Ur Gazette: Obituaries

Saturday, March 2nd, 2013 (Residimosday, Fourth Cycle, Year of the Beetle local time):

Friends, family and parishioners are mourning the loss of the Venerable Carolus: upstanding citizen of Fort Low, adventurer, dimension-hopper, and Follower of the Great Bear Spirit (birth name Father Karl), at the wrong end of a giant bee stinger during an encounter in the Zoo.  Carolus succumbed to poison.  His remains are now being transported back to Ur by his companions Ralex the Fighter, Thidrek the Sleestak, and their henchman Noctis (alias Burg the Orc).  Carolus leaves no family behind.  His accomplishments include the establishment of diplomatic relations between Fort Low and the Hive, and the clearing of the Alchemist's House which is the center of the new Crossroads settlement.  Donations in his memory can be made to the Shaman Gusorius on Bear Island, or to the seer who saw these events transpire in his crystal ball from the safety of Fort Low, Necronal the Sage.


In other news, it's been nearly a year since we started this campaign!  And it's been pretty awesome.  Thanks, Justin!  Anyway, here's the skinny on what happened last adventure.

So we (Ralex the NPC, Thidrek, Venerable Carolus and Burg renamed to Noctis) left Golden Pond, the lizardmen's village built atop giant lilypads, and headed south through the jungle that used to be the Zoo.  We had a rough map to follow, and soon struck a road headed mostly in the direction we wanted to go.

Soon after, we found a "pillbox" sort of structure on a small hill just off the road, on what we assumed was the border of the zoo and Sky Hunter territory.  After a brief investigation, we found that no one was home, but there was a large hatch in the floor leading down to the undercity, and nothing else.  Heading back to the road, we found the vegetation was becoming more sickly, and assumed we were heading to what the lizardmen had called the "diseased ones" and their "god." 

art by Dean

Heading onto side trails, we seemed to be making good time.  Then we heard the buzzing.  Before we had decided what to do, a swarm of five giant killer bees attacked.  In the first round, Venerable Carolus failed his saving throw.  The rest of the party made a heroic effort to kill the bees and save Carolus.  Unfortunately, the best we were able to manage was getting back to the pillbox and creating a barricade to block the entrance (after managing to fend off many more giant bees, luckily without serious injury or further losses).

During Thidrek's watch (Noctis' watch passed uneventfully), there were noises outside.  Infravision showed several very hot signatures low to the ground, with cold spots as if they were carrying loads.  A vague humanoid blur was also off in the brush.  Waking the others, we were attacked.  A large rock flew through our barricade, and Thidrek was beset by ghouls.  He was managing to fend them off by himself, but neither Noctis nor Ralex came to his aid - because they saw him flailing around at nothing.  A bit of assistance from Noctis brought Thidrek around as our assailants were pelting the walls and floors and Ralex (who was being played by Dean now) with oil.  Noctis went out to negotiate, and was told for his companions to come out.  Thidrek, not wanting to get captured again, dived into the tunnels while Ralex joined Noctis outside.

Asked about the "third one" in the party by the bondage-leather clad leader and his short, robed companion, they produced Carolus's corpse.  They were told to go to the road, wait one hour, then return to the pillbox.  Being good soldiers, they did as ordered.

Underground, Thidrek found an underground river (maybe the same one we explored before beneath the Hive), with a pier where some beastmen had loaded up a boat.  Hearing footsteps approach, he hid in an alcove and watched as a bondage-leather clad dude and a short robed companion led four pack-bats to the boat, board, and then set off into the river.  As the boat passed his hiding spot, the beastmen noticed Thidrek.  He shouted in Beastman language (Sleestak are a subspecies of Beastman) for them not to shoot, and they obliged.

Noctis and Ralex came back and went down into the tunnels looking for Thidrek, and we met up again and returned to the surface to watch over Carolus's remains for the rest of the night.

more art by Dean

This may not be the end for Elder Karl, though.  Justin informed us after the game that Dean can choose to roll up a new character with 1/3 of Carolus's accumulated XP, but if he does there's no chance of resurrection.  We've got four days of in-game time, however, to try to get back to Bear Island with the remains and see if, like Ripper, they can bring back Karl's spirit.  I'm hoping we make it.  The bear afterlife is likely just as interesting as the orc afterlife was.