Tales of Comets Past

Tom: “If we run into people who are as big as we were at the end of the last run, we’re in trouble.”

Recovery and Recognition

“So, how’d it go?”, asks Ritasi.

We are all here, and all very tired. Some of us are down stats, though the Cult of Allan can fix the stats. Non-blood damage is also healed.

After some brief discussion, we go back to Stella’s temple for rest, and plan a spa day the next day.

Overnight, nothing happens. We are glad for the rest. In the morning, someone teleports in.

As it turns out, it’s Weythran!

“It is an honor to meet you all.”

Managaratha recognizes him. “How much time do you have?” “I have a few things to do here before I return.”

“I have to bring you somewhere, somewhen. Gale, you’ll need to leave your map here.”

“I can see several of you are quite weary. I don’t want to unduly tax you.”

It turns out he wants to bring us to 500-600 years after his time– which would be around the Dispersal of Magics comet. Hmm. Well, it’s not immediately pressing, because it was so long ago, so we have our spa day before going towards.

Weythran notices the Oasis miracle on us, and decides maybe he can afford to take a look at what’s going on with the Brokenness. It looks to him like we’re on the outskirts of the Oasis. It should have us in an extradimensional space, but there’s something Five-y that’s keeping us here– at least most of the time.

He thinks about the Breaker’s Avatar. The Gods move more in meta-time than in time. The Breaker’s Avatar is in No Time, but if you provide him with meta-time access, he will be able to take advantage of it. So if we go back in with a very very specific plan that doesn’t use much meta-time, we might not give the Breaker’s Avatar as much response time.

Reconnaissance

Weythran tells us the mission: we’re going to make sure that Sunny (Selene) and Charlemagne are able to create Gale’s map.

We go to the past! We’re in a swamp (Weythran introduces it as Shumash - it is a homeland to the Nameless and Spirits). The comet is larger than anyone has seen. It’s larger than the sun, even.

We all have:

• +5 to all stats
• Double skill for anything you have more than 1 level
• A bonus schtick:
  • Managaratha: What’s going on? Find a note in your pocket.
  • Gale: Half suppression fields against your magic.
  • Vidan: Needed Change: the Gods can invoke a change
  • Nesh: Nikolai’s Heir
  • Scout: Strengthen Spirit: Give DI to spirits
  • Stella: I’ve Got You– use as a reaction when someone fails a death check
  • Diomarche: Yet Another Set of Hit Points

“This place is great!” –Scout

We all make our survival rolls. Scout analyzes the ecology. It’s remarkably deadly. It’s also reminiscent of Green, in that there is magic feeding into the ecology. Or maybe DI or something. There are many Green-magic useful plants. There’s a giant hole in the ecology a few miles away, where it’s not a swamp or anything else. Well that doesn’t seem good.

We head through the swamp. Scout notices a big spirit-y thing shielded by stuff. Vidan thinks we’re going in the direction of what needs to be Witnessed. There’s a house.

Managaratha thinks that right now the Heroes of the Comet are off doing their big ritual to… Destroy? Disperse? Move? the Rainbow River.

The hut is surrounded by all six colors (grey is Yellow and black is Purple), with a big “And Stay Out.” Stela thinks we need to hold out for 3 Rounds.

We flank out to defend the Hut. Nesh charges forwards to engage with the named badguy. The slith swings at him, and cuts through the spells, and all the Shamanistic miracles on/near him go poof.

“Um, that’s the Spirit Slayer.” – Managaratha

“Aiya!” – Scout

Gale zaps some of the mooks. Scout can’t see the Spirit Slayer, because his spirit won’t look at it. “Break it.” After some trampling and shooting, Spirit Slayer starts to fleet under hiding, and Gale knocks him down. People shout to get someone to take him down further. The slith close on the walls Managaratha has been building and start taking them down. We finish wiping the slith mooks; Spirit Slayer has used Die with Style to be gone. Char talks to Weythran - no walls near the ritual. They block the connection to the magic water heads going up. The orc wave is pretty fast. Gale says it's 2 out of 4. A ninja sneaks onto the board - between Gale's "show broken on the map" and Scout's perception, the unseelie is damaged enough that it goes down when it takes out an orange block. Diomarche draws a fake hut. "That's what you did with my action? No more for you!" -Vidan Round 3 continues

Round 4

A bunch of guys show up. A saurian comes up and kills them all, and they explode.

"You wanted me!  I am here!  What do you want me for?"

The Goddess (Stella), Orellian (Weythran), Rush (Diomarche), Twins (Nivad) come forward.

Greetings, eldest.

That is not an answer.  

It is past your time.

I have no children yet.

Rush: You have some little time yet, but soon you will become the enemy.

He really should start having kids next comet. He can go one more. He did go one more, don't mess that up. "Your Godlinesses, please give him next comet, it works really well that way." - Managaratha, having read the note in his pocket.

Twins: Time is not immutable, but it is a thing even you must abide by.

Orellian:  Your people grow strong again.  If you continue to guide them as you have, they will never cease being children. 

Nikolai: I waited twenty-five thousand years. I can wait a thousand more. 

Goddess: You waited that long to have children.  It is time to have children.

Nikolai: Not until they will be safe. 

Rush: No one is ever safe, Nikolai.   But we agree, they need to be strong.  We have given you this extra time that your companions did not get.    And another (looking at Managaratha).  But you must be ready to go by the time the next Comet is in the sky again. 

Nikolai: I must be?

Twins: If you are not, you will destroy your children.  (teleports Nesh forward)

Nesh: "What's the point of magic resistance if the Gods can still teleport you?"

Nikolai comes and looks at Nesh.  How far?

Orellian: He is from three Comets from now, assuming you have children. 

Nikolai: Very well, I have heard you.  I will make a decision.  He walks off, and after a few steps seems to vanish.

Shortly after, this turns into Red zone, though it is still holy to the Nameless and the Spirits.

(Managaratha gets 23 successes detecting magic on the magic items. He thinks that magic items tend to have smaller effects between comets, and some might seem like they’re not magic at all.)

Loot

• +20 SPs
• 1 Creation Point on stats
• Drow Loot
  • Ring: a rack of 10 successes of spells difficulty 10 or less. Trigger is settable– going unconscious, speed roll, whatever. All spells triggered at once.
  • Wand: 10 Magic dice, can be used on Orange spells, over the course of a day. (Like fortune dice.) Replenishes at sunrise.
  • Rainbow cloak: provides 5 ranks of Rainbow Mage for protection for learning colors in the old way. Not entirely clear how that works for people born in the Zones. But it probably is just bonus magic for Managaratha.
• Forest goblin Loot
  • Magic belt: Dodge pool!
• Unseelie Loot
  • +2 dagger (x5 damage)
  • slippers of quieter move: Yellow silence, give you a “cannot be heard” schtick. 15-20 successes anti-hearing. May not work in Purple.
• Slith Loot
  • 12 +1 non-magic daggers
• Orc Loot
  • 15 Shields with shield skill in them. (5 or 6 skill)