.

1. Where is your base of operations? – In the swamp, about a 2-hour walk outside of town
2. How many squads do you have in the city? – 2 currently
3. Where is Roxane? – In a top floor apartment near the Street of Red Lanterns
4. What contacts do you have in the city? – Just Roxane
5. Where is your homeland located? – We are from Nis. North of here, in the mountains

The Group leaves the Temple (After Modig gets some healing, but no eyebrows are able to be regrown) and Kalima sends up her owl to look for SoulSniffers and Death Squads. The Group combs the East side for more Death Squads. Finding and approaching one Squad, the Squad immediately scatters. A little later, they find the other Death Squad setting traps. Their attack kills three of the Death Squad members as well as the Soul Sniffer.
After dealing with the Death Squads, everyone is ready to go to bed. On their way back to the West side, they spot Tempus on the Processional heading into the West side. Sneaking after him, they watch him find, follow and attack a Hawkmask. The man in the Hawkmask drops after just one blow. Tempus spits on the corpse, and stalks off. Waiting a few seconds, Jack runs over to the Hawkmask, stops his bleeding, and pours a healing potion down his throat. The Group makes their way to the Vulgar Unicorn with the Hawkmask in tow, sans mask. When they get inside the Unicorn, they find a table and order some drinks. A comrade of the Hawkmask’s approaches them from another table. He says he is a friend of the man they brought in and is interested in helping him get home safely. The Group wants to question him first, but don’t want to offend the man. The man buys them a round of drinks, and slips some money under a mug for good faith. They get the wounded Hawkmask awake, and Jack tells him he owes him 55sh for the healing potion he used on him. The man gives him a leather pouch containing a very nice set of thieves’ tools. Jack doesn’t know what they are, so he gives them to Modig. The man tells them his name is Mor-am, and thanks them. He leaves with is buddies from the other table. As that group of three men leave, a nearby table of six mercenaries erupts in laughter, as if goading the three that are leaving. The Group listens to the boisterous mercenaries as they talk about the War with Nis, and a person they call ‘The Riddler’. The Group finishes up their drinks, and leaves.
Back out in the Maze, the Group comes across a man about to hit a beautiful woman, cowering from the possible blow. Jack rushes to the aid of the woman when men hidden in the alleyways suddenly jump out and throw nets over the Group. Kalima and Jack both get caught up and struggle against the nets. Modig deftly dodges the net meant for him and prepares for yet another fight. The thugs are armed with saps and attack, trying to knock them out. Kalima works her way free first, and starts dealing out some justice. Another couple of seconds, and Jack gets free and metes out his revenge on the men. All of them are killed. The woman thanks them and the Group escorts her back to the Temple of Sebelia where she can be safe for the night. In the morning, the woman is gone, with none of the Priestesses seeing her leave.

3rd of Sperraz
After the busy night they had last night, the morning starts a little late at Marta's, with Jack, Malkar, and Modig meeting for breakfast. After the three are almost done, Isabella shows up, and says it is starting to rain.
Gagino is at his tent in the Bazaar watching some new soldiers in town; they look to be mercenaries. He strikes up a conversation with two of these mercenaries, Niko and Abarsis. They are Stepsons looking for Dubro's forge. Gagino keeps them in his tent by talking with them and determines that they are in town on a mission, working for their old army buddy the 'Riddler'. They've heard that the fabled steel of Enlibar can be found at Dubro's and they are looking for some swords made from this famous steel.
Four other Stepsons are in Marta's and Jack starts carousing with them. He also manages to get some information about their mission in Sanctuary. He drinks with them for a short time, and is invited to the Rank & Shield later on for some more drinking and carousing. The rest of the Group watches the Stepsons carefully, with some interest.
After a bad day of business, due to heavy rain, Gagino shuts up shop early and meets with the rest of the Group at Marta's. He talks of the Stepsons, their patron the ‘Riddler’, and how they are in town to destroy Jubal and his empire. Malkar secrets off and sells this information to Gastov at the Happy Beaver.

The rest of the day is spent indoors drinking out of the rain. Eventually the time comes to meet the Stepson’s at the Rank & Shield. The Group makes their way slogging through the rain and mud. At the soldier bar, Jack decides to go in first. He finds and sits at the table with six Stepsons and Tempus. The rest of the Group comes in after Jack and sits to watch and listen to the stories of the War in the North with Nis. Conversations wind from old war stories to new, and to current events in Sanctuary. It is obvious that the Stepsons are not pleased with the piss hole that is Sanctuary, Tempus agrees, and finishes his drink. Tempus bids everyone a goodbye and leaves the bar. After a short time, the Stepsons get bored with the Rank & Shield, and decide to go to a better bar they have heard of: The Vulgar Unicorn. Jack says he can take them there and accompanies the Stepsons. The Group waits a while, and then decides to go to the Vulgar Unicorn as well.
On the way, the Group (less Jack) sees a mugging take place. As they typically do, they jump into action. The muggers seem to have killed their victim, but they don’t fare well with the vengeance of Malkar, Gagino, Modig, Isabella and her bodyguard. The Group rolls the bodies of the muggers, and they find that the man is not dead; they save him from a certain death. Isabella bids her bodyguard to take the victim to the Temple of Sabellia for healing. The money in his purse is used as a donation to the Sisters of Sabellia. The rest of the Group continues on to the Vulgar Unicorn. They get there, and the Stepsons and Jack are not present.
Meanwhile, Jack and the Stepson’s are lost and wandering the Maze, finally stumbling across the Vulgar Unicorn. They go in with a lot of noise and take the biggest open area for themselves. Gagino plays his Mandolin while Isabella dances; they earn enough coins to keep the Group in drinks for not only tonight, but also for quite a few nights.
The Vulgar Unicorn is unusually busy; there are several drawn curtains at the booths. There is another large group of men there, obviously out of their element and grouped together for safety. The group of men is talking about the exploding traps that are wounding people in their neighborhoods, but no lives have been taken, not yet. They are discussing possible courses of action since it seems the Prince Governor and his guards are not doing anything about the Death Squads setting these traps.
The Group listens around and gets a lot of information, and decides to head out into the night to see if they can confront any of the Death Squads they've run into the past few nights. The first Squad they run across spots the Group, and immediately scatters.
The Group determines that Death Squads aren't much of a problem tonight, and head for their various homes for the night.

4th of Sperraz
Malkar wakes in the Happy Beaver, and has a chat with Gastov about some possible work he has available for him and his friends.
The Group is at Marta’s, eating breakfast when an armored woman comes in. She sits alone at a table and eats. Eventually, she notes that Jack looks like the fighter who her Father, Tempus, told her about. He and his group of friends can possibly be recruited for the task she is here to deal with. Kama introduces herself to the Group and starts talking to them. During the conversation, Malkar gets a note delivered to him. It is from Gastov, and he wants to finalize any deal that will get the group to help Jubal.
Two Stepsons also show up at Marta’s, and Jack is distracted from Kama for a while as he chums up his new buddies from yesterday and last night.
Kama goes to scope out Roxane’s, near the Street of Red Lanterns. Meanwhile, the Group and 2 Stepsons go to the East side to assess damage from the Death Squads.
Kama watches Roxane’s building and follows an agent. She is seen, and diverts away to the Rank and Shield. In here, she learns of the portal in Molin’s quarters and goes to the Temple of Vashanka. After talking with some guards at the Temple, she meets up with the Group. They are on the East side mapping out the attacks, looking for a pattern they can identify. Jack, scouting the East side with a few Stepsons, chats about the note that Malkar received earlier that day. Jack tells them that it was from Jubal. One of the Stepson’s takes this information directly to Tempus, who orders the Stepsons to prepare for attack tonight, before Jubal can prepare. The Stepsons inform Jack that they have new orders and leave for the Palace barracks. Jack follows in surprise, and on the way, he sees Kama and the rest of the Group. Kama goes to the Golden Oasis; Jack follows her in, intrigued. Jack pesters Kama to the point where Kama twists Jack’s wrist painfully – Kalima (peeking in) sees this and is very amused. Kama mouths ‘Marta’s’ to Kalima, and Kalima turns and leaves. Kama pays for lunch, and leaves, leaving Jack behind with another fresh ale. She slips outside and immediately hides in a nearby alley. Jack downs the ale and leaves the Golden Oasis, looking for Kama, but not seeing her. He gives up looking, and makes his way to Marta’s. Kama then follows him to Marta’s.
With Kama and several Stepsons at the table, the Group discusses the map and starts planning their assault on Roxane. During lunch, a scroll bearing Gastov’s mark is delivered to Malkar. It is a personal invitation from Jubal for dinner. Malkar passes the scroll to Modig, who reads it, then to Kalima and finally, to Jack. The note content is kept secret from Kama and the Stepsons. The Group decides to let Modig deal with the meeting with Jubal, while they do some reconnaissance on Roxane and her Death Squads.
Spying on Roxane’s begins again at dusk, when the Sikkintairs are summoned every night. Kama positions herself on the tall walls of the Palace watching Roxane’s building. Kalima and Malkar join Kama on the wall as well. While they watch, three figures arrive on the rooftop, it is Roxane and two other figures, not human, but humanoid. She casts a spell or two, and then returns downstairs. The witch summons 2 Sikkintairs and they appear over the Wide Way. The Stepsons and Jack are nearby, and they run through the fleeing crowd to the docks. Jack presents himself as a target to the closest flying creature, and it swoops down to grab him. The Stepsons fire their crossbows, and Jack steels for the attack. Jack, with his sword still swinging, is grabbed and is taken into the air. Crossbow bolts continue to sink into the Sikkintair and while in the clutches of the beast, Jack delivers the final killing blows to the flying creature. The creature goes limp, and falls heavily to the ground taking Jack heavily to the ground with it. Jack barely escapes being crushed by the falling beast. Tempus shows up on horseback, still concerned about the remaining beast in the air, but glad to see one of them is already dead. The other Sikkintair swoops and grabs a citizen and flies into the air, flying north to escape with its prey. Malkar, Kama and Kalima all get pot shots at it, but not enough to take it down. The city Watch is dispatched to dispose of the dead beast’s corpse.
To get to his meeting with Jubal, Modig goes to The Happy Beaver, and is escorted to Jubal’s estate through an underground passageway that starts in the sewers. He enjoys a lavish meal, in the sense of atmosphere, not so much in food. Jubal asks why he, Modig, was the sole respondent to his invitation, Modig says he’s here as the representative for the whole Group. Jubal offers Modig and the group a lot of silver to help him defend his estate from Tempus and the Stepsons. Modig says he’ll consider the deal, and inform the Group of the offer. He leaves the same way he came, through the tunnel and sewer.
Modig looks for the group on the Street of Red Lanterns. Malkar and Kama spot him wondering the Street. Malkar goes to get Modig, and brings him up on to the wall with the others. They remain for several hours watching for any more activity from Roxane. Nearing midnight, Kama sights the Death Squads assembling near the river, on the other side. They ford the river in a low spot and go into a wooded area just on the other side of the river. The group assembles an ambush at a wall opening and wait. And wait. No squads come through the gate, and the Group searches the woods for the Death Squads. They do find a portal, through which they go.
They appear on the Wide Way and immediately set out looking for their quarry. The Group sees an eerie orange glow from the west, Modig estimates that the glow is where Jubal’s estate is. An explosion leads them to one of the squads. As they approach they are spotted by a Death squad, which immediately scatters, except for the Soul Sniffer, who attacks Jack. Jack, hurt from the Sikkintair attack, takes a nasty blow from the Soul Sniffer, and returns in kind. Malkar steps in to help, and together they take the Soul Sniffer down.

The Group decides the glow near Jubal’s is more important than finding the other two Death Squads. Leaving the other two Death Squads to do their deeds near the wharf, the Group goes west towards Jubal’s estate. Tempus intercepts the Group at Jubal’s, and informs them that his attack was a surprise to Jubal and that Jubal is no longer in business, here or otherwise. The Group surveys the battlefield; there are bodies everywhere, and very few of them are Stepsons.

Thieves' World - The Swans

2009-07-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV : Prince and Steel : Festival : Kadakithis & HellHounds : Sikkintairs & Portals

25th of Esris
The Group meets at Marta’s – Jack and Modig are hung over from last night’s festivities, and Jack decides to clean up and visit the nearby bathhouse. The rest of the Group talks about what to do with the athame they retrieved from the other side of the Portal. The athame has markings on it, and it is decided to find out more about these markings. They go to the Promise of Heaven to ask Kalima’s Head Priestess. The markings indicate the Goddess Sostreia, the Goddess of Sacrifice and Rebirth. This doesn’t tell the Group much, and they decide that this item would probably fetch some significant silver, so they decide to sell it.
Back at the Bazaar, Gagino sends word out that he has a magical item for sale, and a buyer shows up within an hour; without any hesitation, he pays the asking price of 150sh. Malkar follows the fellow into the swamp. The Group joins Malkar in the swamp and finds an encampment of several men around a fire, and a few tents. The Group plans a surprise strike, and attack. Modig cuts open the closest tent and is taken aback: There is a creature in that tent, not a man. The corpse-like creature takes a swing at Modig, and with that one strike, Modig goes down. The Death Squad throws firetraps, shoots bolts from crossbows, and then run away. A chase ensues, and the Group manages to capture one, and then they loot the camp.

26th of Esris
The morning is begun with clouds, and the threat of rain. The Group finds an empty warehouse to interrogate their prisoner. They learn he works for a Nisibisi War Witch by the name of Roxane, and that she is directing the Death Squads mission. The questions take them to the purpose of the mission, and the prisoner tells them that they don’t know the whole purpose, but they have specific orders. Those orders are to cause chaos and fear with the exploding firetraps. From the looting of the camp, the Group finds enough materials for dozens of firetraps, crossbows, bolts and provisions for several days. There are also documents written in a language that no one can read. Nickolas takes all of these found documents to Melilot’s Scriptorium to have them translated and has multiple copies to be made. After the interrogation, the Group takes their prisoner to Mizraith as proof to what is going on. They inform the Wizard about Roxane, the Death Squads, and their mission; he seems unconcerned, and nonchalantly dismisses the party. After the visit with Mizraith, the Group gets the documents from Melilot, and they confirm what the prisoner had already told them.

27th of Esris
Morning starts with howling wind and driving rain. Few people are on the streets. The storm is so bad that everyone stays in for the day, drinking and eating at Marta’s. After dark, Gagino returns to find his tent ripped and torn from the storm; it will need repairs.

28th of Esris
It is still raining, but there is little wind. This city puts out a call for workers to help with clean up after the storm. Jack goes to work for the day, and earns 9 padpols, which, since he worked hard all day, goes entirely to dinner.
Meanwhile, other members of the Group have other tasks they are pursuing. Malkar is hiding in an alleyway on the Wide Way looking out for a man Gastov is looking for. During his stakeout, he sees an abduction of a young girl. He discreetly follows after them, and watches them board a rowboat and row southeast, towards the infamous Smuggler’s Isle. He takes a few pot shots from the shore, and manages to kill two of the 6 slavers on the rowboat.

The mysterious person from the alleyway contacts Kalima. He’s well dressed, and they go to a nearby bar where they discuss a contract for an assassination.
“These people are scum that threaten Ranke, and as a Rankan citizen, you should want to help me clean up the streets of this kind of people. Of course, the pay is very good, and is in Rankan coin.”
Kalima accepts the work in behalf of the Group, seeing as how it may actually clean up some of the rabble in Sanctuary. He hands her a scroll case and they agree to a price.

Modig is in the Temple of Sabellia recovering from his wounds from the Soul Sniffer attack from the other night. The Priestesses are taking very good care of him. Jack comes in to visit Modig, but that is a thinly veiled excuse to be among the priestesses, for the first time without being a patient.
Gagino gets an interesting rumor from the Bazaar folk. There are folks asking for items that match very closely to the items the Group looted from the Death Squad in the swamp. He manages to use this information to sell back the loot for a tidy profit.

After an eventful day for all (aside from Modig’s bed rest), the Group once again find themselves within the walls of Marta’s. Malkar talks of the abduction and the slavers he witnessed.
During Malkar’s story, there is a commotion outside. The Group rushes out and sees two Sikkintairs flying in the sky. These are smaller than usual, but are still dangerous and hunting the city from the sky. The flying beasts snatch up a person each, and fly off to the north. The city guards were completely ineffective, and the Group didn’t reach the area in time.
Back at Marta’s, Kalima unseals her scroll case for the assassination contract. She gasps audibly when the information is revealed. There are pictures of her quarry – Malkar, Jack, Nickolas and herself and even her father, Gagino. It seems that the man doing the hiring didn’t know whom the quarry was, but was just doing the hiring.

1st of Sperraz
Meeting at Marta’s for breakfast, the Group discusses some of the situations they are looking into. Malkar mentions the slavers he ran into on the Wide Way, and Kalima trumps him with the assassination contract on the Group. The Group decides this needs to be taken care of, and to hopefully get Arion Swan out of their lives once and for all. The Group starts discussing a plan.
Kalima pays a visit to the local apothecary of Alten Stulwig and purchases an amnesia drug, a sleeping drug, and a truth serum, totaling 250 sh. The rest of the Group goes to find an abandoned warehouse, and proceed to clear it of the transients that are squatting inside. The Group has a Where and a How; now they just need to collect the Who, and the When will be as soon as they get the man in to the warehouse. Kalima and Jack go to the Rank & Shield to meet the man who hired Kalima. Jack stays out of sight while she tells him that she has completed the first assassination, and wants payment. He says he needs proof, and Kalima agrees to take him to where she has the body stashed. They head over to the empty warehouse where the Group will ambush the man.
Once inside the warehouse, the Group comes out from their hiding places and surround Kalima and the man, and quickly knock the man unconscious. The Group ties him to a chair and administers the truth potion they purchased, and wait for him to wake and for the potion to take effect. Then, the questions start.
Under influence of the potion, the man holds back little information. The man’s name is Byron Swan, Arion Swan’s cousin. Arion gave Byron the sealed scroll case in Ranke, and with it, instructions to hire a capable assassin. He also tells the Group where his place is on the East side. Modig and Nicolas go to his apartment and rob it, return a lot richer, and spread out the spoils. The Group then starts preparing Byron for a journey back to Ranke. They have him knocked out in a crate by using the sleeping drug, and there’s a note written for Arion to see when his cousin is delivered to him.
With Byron, the Group wrote a note addressed to Arion Swan:

Lord Arion Swan
City of Ranke, Imperial Palace

Lord Swan,

We hope this missive finds you in good health and good spirits. Otherwise it could prove to be a detrimental shock to your delicate system, and we can't have that on our collective conscience -- at least not from this distance.

We have received your amusing gift. Enclosed please find said gift, your cousin Byron, which has been attached to this note for your convenience. Also please feed and water him. It has probably been several days since his last meal.

As you have surely realized by now, we cannot accept your thoughtful gift at this time. He has been entertaining, but as with many of your lackeys, he is too fragile -- not to mention lacking in sufficient mental resources -- to withstand the rigors of the real world.

Your services have been appreciated, but regretfully they are no longer required. We wish you success in all your future endeavors.

Well, okay, we don't. Just stay out of our hair and you can keep yours.

Sleep tight. And eat your vegetables. Kiss kiss.

Games - Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

2009-06-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

I've been delinquent in blog posts. Not that thousands of people are anxiously awaiting to read everything I type, but there are those that I've found reading my blog. So, first off, my Sanctuary RPG hasn't been played in over a month, and I do have one installment I need to finish up. I'll be getting to that soon (hopefully). Additionally, I might start posting a game log about the Serenity game I am joining.

However, this post is about last night's board games. It's been a long time since I've had a night of all new games, and last night almost counts. I played:

Agricola - with an expansion - the expansion was new.
Finca
Snow Tails

On with the review post!

Agricola - Through the Seasons

Still Agricola, but this adds a bit more variety. Each round gets a new season, and you cycle through the seasons starting with a random one until the game ends. Each season adds a new action only available for that round - at least until the season comes around again. The season also makes some minor tweaks to the resource fields and some standard actions.

Spring comes with an additional sow/breed action.
Summer with vacation (extra victory points)
Fall with harvest/vegetable
Winter with family growth without space (for 2 wood and 3 food).

The resource tweaks are usual +/- one wood/clay/reed/stone/fish and the action tweaks are usually freebies you get when taking the tweaked action (e.g. two free fences if taking fence action etc.).

Generally, I liked the seasons. I thought that the resource tweaking wasn't necessary, but it's not a show stopper. I was mostly raising animals due to the occupations I got, and I took advantage of the extra breeding and the sow action twice. There wasnt a spring that went by that someone didn't use the free 2 fences.

I don't know if I would play with this every time I play, but it is nice to have the option. PLus it it basically free, you just got to find and print out the image on some card stock (preferably in color).

Finca
This was a cube farming game. except the bits weren't cubes, they were fruits / nuts. The gameboard of Finca is an island. Using a rondel / windmill of fruits, you move your farmers to try to harvest fruits - oranges, lemons, almonds, grapes, etc. Then you deliver these fruits to gain points.

This was a clever game, with some rules that if a resource (fruit) ran out, everyone has to put their stock pile back. Since this was my first play, I tended to collect with a goal, rather than using the opportunity of high gain on the windmill. I came in 3rd of 4 people. Prior to final tally, I thought I might have been second. I wouldn't set out to play this game, but it's a good time filler for 45-60 minutes.

Snow Tails
Our board game group has a love / hate with racing games. We try them, and few of them are liked by the whole group. Formula De, Das Motorsportspiel, and Moto Grand Prix all make it out to the table occasionally, but the people wanting to play them vary. This is a racing game that simulates a dogsled race on snow and ice. You gotta watch out for sharp turns, trees, and other sleds. This doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. Game play is simple in execution, but difficult in decisions. you have three factors, left, right and brake. You have a deck of cards numbered from 1 to 5, and you shuffle these to give yourself a hand of 5. You can only play one value per turn, so if you want to play 2 or 3 cards, they must match. Different front values (played on seperate turns) allow for drifting and steering, and you can also put a numbered card down to slow down. Losing control or speeding into a corner results in Dent cards being acquired. Each Dent card will limit a your hand size by one, so 5 dent cards means a hand of zero, and your sled is toast!

The game contains modular track pieces which can be fitted together to form different courses, which is what a lot of the racing games are doing now. I think that modular tracks are a great idea. Even though I have all the Formula De tracks, there are infinite possibilities with a modular track setup.

We played and even though I didn't do very well (3rd out of 4), it was very enjoyable. There was some rules clarification when it came to what constituted a drift and forward move, but the rules had pictures to clarify. The group came around to a concensus pretty readily.

And that's it. 3 games played and sorta reviewed. Check back for another installment on Sanctuary or even Serenity.

Traveling again.

2009-04-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

This is sort of a rant, and sort of an attempt at informational. You be the judge.

As a 'traveling consultant', I got used to traveling, and got pretty good at it. I go for the 'efficient' travel (re: lazy?) schedule. I leave my house 90 minutes before my plane departs. I basically chunk up my time in 30 minutes blocks, each block having a specific goal.

Goal 1) Get to airport. This usually takes 20 minutes, so 30 minutes is generally ok. I have 10 minutes wiggle room.

Goal 2) Get through security. Depending on the line, this can take anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes. And since I haven't traveled for 2 years, all my status is gone, so I don't get to go to the 'Premier Line' - yet. I am traveling a lot this year, and I am sure I'll get there soon.

Goal 3) Get on the plane. Boarding means getting in line, shuffling on to the plane, and finding a spot for my "rollerboard" in the overhead bin. Airlines generally board with a 'seating order', the lower the number, the earlier you can get on. The earlier you get on, the more opportunity you have to get the overhead bin space. Again, status helps and so does having an exit row or a bulkhead seat. Or asking nicely, or lying about your 'mileage partner status'. Something I've done as of late, and I am sort of proud about it.

I don't check bags, and I print my boarding pass from my computer before I leave that house. So, I skip the check-in line, and the baggage check-in, and go straight to the security checkpoint. This saves a lot of time, really. And with the airlines starting to charge for bags, I expect more people to do this. Or not, people tend to think less when traveling.

For the last few years, I've been mostly working from home, which is good and bad. I like to travel, but 100% travel is hard, and working from home 100% of the time is hard, too. What's the perfect mix? Probably 50/50. Though, I like traveling enough, I could probably go 70/30.

The good of working from home is I get to do all my hobbies; games, drums, juggling; not to mention house renovation / repair, yard upkeep, etc.

The bad is that now I am low man on the totem pole for traveling. I don't have any of my statuses anymore and therefore deal with non-priority lines and service. I know enough about the system to skirt a few of the inconveniences the novices just don't know about, so I get along pretty well, even without status.

I've been on the road for 4 weeks, and looking at probably another week, but in a different place / city / State. The last two trips have both been to the East coast, and from Portland, that means an entire day of planes, airports and automobiles. Leaving Sunday's, and getting back on Friday's, giving me about 36 hours a week at home - which does suck.

I hadn't posted anything in a while, been too busy traveling! Good travels to you, and if you travel a lot, check out tripit.com - a social networking site for travelers to see who is going to be near them on their next trip. Kinda cool, but limited to how many of your friends sign up - and update it. I am definitely slow on updating it.

Another interesting travel site:
http://www.seatguru.com - a site that tells you all the secrets about every seat on every plane. Like which rows don't recline, etc.

Basic tips:
One bag in the overhead bin, One bag at your feet! Learn it, love it, live it! If you have a big bag at your feet get a window seat 0 the aisles are narrower - I can barely get my backpack in the under-seat storage.

once on the plane - carry your rollerboard!

Don't use seats for balance or leverage to get up - someone is sitting there, and they feel everything you do to the back of their seat. Or jam your legs / feet up against it. - classic do unto others, etc.

Security, just get through it. Take off shoes, belts, jackets, phones, hats and empty your pockets. If you do it in line before the metal detector, you'll get through faster. Laptops in a separate tray/bucket/bin.

Text messages to your phone about flight status, online checkin / boarding pass printing, web browser on your phone to check statuses and schedules. All good tech bits to help. Google maps on my phone rocks, too. Not as good as GPS, but very usable.

Buying tickets online saves you money, and allows you to select your seats.

That's it! stay tuned for more random squall, hopefully sooner, and a little more often.

Thieves' World - Sikkintairs and Portals

2009-04-16T20:23:00.001-07:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV : Prince and Steel : Festival : Kadakithis & HellHounds

Sikkintairs and Portals
22nd of Esris
The Group is in Marta’s having drinks and dinner when there is quite a commotion from outside. Once on the streets, the Group hears screaming and cries from people outside. The noise is coming from the direction of the Bazaar. The Group rushes towards the Bazaar, and Kalima shouts to look up. The Group stops dead in their tracks, and they see 2 huge black snakes with wings – each easily large enough to carry off a horse. These flying serpent-like creatures are circling the Bazaar and seem to be attacking the city. The Group reaches the Bazaar and sees a few of the Rankan Elite Guards trying to figure out how to fight the flying creatures. The general populace is in a panic, and the Group and the Hell Hounds continue in their attempts to attack the creatures. The Group makes little impact, although Malkar is as effective as anyone with his bow. A Rankan Elite Guard named Tempus gets close to one as it swoops down, and kills it with one mighty blow. The remaining creature snatches a citizen from the Bazaar and flies off towards the East. Everyone empties the streets under forced orders of the Rankan Elite Guard. The crowd resists a little, but generally complies.

23rd of Esris
The next day starts early since most folks got to bed early, if even reluctantly. Also coupled with the fact that nobody got any business done after the attack, the streets are teeming with people. Malkar wakes in the Happy Beaver and looks around, asks around and finds that Gastov and his entire crew are gone. He goes to Marta’s for breakfast, and eats alone. He decides to see if he can find out about the flying snakes from yesterday, and goes to the only place he knows of that deals in learned information: Melilot’s scriptorium.
Meanwhile, Jack also wakes and starts wandering the Bazaar talking to anyone about yesterday’s events. Blind Jacob’s cart is a good place to communicate with all the Bazaar folk, and finds out that most folk are more fearful than informative. He wanders a while longer, and eventually goes to Marta’s. He flirts with Mary and makes a date for later on. Jack learns that Malkar was there earlier, and goes out looking for him after he is finished with breakfast. At Melilot’s, an apprentice informs Jack that Malkar had been there, but was no longer there. With a couple of padpols from Jack, the apprentice adds that most of the folks looking for information about the flying creatures are going to the temple of Vashanka. The boy apprentice also tells Jack what they are called; they are Sikkintair’s. Word on the street is that most of the resident Rankan’s think this is a spiritual summoning, and are concerned that the gods have something to do with yesterday’s attacks.

Jack makes it to the Promise of Heaven, and starts commiserating with the crowd, generally keeping the crowd riled up by agreeing with whatever opinion he hears. Malkar has spent the last hour watching the crowd. He sees Molin Torcholder on the highest front balcony, and Malkar also notices that the doors on the balcony look to be broken. Molin Torcholder is watching the crowd and receiving messages from runners. Zalbar joins Molin on the balcony, and the sound of marching boots can be heard approaching the temple. Palace guards show up and Zalbar announces to the crowd that they need to disperse or be arrested for interference. Jack and Malkar duck into an alleyway. The guards stay in place and eventually see the pair hiding; so they move on. They head back to Marta’s where Mary makes sure that Jack provides a date for her friend for their outing tonight. Jack puts up Malkar for the double date. Jack then goes and buys some fresh clothes and gets a bath. It’s already dark out when the pair meet up with the girls, Mary and Suzy. They go out to the Wideway in search of a place Mary has heard of called the Flying Fish. It’s supposed to be much more than just a bar, with music and dancing. On the way, Suzy starts screaming and Malkar sees a bleeding man slumped over a barrel, unconscious. Malkar glances around and catches a quick glimpse of a man running off. Jack takes instant action, and attends to the man with two healing potions, saving the man’s life. They pick the man up and haul him to the nearest watch shack, and are detained, being questioned for at least an hour. The night is getting late as the Group finally is allowed to leave the watch shack, the Group returns to search for the Flying Fish on the Wideway. Once on the Wideway, Malkar sees movement in the sky and recognizes a Sikkintair swooping down. Jack flies into a rage, and Malkar attacks with his knives. Jack narrowly misses as the beast flies in, grabs Suzy and lies off into the sky. Malkar manages to sink an arrow or two into the escaping beast, but Suzy is gone.

24th of Esris
On the following morning, the Group meets at Marta’s, and Malkar recants the adventure from the night. Kalima signs on to kick monster butt, and everyone is concerned about how to attack flying beasts. Kalima goes back to the Temple of Sabellia, and informs the head priestess about the abduction. The Temple sends a messenger (Acolyte Alaide) to inform the Palace of the abduction. Kalima follows the messenger to the Palace gates, and then heads to the Wideway for some snooping around. Kalima searches the Wideway for any clues from the previous night’s abduction. On her way, an agent of some unknown benefactor is looking to hire Kalima for some work. He says it is a cleaning job, the cleaning of some Wrigglie street scum. He’ll meet her again and will have a sealed packet describing the soon to be corpses. He drinks every night at the Rank and Shield. After an unproductive scouting on the Wideway, Kalima returns to the temple, and the priestess tells her to gather her friends, the Palace has responded to the message about the abduction.

Meanwhile, Malkar and Modig question the staff of the Eastern estates. They meet Tumarr who tells them that the Sikkintairs never made it that far East, they saw the beasts in the skies, but they didn’t come out of the city. Modig and Malkar leave Tumarr with a padpol for his troubles.
Nikolas poses as a palace representative and also questions the Eastern estates. His information gathering returns the same information, after bribing with a shabooza.

The Group decides they want to get into the Temple of Vashanka to do some additional snooping around. Between the information they got from the people on the estates, and the broken doors on the balcony of the Temple, they have substantial suspicion. The Group goes to Gastov who is in the Happy Beaver, and buys a sewer map to get them underground access to the Temple of Vashanka, they pay 15 sh for it. Their next task is to head over to the Temple of Sabellia. On their way, they see two more Sikkintairs circling the Bazaar. They turn and run towards the Bazaar as fast as possible, but don’t make it before one of the Sikkintairs picks up its prey. The beast flies over the Group and back to the Temple of Vashanka, where it enters the top floor balcony at top flying speed. There is no noise or evidence of any collision.

The Group gets to the Temple of Sabellia to talk with the Head Priestess. This meeting results in the head priestess hiring the group in behalf of the Prince-Govenor Kadikithis. The offer is for 1000 sh for the Group. They get a medallion with the official seal of Ranke as a sort of badge, and they are encouraged to go immediately to the Temple of Vashanka. Zalbar and another Guard meet them at the door to the Temple of Vashanka. Zalbar greets the Group, but has the other Guard escort them upstairs to Molin’s personal quarters. Upon entering the room, the group notices two things. The first is that the room is completely barren of furniture. The second is the glowing silvery portal on one end of the room. The portal looks like it only has one side. If looked at from the non-silvery side, it is like it doesn’t exist, just a slight wavering of the room seen through the area. The other side is a shimmering silver oval that is 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall. It faces the balcony doors, which have been removed completely. Jack reaches through the portal but doesn’t feel anything on the other side. They finally decide to step through the portal.

On the other side, they are on a mountainside in a huge mountain range as far as the eye can see. Looking in the skies, there are hundreds of Sikkintairs flying in the air, both near and in the distance. The Group is standing on a large ledge, and they look down, to another large ledge. On the lower ledge, they see a few bodies of the victims from the various abductions, including Suzy, or rather what is left of her and her clothing. Turning around and looking at the cliff face going up, the mountain they are standing on has a lot of caves in the side of the cliff, where the Sikkintairs presumably roost. There is one cave that is significantly larger than all the rest that is slightly above the ledge they are on; it’s a simple climb to get in. The Group decides they don’t know what they are looking for, and decide to return back through the portal. They catch their escort napping when they get back, and are taken to Molin Torchholder for a briefing. The Group informs Molin of what they saw, and in return they are berated and insulted by him. He calls them useless and insignificant. The Group leaves disgusted, and decides to try to get more information from Mizraith, the Rankan magician on retainer by the Palace. The Palace personnel are very helpful in getting the Group to Mizraith’s place near the intersection of Processional and the Governors Walk. Mizraith meets with them reluctantly and is similarly condescending. He informs them that his magical resources are doing all that they can to close the portal. The Group, disillusioned and angry, leaves to go try their luck with Enas Yorl.

Approaching the famous house on Pyrtanis Street, the Group pauses at the gate uncertainly; they see the front door of the house opening, as if beckoning them to enter. The Group walks up the path to the porch, entering the house carefully and respectfully. A squat lizard-like being with wings meets them just inside the door. It leads them to a sitting room where the Group sees a cloaked figure sitting comfortably in a chair and assumes that it is Enas Yorl. They are correct; his magically shifting form is unknown due to the coverage of the cloak. They tell him their discoveries so far, including the disdain and disinterest of the Rankan government. Enas informs the Group that the portal is most likely being held open by a significant item that is still on the other side. They need to find that item on the other side, bring the item back through, and the portal should close.

The Group heads back to the Palace to get some mountain survival equipment for their task, on Ranke, of course. The Palace allows them to stock up from their armory, and the Group prepares for their second trip through the portal.

At the Palace armory, the Group meets up with Jack, who has been training with Tempus all day, preparing to handle himself against the Sikkintairs. Armed with a long pole-arm, Jack is ready as ever to fight these beasts.

For the second time, the Group goes through the portal. They get to the other side and decide to start searching the caves, and start with the biggest one, closest to the portal. Inside it, they see what looks like living quarters for something, something very large. There is a Sikkinair spitted and roasting over a fire. The fire is the size of Gagino’s tent in the Bazaar, and the Sikkintair is one of the larger ones. They search around the cave; it has a central wall that separates the entrance from the back of the cave. Sneaking to the back of the cave, behind the wall, they see a huge humanoid, almost the same color of the rock walls. The Stone Giant hears something and starts to get up, reaching for a very large club. The Group takes position but does not attack immediately. The Giant sees the Group and rushes them. Modig manages to sneak around the other side and starts searching what looks like the Giant’s bedding. The Giant attacks and starts dealing mighty blows to Jack, Malkar, and Kalima. Nickolas manages to sneak behind it and up on its back. Finally, with enough blows from everyone and a final stab in the back from Nickolas, the Giant goes down. During the fight, Modig searches for the mysterious item; and finds a dagger-like object. The object is figured to be an Athame, a magical device used in casting rituals. This is probably the item used to keep the portal open. The Group gets back to the portal outside of the cave, and everyone goes through, with Modig bringing up the rear with the Athame. As soon as Modig appears in Molin Torchholder’s room, the portal closes. The Group gives a collective sigh of relief.

They are immediately brought into the Palace. Molin, Zalbar, Mizraith and the Prince Kadakithis meet with them, but not after making the Group wait for almost a half an hour. The Group shows Mizraith the Athame, and then is dutifully paid 20 Coronations (250 sh) for each person present. They are also encouraged to keep this information to themselves. Enas Yorl magically appears and is not pleased with the ‘reward’ that the Prince-Governor and his staff have given. Enas tells the Rankan’s his opinions of how this whole situation has been dealt with and wishes them a "good day". The Rankan’s are highly annoyed and the Group is displeased with the lack of appreciation. Both groups separate on sour terms.
They unceremoniously return the equipment they borrowed for their quest in the palace grounds, and are escorted out of the Palace. The Group stomps their way to Marta’s.

They order drinks and dinner and eat a somber meal. A voice is heard while they are eating their meal, and the lizard-like servant of Enas Yorl appears from out of thin air. The voice is coming from a Magical Mouth on a nearby wall. The voice is loud enough that all the patrons in Marta’s stop what they are doing to witness this extremely odd event. Enas uses this to tell of the Groups heroic quest to make Sanctuary safer. He also describes the level of the Rankan’s malaise towards their actions. Enas tells everyone listening that he has decided to personally reward the Group; and he is going to do it publicly, right now. Marta is so happy that she buys the Group a round of wine.

The mouth says "First, for Jack. The tough but rash ex-soldier who takes care of others first, I give to him a magical Ring of Force Shield. This will protect him as he protects others."

"Kalima, righteous leader with your friends, trying to keep an eye on all who might wrong you or others you care about, I present you with a statuette of this owl. Once per day, it can magically come to life as this size or a giant size and serve you, as you will it. Be warned: after the third time as a giant sized owl, the statuette’s magic will expire.

"Gagino, as a music lover and a friend, you’re always on the lookout for your associates, this Canaith Mandolin can aid you and your friends with healing, magical cancellation or even the summoning of a creature for aid."

"Malkar, you have the hunter’s will and skill. This tiger skin Mantle of the Predator will give you an animalistic edge against beast and man alike.

"Nickolas, with your quiet attitude, you will get this magic armor made from studded leather that is as black as midnight. Your foes will find it difficult to see you coming."

"Modig, your skills with tools and mechanical works is good, but even the good can get better. This magical ring will enhance your abilities.

"Take these items and continue on your path. I am truly proud of you, even if the Prince Governor Kadakithis, or Ranke, is not."

GameStorm 11

2009-03-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

My first blog posting was on GameStorm 10, and since last year, I've been awaiting another GameStorm, and this weekend was it. GameStorm 11 - good times and great oldies! Here's what I played, and some thoughts about the convention, games, people and whatever else crosses my mind during the typing of this post up.

Friday - March 27th
First day, pretty excited, I am looking forward to playing some games that I am familiar with, but with new people. My Tuesday night game group is great, but I like meeting new people, too. The first hour or so was spent wandering the con and familiarizing myself with the layout; where the RPG's are, LARP, vendor room, etc. Then, I was ready to try my first game.

SPANC
I skulked around, and found a game I hadn't played before; SPANC by Steve Jackson Games. SPANC stands for Space Pirates Amazon Ninja Catgirls. I do not lie. I rate this a 2 out of 10 on the BGG scale. The game is obviously for teenage boys with no need for thought during gameplay. The game is completely ruled by dice rolling, and really has no redeeming value from any strategy standpoint whatsoever. The game is played with two to four players, and each assembles a crew of 4 randomly drawn characters, and assigning one as your Captain. Each character has 4 atributes: Space Pirate, Amazon, Ninja, and Catgirl. The game is played in rounds until one crew gathers 10 Loot. Each Round introduces 4 challenges, which have a skill related to the 4 Attributes. A roll of the dice, looking for a lower number than the challenge rating. Roll lower, continue to the next challenge. If you fail a challenge, your crew member gets knocked out and cannot continue. First person through all 4 challenges, gets a loot and toy boost. Challenges can be rewarded with Loot and / or Toys. Loot was already explained. Toys are gadgets that add Attribute mondifications - usually in the positive. The game is primarly focused on scantily clad anime girl art. Toys are items like Camoflage Bikini, vibrating swords, and Poolboys. The game is super silly and provides male eye candy (Softcore TNA), so if you're looking for that type of game, you might like it. I didn't care for it at all.

Agricola
I've posted for this game before - see my clay animeeples posts. I played this game with a new person and another that was teaching. We played 'family' style with no minor improvement or occupation cards. I've played this way before with 2 people, but was surprised how good of a game it is without the cards. It's a greatly balanced game, and the cards add a lot of variety and adds a ton of replay value, but the basic game is still a great game. A solid 8 on the BGG scale.

PS3 Games - Rock Band - Street Fighter
I got into the console gaming room a few times over the weekend and got to play the new Street Fighter IV game and some Rock Band, too. I had fun playing with new people.

Dragon Dice
One of my favorite games as of late. An old TSR game, but the rights and all of the original die molds were bought by SFR Inc. A collectable dice game, each die is a unit in an army. Each die has a value from 1 to 4. 1 = common, 2 = uncommon, 3 = rare, 4 = monster. You construct an army with 10 races to choose from, then battle your army against your opponent (or opponents) trying to gain control of 2 terrains. Using Manuvers, Missles, Melee and Magic to win. It's got a decent amount of strategy, and still has an element of luck. And even though I didn't like SPANC due to it's reliance on luck, this game at least has a lot of strategy to it as well.

Saturday

Titan
One of my all-time favorites! I hosted this event again this year, and got 4 players. Dave E and Ben from my regular Tuesday night game group, and Dave B, from my Dragon Dice group. Dave B was a newbie, but we had a few fellow Titan fans stopping by the table giving him advice during the game. I think this was great for people to help out, because any advice from us would be suspect. Ben was the first out (but I am sure he wasn't disappointed), then Dave B. At that point, we had 5 hours in the game, and Dave E and I compared Titan stacks and agreed that my Titan stack with a serpant was probably more powerful than his Titan stack with almost Hydra growth. Dave E's Titan was stronger because he was the one to manage to eliminate Dave B and Ben, but it was still only a 9 Titan. Dave wanted to go to dinner so he basically conceded, though we were both ready to stop playing.

Tichu
I quick errand into Portland, and back, then I was ready for a lighter game. I found a friend who I knew liked it and she was sitting with her friend who's husband was off enjoying the Con, and she was bored. We both thought Tichu was a good try for her. We wrangled up a fourth, and I commenced teaching Tichu to 2 new players. The game is a trick taking game, but uses poker hands for tricks. Each player doesn't (and sometimes cannot) play each time play comes around to them. The first person to go out is the winner, but the round continues until 3 of the 4 are out. It's hard to explain and teach (as I found out) and is best experienced. I enjoy this game quite a bit.

Sunday

Serenity RPG - SerenityRPG.com (site's down?)
I played this last year with the same GM. It was a fantastic game once again. Last year, it was a kidnapping rescue job, this year, the plot was more party intrigue based. There was questionable cargo on the ship, which had a datadrive with important secret data on it, and several characters had instructions or personal desire to get this data. The ship was attacked by Pirates and boarded. We managed to fight them off (I was playing the Mercenary of the ship, so I managed to get 3 of the 5 AND managed to stay unharmed - WOOT). After the fight, the intrigue started. I was going to search the cargo while everyone was in the common room (impromptu infirmiry) getting patched up by the medic. I found the cargo and with it, a small bomb - I assume meant to blow the crate up. I managed to get the bomb off the crate, switch the data drive with my dupe, and re-package everything. Then, I announced my finding of the bomb to the rest of the ship. After a lot of arguing, it was determined that myself, the Capt, and the First Mate were going to open the cargo and search it. I was able to open the crate, thus keeping the rest of the crew ignorant of my previous breaking of the seal of the cargo. After the rest of the crew sees the contents, I feign disinterest due to it not being any sort of weaponry. The rest of the crew search, assemble, dissasemble and generally do everything imaginable to the computer in the cargo box with no idea if what is so important about it. We take a day or so to get to our destination planet to drop to sell the cargo, and during that time, each interested party member manages to get a crack at the data drive to do whatever nefarious deeds they needed to do to it. When we land, we are approached by a man who's name I recognize, but he is an impersonator. I let the Captain sell the cargo to the imposter, knowing I have the data drive, and this would send the heat somewhere else, and not to my contact. I follow the man, and while out of the ship, meet my real contact, pass over the data drive, and let him berate the captain for selling the cargo to the wrong man.
Suddenly, a group of armed men with military grade weaponry suround the ship and inform us we are leaving with them - these are my full employers; the Syndicate. A few dozen meters away from the ship, the Alliance shows up, too, and a massive fire fight ensues.
The last fight wasn't played out due to time and energy constraints, but everyone got the ending they wanted. Then, we did the Big Reveal. I was successful in getting the data drive to my Employer, and that I was an agent of the Syndicate. The medic is an Alliance officer, the passenger had interest in the datadrive, but was sent to destroy it with virus / worm software. Turns out, the Alliance ended up with the virus laden data drive. That'll teach 'em.

The venue was a Hilton in Vancouver, WA, and it was nice. we had roving hotel employees with carts selling snacks and pizza - that was new. I am sure some people appreciated the fact that the food came to you, but I didn't think it was all that great. Overpriced con food on wheels - not impressed. Also, parking was a pain, and there was very limited free spots - I ended up paying for parking the whole weekend. That was annoying.

That ended my GameStorm. Looking back, I didn't play as many games as I probably could have, but I had a lot of talking time with a slew of folk and I did have a great time. I already registered for next year.

Agricola Animeeples - Part Duex

2009-03-05T07:26:00.001-08:00

Agricola Animeeples - Some pictures of them in use. not an exciting post, but it's still pretty cool. Petumma and Benjamin are to thank for the pics. Oh, and Benjamin's iPhone. So, blame him for the quality. hehe.

From the table side as the game is in progress.

Getting a closer look..

A different angle.

That's it. A short post, almost minimalist. I don't like it. I'll have more text or a longer post next time.

Thieves' World - Kadakithis, HellHounds and Assassins

2009-02-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV : Prince and Steel : Festival

Kadakithis, HellHounds and Assassins
17th of Eseris
Rumors are fast and furious around town; Prince Kadakithis is finally coming to town, on a ship, sometime today or tomorrow. Modig is on the hunt for more information about the Prince. His contacts get him an invitation to the Vulgar Unicorn for a drink with Rabben the Lighthanded, one of the most well-known thieves in the Maze. His protégé, Shadowspawn, is almost as equally well-known. The Group decides they will go after dark with Modig to the Vulgar Unicorn.
Seeking fame and fortune, or just a new place, Brennus arrives into town on the same ship as the new Prince Governor. The Prince and all of the Ranken Elite Guard are let off first, and then the rest of the passengers. Malkar, Nikolas and Jack are at the wharf watching the proceedings, so they see that there is little fanfare with the arrival on this Prince. The new Prince and his entourage travel north, straight to the Palace, followed immediately by many crates and wagons full of what the Group supposes are his belongings.
The ship hires a labor crew from the commoners hanging around the docks to unload the rest of the ship’s goods. Jack is recognized from previous work done, and is hired as a foreman for one team of workers.
While Jack works for pitiful pay, Malkar goes to the Happy Beaver to see if there is any new information that Gastov might have for him. Gastov talks of someone asking about him and his friends, and to watch out.
Later, the Group goes to the Vulgar Unicorn with Modig for his meeting with Rabben. Still a little put off in the Maze, the Group arrives early in the evening, and they get a few drinks while waiting for Rabben. Rabben shows up with Shadowspawn accompanying him. Modig and Rabben find a separate area for themselves, and they get a friendly round of drinks. Rabben informs Modig that there has been someone asking around for him and his gang. He says to keep an eye out for trouble. The guys doing the asking were unsavory types like them, but definitely Ranken, recently in from Ranke. Modig pays Rabben for his efforts and returns to his cohorts. The Group discusses this information and believes it’s a threat from Arion Swan. The Group stays a while longer in the Unicorn, and eventually leaves for home.
On the way out of the Maze, a gang attacks the Group. The gang is made up of some low life youths from the Maze who call themselves the Black Hands, but tonight they are teamed up with two well-trained leaders, who seem to be professional assassins. Someone yells for guards, but it’s not likely they will venture into the Maze. The fight produces two new corpses of young boys, and the remaining single gang member escapes with the two assassins. One gang member is left behind for dead, but the Group revives him for questioning. Much to their surprise, a contingent of guards show up, five local Watchmen being led by a Ranken soldier with markings the group is immediately unfamiliar with. The guards show up as the Group is searching the bodies of the dead. The Ranken Guard ceases all looting, and informs the Watch to take care of the bodies. Meanwhile, the Group and the captive gang member are escorted back to the Palace, post haste. Upon arriving at the Palace, the Group notices a lot of new guards in the new uniform. Kalima recognizes the new soldiers as real Ranken Elite soldiers. The Group is led to the leader of the Ranken Elite, an impressive man by the name of Zalbar. The story is related to Zalbar, and the captive gang member is immediately found guilty of assault, and swift punishment is administered by Zalbar. The young gang member screams as his hand is branded right then and there.

With Jack’s busy day yesterday of unloading the ship, he had forgotten all about a date he’d made with one of Marta’s finest – Mary. Jack attempts to make up with Mary by promising to take her to the Bazaar later in the day.
On the hunt for information about the people asking questions about them, the Group decides to track down the Black Hands in the Maze, wanting to get information about the guys who they were working for. After finding the Black Hands, and getting them in one of the few empty buildings in the Maze, Brennus summons a Hell Hound. The Black Hands give in to the Group and tell them that they were hired to initiate the attack, and then just run away. They don’t know anything except that they were paid with Ranken coin. They don’t know where the guys can be found, or whom they might be working for.
The Group discusses a plan to set up a trap for the assassins by using a lone, wandering Jack as bait. Nicolas, Malkar and Modig shadow Jack waiting for opportunity to catch the assassins in the act of attacking. The Group runs these rituals for two days. First, Jack works at the docks, and the others watch from hidden places for the assassins. After his work is done, Jack wanders around the various places around the Westside; nothing happens. No attacks, no leads, no assassins. On the third day, they finally spot someone following Jack from the rooftops of the buildings. The three sneaky Group members watching Jack’s back react quickly, springing into action and prepare an attack. Climbing to the rooftop, the assassin sees them and flees by jumping down to the ground and running down the nearest alleyway. Malkar uses this exposure as the start of a hunt, using his skills he’s had from tracking animals in the swamp to his newly developed city tracking. He tracks the man to a small residential building in the Maze, and up a set of stairs. In the upstairs hallway, there are six doors to choose from. The six Group members place themselves outside one door each, and in unison, each one attempts to kick in the door in front of them. Four doors are smashed in and the residents inside each door are quite shocked. One of the rooms contains the two assassins, and Jack finds himself facing them.
‘Jackpot!’ yells Jack, as another door in the hall falls to a second kick.
The rest of the Group rushes to Jack’s door to face the assassins. The assassins fire crossbows, and hastily jump out the window. The Group gives chase out the window. A few of the Group make some nice jumps and smooth landings, and others end up falling roughly to the ground, with loud grunts or yells. Jack loses it and goes into a battle rage. Malkar is the only member who stays behind in the room, and starts providing arrow fire from the second story window. The six-on-two fight ends quickly, with one assassin quite certainly dead, and the other one heavily wounded. The Group takes the bodies back into the apartment before there is any outside intervention. A very thorough search of the bodies and the room, and the Group finds all of their possessions. They decide to take the wounded one to a place more appropriate for ‘questioning’.
When the Group exits the Maze, a watchman stops them and questions them, and they are convinced to go to the palace and the Ranken Imperial Guard. Grumbling, the Group hauls the unconscious assassin to Zalbar, who questions them and threatens to charge them with vigilantism. With some tough negotiations, the Group is let off with a strong warning, and they are forced to leave the body and the captive assassin. The Group manages to not say anything about the possessions of the assassins, and get away with that loot. One of the items is a scroll case with all of their pictures (crudely drawn) and a contract for their deaths. There is no evidence of who has hired their assassination, but the Group single-mindedly agrees that it was probably Arion Swan.

Thieves' World - Festival

2009-02-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV : Prince and Steel

5th of Eseris, Festival
It's many weeks later, and we find the Group anticipating the Spring Festival that is coming up in Sanctuary. The city is always full of new people and there are numerous activities, games, and contests with plenty of drinking and betting. Pickpockets abound, so watch your coin purse!
The Group finds themselves drawn to various activities. A vendor named Crazy Ernie convinces Jack to ‘wrassle’ some bears. Bets are laid out, and Ernie leads out the biggest one for Jack to try his skills on. Much to the delight of the onlookers, Jack manages to pin the bear! A lot of folks are impressed, including Crazy Ernie and three young women. Jack uses that as an excuse to get to know the young women better, and sees the Festival with them.
Malkar enters an archery contest. After several rounds, he wins quite comfortably. He gets the contest purse of 500$h.
All is not fun and games as Elorin crosses a childhood adversary, Borrin. Heated insults are exchanged and the confrontation comes to a conclusion in a duel, right then and there. Elorin uses his anger and rushes in quickly, promptly dispatching his opponent in a single thrust. Borrin’s date leaves with Elorin, who is obviously superior, in her eyes.
That night at Marta’s, many games are being played and Jack arm-wrestles 3 opponents for 3 victories, winning some drinks and the eye of all serving girls there. Modig and Nikolas take advantage of the Festival and set up to gamble as a team; together they manage to end up with Nikolas as the table winner. The Group is on a mighty high from all their victories in the day.

The following day is the day of the public arena fights; entrants pay a fee, and are pitted against each other in single combat for glory. Of course, there is a lot of money to be made by betting in the stands. Nikolas fights in the arena; his opponent is a Hawkmask. Several rounds go by with Nikolas being victorious.
Gagino takes part in a musical contest, and takes both purses of 250 $h for Best Single Song and Best Overall Performer.
Elorin befriends some strangers in town. He’s not certain who seems more strange, Wess or Aerie. Aerie is unconventionally tall for a woman, taller than most people Elorin’s ever met and she wears a very heavy cloak on her back. Wess, the man Aerie travels with, is easily a head taller than she is. They are both very slender of build, and are traveling very light. Elorin tells them where to meet up with the Group later, when the light starts to fade for the day.
When the two travelers enter Marta’s, they attract more attention than usual. Strangers are common in Sanctuary, especially during Festival, but these two have an aura that seems to cause unwanted attention focus on them. They are not only strange in dress and but are even stranger in mannerisms. The strangers seek out the Group and join them at their table. There are introductions all around, and the din of the tavern recedes as the two strangers entrust the Group to their purpose in Sanctuary.
They are here because they’ve followed a path of clues to this Festival. They are looking for a friend of theirs who was kidnapped a few weeks ago from their homeland, far to the north. They completely believe their friend is in significant danger and are willing to do anything to rescue him. They think his enslaver is bringing his circus to the Festival. They don’t know much of who has their friend, but they think it will be easy to find him. The Group ponders their situation and agrees to aid in any way that they can.

The Group arrives at Marta’s and the strangers are there already. The rumor on the street is that there is a traveling show coming to town for the Festival. The newcomers have a feeling that this traveling circus will provide more clues to their friend.
A man in town for the Festival enters Marta’s and looks around. He spots what he seems to be looking for and approaches Kalima. He’s carrying a quarterstaff and since she is also carrying a quarterstaff, he challenges her to a friendly bout in the arena, using only their quarterstaffs. The stranger puts up a 100 $h wager, and Kalima agrees. They walk over to the arena, requisition a slot for fighting, and go in. After a short wait and watching a few fights, Kalima and the man enter their ring, and the fight begins! The battle goes evenly, but Kalima ekes out a win with a lucky blow. The Group watches a few more bouts at the arena, and then is drawn to some new activity from the north; the traveling circus is arriving.
The circus wagon train comes through town, starting at the north gate, through the caravan square (leaving some of the wagons there) and across the Wideway to the Processional, and then north to the Palace grounds. After some setup, an announcer starts revealing the contents of the wagons. There are creatures in cages from the far reaches of the continent. Finally, the last, biggest wagon of them all is revealed and it contains a tall, red, winged humanoid. The announcer calls the humanoid ‘Satan’. The wagons head back to Caravan Square, and the group meets up with the strange travelers in Marta’s. Satan is their missing friend, and they have sworn to free him, and are bound and determined to do so tonight. Elorin cools them down by convincing them to wait one night so they can scout the situation first. The Group is going to the performance tonight to figure out the activity, and then on the second night they will attempt to free him.
In the tent of the circus, several acts are performed, with Satan as the finale. He’s brought out on a stage, and is ordered to provide a show for the crowd. No one in Sanctuary has ever seen nor heard of such a creature, and the Northerners are disgusted with the cruelty with which their friend is treated. Whips and shouts of threats are used to get Satan to show his wings fully spread out, and eventually for him to fly around the tent.
The scouting proves very worthwhile, and the Group waits until the second night for the end of Satan’s flight, then they will spring into action. Outside, Aerie emits a high-pitched keen to alert Satan to her presence, and she removes her heavy cloak. She has wings, too! Aerie takes to the air, while the rest of the plan take shape. Kalima casts some darkness spells at the folks on the stage while the Group outside starts cutting support ropes to the big tent. As the tent collapses, Aerie cuts a hole in the top, allowing her and Satan to fly free. Chaos ensues as the public starts running for the exits while the tent collapses. Wess takes initiative and starts to open the rest of the animal cages, setting all of the captured creatures free.
Outside of town, the Group meets up with Wess. Wess reveals that the group was wrong about something. Wess is commonly mistaken for a man outside of her native land, so she sets the story straight, and bids the Group farewell. The Group wishes her a good journey. She’s going to meet her friends far to the north in a day or so. After watching her in action, the Group does not doubt her ability to survive on her own. Goodbyes are said, and the Group and Wess take opposite paths.

Thieves' World - The Prince and the Steel

2009-01-30T19:40:00.001-08:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III : Act IV

The Prince and the Steel
19th of Morothus - Annensday

The next day, at breakfast, Jack makes a date for shopping with a barmaid (Mary). She gets done after lunch, so Jack, Nickolas, and Malkar hang around Marta’s until her shift is done. Jack plays with some dice and attracts the attention someone who wants to gamble. Jack turns him down and the man grumbles and heads to the bar. He orders and sends three beers to the table. Malkar takes a drink, and Jack drinks deeply, suddenly coughing and thrashing and cannot seem to find his feet. He also feels severely weakened. Nickolas identifies that the drinks are poisoned, and they search for the man from the bar. They’ve lost him, but Jack needs immediate help. The three head immediately for the Avenue of Magistrates where a ritual Regeneration is cast on Jack for a full recovery from the poison.

Eventually, the Group pries Jack from out of the care of the priestesses in the Temple and the Group starts getting ready for the ball; after all, they only have three days. Jack, Malkar and Nickolas need to acquire some suitable clothing for the ball. The Group goes out in the company of Mary and she helps them get some good clothes for a high price. Jack repays her with a gift of a nice new dress, and invites her to the Ball as his date.

In the darkness of night, while returning from their shopping, some thugs jump out from a dark alley to mug them. The muggers quickly find themselves in a losing battle, with two of the mugger’s weapons breaking during the fight, and they run away. Information gathering in the bars reveals that a rash of street robberies are taking place. Also, there is a merchant in the Maze who is selling weapons very cheaply. Mostly street trash and wanna-be thugs are buying them up in huge numbers. They are good for show, but not for use. The Group discusses the impact of these new weapons in these people’s hands, and they decide it can’t be a good thing.

The next day, more people and more weapons are on the street. This time everyone is buying them for protection from the thugs. There have been more confrontations and more violence. Each incident generally plays out as before, with a lot of broken weapons. Modig is gathering information while in Marta’s, and his ears lead him to the Bazaar, where there is a crowd collecting around Dubro’s tent. The crowd gets rowdy and loud; Dubro comes out and quiets the crowd down. Someone has found out that Dubro’s antique sword is made of the ancient Enlibar steel. The crowd is demanding that something has to be done about the cheap weapons that are fast becoming the scourge of the city in the hands of thugs and gangs. Dubro eventually convinces the crowd that the secret of Enlibar steel has been lost for centuries. The crowd eventually disperses and things go back to normal.

That night, Dubro is seeking out Gagino and his friends. He has a job for them and trusts only them. When the Group assembles, Dubro relates this story to them. It was after dark last night and Dubro was visited by a cloaked figure. He said his name is Enas Yorl, and that he has an interest in the antique Enlibar sword also. He asks to see it, and Dubro allows him to hold it. The figure holds it with a hand that isn’t human; the skin is striped black and white and is like the hide of an animal. The figure casts some spells and asks Dubro if he’s interested in the true secret of Enlibar. Dubro assures him that he would be interested in creating master items like the antique sword, and to have the knowledge to forge Enlibar steel. The figure tells him to assemble some trustworthy friends for a short but dangerous quest, a quest that will take them to the secret of the Enlibar people.

Modig informs Dubro that he saw the robed figure leave his tent last night and had been waiting to see if Dubro needed help, and had already gathered the Group for assembly in the morning.

The Group meets at Gagino’s and then they make their way over to Dubro’s tent. Dubro agrees to make whatever they go through worth their while. As if summoned, a messenger from Enas Yorl appears at the tent entrance. The messenger tells them to be ready by mid-afternoon today, and to go to the Yorl residence on Pyrtanis Street.

The Group leaves Dubro to finish shopping for ball clothes. After a few hours they have finally picked up the items they need. There is a commotion from the east. It seems there is a procession of guards and a carriage coming in from the East Gate.

The Group moves towards the main streets and they see the procession making its way down the Wide Way towards the docks. Asking some questions, they hear that it seems that this is the new Prince Governor. They get to the docks and the procession is just arriving there.Twenty fully armed men on horses are escorting the carriage. The carriage stops and a head is seen poking out of the carriage’s window to look at the ship, BlackGuard, at the dock. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt is fired from the crowd, hitting the wood of the door to the carriage, and the head ducks back in. The carriage guards react immediately, and snatch the offender from the street, causing a lot of chaos. The crowd starts to riot, pockets are picked, and small fights start in the street. The Group decides scram before too much happens to them. The carriage moves quickly up the Processional to the gates of the Palace, with the guards not-so-kindly clearing the way of interlopers.

Several hours later the characters find their way down Pyrtanis street and in front of Enas Yorl’s house. As they walk up to the front of the house, a scroll case is tossed out from inside the house, from an upstairs window. The scroll is a map that leads them to a nearby sewer entrance. The map leads them back around and directly underneath the residence. There is a shimmering portal and a brown leather bag waiting for them. In the bag is a rod made of what seems to be pure gold and a lens of glass. The Group is startled by a voice in the air, which proceeds to gives them their instructions.

“Pick up the bag, use the rod to come home, and use the lens to see. Step through the portal, and do your best, as this can only be done once.”

They step through the portal to an underground room, musty and dank smelling. The walls are built from stone, and all indications make the Group think that this is an empty tomb. The Group ponders where they are, and even, when. The powers of Enas Yorl are mysterious, who knows what the old wizard is capable of.

The Group acclimates to the darkness, and gets ready to move on. The doorway opens to a second room and then leads to a corridor. An unknown language is carefully written on the walls here. No one can read the language; when Nickolas looks at the text through the lens Enas gave them, the words are clear to anyone using the lens. The text relates the history of the steel and the people, ending with a part about the secret being protected.

“Protected by what?” mutters Nikolas; the Group wonders with him.

More time passes; as the Group investigates the corridor, one of the walls slide open, and some creatures start plodding towards them. Walking on two feet, their bodies wrapped entirely in strips of cloth, the Protectors confront the Group.

“Mummies!” shouts Kalima.

The Group takes a defensive position and holds its own, fighting as hard as it can with the mummies. During the battle, Kalima drops with too many wounds; Jack goes into a wild battle rage, accidentally hitting Malkar once, just before Jack comes out of his rage. One of the rooms that opened up has a puzzle on the floor using runic pictures. The Group works it out, and another door opens to a long, dark corridor.

The Group congregates at the door at the end of the corridor when darts suddenly start shooting out from the walls and ceiling. Apparently, the door has a trap on it. The darts are poisoned, too, which was too much for the already injured Kalima and Jack, as they are knocked unconscious from them. Modig and Nikolas work on the trap, and finally succeed at opening the door safely.

Inside the door is one more room with a large pedestal, on which is displayed an old book. The book is from ancient Enlibar, and it contains the secret to Enlibar steel. The Group activates the rod, and is transported back to Sanctuary, directly into Gagino’s tent. Gagino closes shop immediately, and starts tending to his wounded daughter, Kalima. Modig runs out and fetches Dubro, who then sends for Alten Stulwig. Jack and Kalima are once again taken to the temple of Sabeillia for watched bedrest.

Dubro wastes no time and begins investigating the secrets of the ancient tome.In payment for their deed, Dubro will make each of the Group one weapon of their choice using the Enlibar steel secret. Enas gifts the group with a magical Handy Haversack.

The Group readies themselves for the Ball that evening, most of them completely out of their element with fancy clothes, food and even dancing. Elorin’s parents have set him up with a local Noble’s pleasant daughter for the evening. Jack is having a hard time on figuring out which of Marta’s wenches will make a good date. The Group has managed to hold one more ticket than they need to get in, and Modig decides to sell the extra ticket to Gastov.

The evening nears, and everyone makes their way to the Palace, at which point, everyone is searched lightly for weapons. The more common you are, the search seems to be a little more complete. A Ranken elite guard is performing the searches with the strictest set of rules.

The ball begins with a reception, including introductions, mingling and some drinks being passed around. The Group partakes liberally of the free drinks; Jack starts a little trouble, dancing a little too much. After too much time passes (as far as our Heroes are concerned), dinner is announced in an adjoining room. Everyone files in and is directed as to where to sit.

In the large diningroom, the Group is ushered to a table furthest away from the Prince’s table. All through dinner, the Group keeps noticing an oddness that seems to be surrounding the Prince. Doing some investigation and questioning, they determine that the Prince is an imposter. Even the Elite Guards are imposters. This is quite a plot to be pulled off.

In the crowd, Kalima recognizes the assassin from the street earlier, the one who shot at the Prince. Jack chums up to him, and learns his name is Tum. The Group recognizes him and they try to pass this information of their observations to the Palace Guards and nobles at the ball, but none of them seem to be concerned. The Magistrate is not accessible during the proceedings; after all they’ve done for him, he would probably believe them.

After dinner a long set of speeches are made by the retiring Ranken governor, the Magistrate, and the new Prince. During the speeches, Modig notices Gastov and several of his men at the tables near him. They are dressed to blend into the crowd. It’s obvious that the ticket they sold him was forged many times to get this many people into the event. Modig wonders what they are up to and keeps an eye out for their deeds.

Finally, the speeches end, and everyone is invited back into the reception room for dancing. This is where Jack really tries to impress his date. Elorin is occupied with his date, and the rest are free to continue to try to get someone to believe that the Prince is not who he says he is. Meanwhile, Modig sees Gastov’s men proceed, one by one, to disappear into the Palace proper; they’ll probably get some really good loot tonight. After a few hours, the Group finally gives up on convincing anyone of anything, and they decide to leave. All except for Elorin, who is obligated to stay with the companion his parents have forced upon him.

After they leave the ball, Malkar sets up to follow Tum. Malkor is lead to what seems to be Tum's residence on the East side, and then to a boat in the docks. After some time in the boat, Tum heads back to his East side residence, with Malkor still shadowing him. Malkor returns to the ship and looks around. What he sees is simply a cargo ship that is being loaded for a shipment out.This is odd, because most ships bring goods into Sanctuary, not the other way around.

The next day, the Group stakes out the ship and sees Tum leading a set of workers that are emptying out a warehouse near the docks, loading the ship with the goods. Jack gets himself hired on as a worker to see what he can find out.

All the boxes are goods from Ranke, which were probably brought in on the BlackGuard. It looks like in all the confusion, Tum has gotten an overlooked warehouse of goods that he is shipping out for his own profit.

Meanwhile, Kalima and Modig are still attempting to get in to see the Magistrate to see what is going on with this fake Prince. The Palace Guards continually send them away, and none of the Guards are the ones the Group is familiar with; it looks like the Palace Guard has rotated shifts and personnel. This makes it tough to see the Magistrate, as the Guards who used to let them in during their investigation of the Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn are no where to be seen. Eventually, the Group gives up on seeing the Magistrate, and focus on the warehouse that is being emptied.

Jack has enough information that he finally walks away and to the local Town Watch shack nearby. With the other members of the Group corroborating his story, the Watch and the Guards get involved.

After a while, a few Palace Guards show up to get the story straight from the Group. One of them is an old familiar Guard. He informs the Group that it has been discovered that the Prince and the Elite Guards are false, and the Palace Guards are setting up a trap to capture them all easily. The Group is encouraged to aid them by continuing to keep the work going, but to slow it down a bit.

It has been discovered that Tum and the fake Prince are in this plot together, and the imposter and the Elite Guards are planning an ‘inspection’ of the BlackGuard. It is suspected that at that time, all of the parties involved will try to sail off in the ship with all the stolen goods.

The Group starts a bit of unrest in the workers, and most of them end up leaving, as they think that they aren’t getting paid, even after working for a full day. Tum gets suspicious of what is going on, is arrested, and taken out of the way. The workers are sent home with half pay, with the provision they stay out of the area. The Palace Guards arrest the ship’s crew, and put them up out of the area also. The entire crew has been replaced with incognito Guards. The false Prince makes his way to the ship where the disguised Guards are waiting to arrest him and his fake Elite Guards. The imposter walks up the gangplank, and when his entire group is on the ship, the trap is revealed. A short burst of resistance is met with expedient and deadly force. The assembly of fakes all lay down arms and surrender. They are summarily arrested and taken away. The Group gets only a small reward, as the Palace Guards claim they knew all along, and were annoyed by the Group’s persistence, almost blowing the whole operation. The Group’s good graces with the Palace Guards seem to have come to an end.

Agricola Animeeples

2009-01-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

Agricola! It's fun game. And those who pre-ordered it got little wooden farm animals (known as Animeeples - Meeples are to designate people, animeeples, animals. Geek gamer lexicon.), the rest of us got cubes to represent sheep, boars, and cattle. And now, you can buy them separately. I went and made some out of Sculpey III clay, and went farther than just the animals; I did ALL of the resources in Agricola:
Sheep, Boars, Cattle, Food, Wood, Clay, Stone, Reed, Grain and Vegetable.

We're still thinking about doing farmers...
Here are the pictures:

All the different ones. I kept the quantity the same as what I got in the game, 25 Sheep, 20 Boars, 15 Cattle.

Sheep! I did mostly white, but 5 black made it in the down. Yes, a Down of sheep is a proper collective term. It can also be Flock, Drove, Fold, and / or Hurtle. Checkit! (Yes, you get to learn reading my blogs... sometimes)

The cubes and animeeples boars are black in the game. Who heard of black pigs? Well, they're Boars, but these are much mo betta. IMNSHO. The entire herd is pink.

Cattle! Well, these came out okay, we're not as impressed with the cattle as we are with the pigs and sheep, but they're still loved. Mostly.

Food and Stone. Meran did the plates with the turkey legs and peas. I did the rocks.

Wood and Clay. The wood has some dual tonality to them to simulate wood grain. I give it a 7 out of 10. The clay are cool with the 'stamp mark' fresh from the brickmaker!

Vegetables and Grain. We did two kinds of vegetable, pumpkin and carrot. Because we wanted to. and Grain in sheaves, wrapped and bundled.

Reed and Wood. We already talked about the wood. The reed is used for roofing, so we made it flat and bundled. Kinda odd, but definitely unique!

The whole tile when we baked on the protective coating.

That's it for fun with clay. I know you are on the edge of your seat and can't wait to see them in person. So, let's play Agricola!

DTXMania and Youtube

2009-01-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

I've been you-tubed.
I didn't do this video, but all the exercises shown in the video I programmed up. He played them all on 'auto' which means the computer is playing the notes, but you can hear what it is supposed to sound like. And he played them all on the FASTEST setting, for time concerns, I am sure. The shuffles don't sound so good at 160 BPM.. Maybe I should take that speed out.. lol.

The program is called DTXMania, and I decided that with the RockBand / Guitar Hero fad going on, there is an opportunity to use this technology for learning, too. So, I started writing basic exercises and rudiments, and put them out there on some drum forums to see what the response would be like. So far, it's pretty limited, but Billkwondo seems to really like them a lot! So, that's something.

I plan to add more stuff as I go along, but here's some links for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMvYceCLjzo - The YouTube video showing snippets of the exercises.
https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/43816/DTXFiles.zip - The DTXMania files of the rudiments shown in the video

http://www.donburi.to/~from/dtxmania/download.html - Download DTXMania

I think this might be the shortest post by me so far...

Murder At The Vulgar Unicorn - ACT IV

2009-01-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

If you are just picking this up, I suggest reading the previous posts first!
Prelude : Characters : Act I : Act II : Act III

ACT IV – Final Confrontations
17th of Morothus - Falanday

There are three major items for the Group to attend to. First the Dyreelan temple has to be dealt with, probably violently. Second, Arion Swan must be found and arrested or otherwise attended to. Finally, the plague is still a threat to Sanctuary. They don’t know when or how any more infected animals will come into the city, but they will most likely arrive by sea.

The morning finds the Group preparing for tonight’s raid on the Black Temple. They are working the bazaar and finding that the city is rife with rumors of a new prince governor coming to rule Sanctuary. The rumors vary from a kind and gentle ruler from Ranke or terrible tyrant hell bent on ruling with an iron fist. With the city’s history of Ranken rulers, the latter is far more likely than the former, especially if the likes of Arion Swan are involved. The day is spent in Marta’s or the Happy Beaver rumormongering. Many times the Group tries to learn more about the Dyreelan’s, but not much if known in the city. The Cult has always been an underground religion and there is much of the lore is never known. What the Group does find out is that the religious practices often revolve around sacrifices to the Goddess Dyreela, and it is often one of their own that is sacrificed. Being sacrificed is a great honor, or so the information tends to indicate. The group readies themselves for a bloody confrontation with the Dyreelan’s this night.

The Group arrives shortly before dusk, and they watch the Dyreelan’s activities. After an hour of watching, groups of cultists start leaving in controlled groups. One group spots the Jack and Kalima and approaches the two. A fight starts and ends quickly, with four dead cultists. The Group encroaches on the burrows of the underground. In it they observe two entrances and scout 2 guards at each entrance. Two guards at one entrance are quickly slain with the aid of disguises of cloaks off of the dead cultists, thanks to Jack and Kalima. The other entrance is peppered with caltrops. A false alarm is raised, and they await the group inside to rush out. The group inside does not come out, and yells for them to fall back to them. The Group attacks the two other guards, and come in from the other side. Inside, Arion Swan and some other cultists are surprised by the rush attack. Two arrows drop Arion’s companion by his side, and the battle begins. One of Arion’s beastly Fenniath’s is present for the battle and rushes in for battle. The Group is busy with the cultists and the Fenniath. With the Group distracted, Arion takes off running down a back route. Kalima spots the fleeing Arion and starts single combat with him. Arion laughs and insults Kalima’s background, which makes her angry, and eventually she gets the upper hand, subduing Arion. The Fenniath and the cultists are all killed, but Arion is captured and taken to the magistrate for further… processing.

After Arion is taken away, the Group talks with the magistrate, and he has found out that there is a ship called the Blackguard that is supposed to be delivering the final shipment of pigs. He asks for their assistance in the capture of the ship, and the Group agrees. The city has constant watch on the sea for the BlackGuard, with several garrisons standing ready for when it is sighted. The wait is two days long before the Blackguard is finally sighted at dusk.

The Group and the soldiers of the garrison are waiting in a warehouse near the docks, waiting for the ship to moor in before they act. When the ship is fully docked, the warehouse bursts open, and the Group and dozens of soldiers rush up the dock and charge onto the ship. A massive battle ensues with sailors fighting to save their lives and Ranken soldiers trying to capture as many as possible. The Group isolates the leaders and engages them directly; all but a Nisbisi War Witch end up dead. The Nisbisi Witch jumps off the ship and escapes into the water. While the Ranken soldiers secure their captures, the Group focuses on the escaping Witch. After a few minutes, they manage to track her to the WideWay and then to a tavern nearby. They attempt to sneak up to her in the bar, she notices them and with a wild flourish, she starts her table on fire. This makes all of the other patrons in the busy bar to panic and thus starting a riot. The Group is caught in a mob of drunkards making a mad rush to the door, barely keeping their position and balance. The Witch tries another incantation but is interrupted by Jack running and tackling her. The rest of the Group aids Jack to complete the capture. Bound and gagged, they bring her into the Magistrate. He’s very impressed and rewards them with a generous cash reward. In addition to reward, they are given an honorary invitation to the new Prince Governor’s coronation ball, which is happening in three days’ time.

Upon leaving the palace the Group decides to celebrate at their favorite place in Sanctuary; Marta’s. The group hears a hiss and a thick, sharp thump sound in the ground. A crossbow bolt is sticking in the ground next to Malkar’s feet. They look around and Malkar spots a person on a rooftop scrambling away. The Group attempts to pursue them, but doesn’t catch them. This is the prime topic that dominates the lunchtime conversation.

PS3 and Cookie Fu!

2008-12-30T15:45:00.000-08:00

I got my new PS3 today. I decided to utilize my travel points for something since we usually don't go anywhere, so I decided to make my home more vacation friendly with a new PlayStation 3 gaming console. And well, Marriott points can buy me stuff, so I look for what I want. I order the PS3 and it takes like 4 weeks to get to me. The whole time, there is a confusion in my order, one page says I got the 60 GB version, and one page says I got the 80 GB version. The newer one is the 80 GB version, and of course has the larger hard drive, so I'd prefer that one. The 60 GB version has the emulation chip for backwards compatibility for PS2 and PS1 game, so that wouldn't be too bad either. Turns out, the new PS3's still have compatibility, but it is software run, not a chip. So, I guess, less games are compatible. You can check out compatibility here. Anyway, I'm not overly concerned about compatibility, and back to the story, which was I going to get? the 60GB version on the order page? or the 80GB version that that my receipt shows? I'm leaning towards the 80GB version because it's what my receipt shows.. Plus, that's the one I want.

Delivery! I was trying to track it with a FedEx number Marriott customer support gave me, and it's not in the system - so I cannot track it via innurnet. So, I call FedEx, and they track the package using my address AND they WON'T give me the correct tracking number. so, I have to call to get any status on it's route.. how fricken' 80's. phones, people, dialing, talking.. sheesh. So, I call on the day it is supposed to be delivered, and ask to track it. And the lady says 'If it's supposed to be delivered today, it will be, we're working double hard to get it to you.'

It didn't get here.

So, I call the NEXT day (today) and get another dude who is more than happy to provide the service he's supposed to (unlike the ms. it-will-get-there-I-promise lady) and he tells me it's on a truck, and en-route.

Yay.

About 2 hours later, I see the FedEx truck struggling to turn around in our driveway, and I go out to meet my package. Bliss. It's here!

Now for the unveiling.. will I get the 60GB or the 80GB version? Drumroll, please...

The 160GB uncharted limited edition! Wow! What a surprise!

All unpacked.. I had a running joke with a friend of mine. The deal was the PS3 was supposed to have a random bundled game and two controllers. I was always joking I would get Madden '08 or something - I hate sports games. Well, I got the Uncharted game as part of the bundle, and All-Pro Football 2k8. So, I was sorta right, I got a crap sports game. Oh well, I can trade it in for a game I really want... Like Guitar Hero 4!

Cookie Fu! This is a dice game introduced to me by my friend Dennis. We co-founded the Stumptown Bone Rollers Guild on Meetup.com. It was mostly for Dragon Dice, but we play other dice games, too. Anyway, for $12 (with shipping) I got this haul of dice:

Games good! Now I just need someone to come over and play.

Portland Arctic Blast 08 - part duex

2008-12-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

Meran decided to try out her cross-country skiis.. More pics of Arctic Blast '08 -- as the area news stations have dubbed it. I wonder if we'll get Shell Shock from the blast? Sorry, how non-PC of me. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Or is it Battle Fatigue? (okay, I'm done w/ my mini-tribute to George Carlin; R.I.P.)

First, a shot of our deck / hot tub from Saturday / Sunday ish
And, today:

Now for pics from Meran on the skiiiiiis.

Legwarmers.. how.. umm... 80's.
And some pics she took:

My truck! I don't want to dig it out. So I am not. I am staying home.
more carport.. err.. outside storage area destruction pics:

And, see how the doggies like it...

Okay, that's it. Really. Maybe.

Portland Artic Blast 08

2008-12-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

Portland is getting snow. A LOT of snow. I know. I come from Colorado, where we got 4 foot snow storms every few years, and this is not that bad.. but for the PDX area, 18-24" is a lot of snow. And, we got our first casualty - the carport that is on the side of the house that we use for 'out-of-rain' storage of bikes, wood, mower, etc. It's annoying, to say the least.. Here are the photos:

From the back of the house, by the shed, it fell from the outside towards the house. It looks like minimal damage, but man is this going to be annoying.

My bike was not flipped. Now it is.. I wonder what got messed up. My riding mower was missed, yay!

View from the front side of the house.. fortunately, everything is mostly under the sides, not the middle. Anything in the middle would have gotten squashed.

My little red wagon looks sad. I might need to rescue it first.

Most of the support beams are okay, one got pulled out.. still, pretty minimal.. I shudder to think what COULD have happened..
Meran says "Whoever wished for a white Christmas, you got it. Stop wishing!"

There you go. Arctic Blast, 2008. Sheesh, and I thought all the rain sucked.