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 (Note - At present this game is not being run.  But it will start up again soon...)

An epic AD&D campaign set in a world once ruled by a spacefaring race who departed aeons ago, leaving their servants to make their own civilisation.

The men they left behind have built empires, but all is now is danger as an unknown threat rises in the East.

The characters were thrust into the limelight and now consort with Cardinals and Caliphs as they try to counter the ancient evil that seeks to destroy them and their world.

This is a campaign with a strong political element and a lot of time, to date, has been spent in cities. The campaign began in a Northern continent (extremely) roughly based on Europe and has ranged from the icy wastes of the North to the Southern continent loosely based on Arabia (and in fact stealing mercilessly from the Al Qadim source books).

Magic is extremely rare in the Northern continent (mainly because the Church will kill you for being a witch) and only slightly more common in the South. The race who used to rule (the Draken) kept men as servants and although certain of their servants were distinctively different (higher castes had better modification) there are no demi-humans per se.

The current position is that the characters are heading back to the Northern continent accompanying an ambassador from the court of the Grand Caliph. There has been war in the South and one of the Caliph’s cities has fallen to a dark tide of monsters that swarmed out of the mountains in the East (the characters were there and escaped). Hence the Caliph feels that both Northern and Southern empires should unite against this threat.

None of the original characters remain but some of the players do. Characters are about 8^th level and are based on 2^nd Edition skills and powers. However, when it came to reading the rule books I got to the bit about ignoring the rules you don’t like and stopped. Hence, this is probably not a game for people hung up on the intricacies of AD&D rules. The game itself is very flexible, I may be bitter if you miss out the city I did some work preparing, but wherever the characters want to go I will let them – ultimately the players control the game. I also try to make the world logical and internally consistent.

Re-reading all of this it sounds like a grim low fantasy setting, but there is a strong element of humour and it’s a laugh. Oh, and I can almost always accommodate more players.

The characters came together through a combination of circumstances (the most notable being the court jester Sky Walker throwing knives at the Emperors chamberlain) that found them in an antechamber of the Palais de la Isle de Cite (the Chamberlains palace in Levezia).

"Ah, my friends, a pleasure to see you all. I trust any little misunderstandings over your recent detentions have been solved. And those you have not recently been detained at the Imperial command, be assured that these once felons – now, may I note your comrades in arms – have been totally exonerated.

I have a little task for you, a mere trifle – there has been an unfortunate incident, a boy in a small mountain town claims to be a magician. I would like you to investigate these rumours and if they are true, to report back to me."

The characters were given a gem that glowed near magic (Cedric the psycho-witch hunter priest took this), 4 homing pigeons, any equipment they wished and 100 silver pieces each (a lot!).

The characters set off immediately and after 2 days travel came to Grimswald. With only a minor attempt at banditry for comic relief.

As the characters entered the town they noted that it had seen better days. The main inn was called The Stag at Bay (the village is the traditional base for hunting the Emperor’s forest) and actually seemed to be quite busy. Upon entering the inn the characters noted that there was a card game in progress with 6 participants.

Places in the common room were secured and the horses stabled. One of the card players was cheating (the noble) and got thrown out, one of the characters joined the table and lost, the homing pigeons disappeared and one of the players dropped down dead.

The characters spent the next day investigating to discover that the innkeeper, Dominic Platini had poisoned Michael Deschamps for raping his daughter (Simone Platini) the previous night (if indeed it was rape).

The characters confronted the innkeeper aggressively and he attempted to escape out of the second floor window (well that’s the story that was used). He was severely injured by the fall and his broken neck was exacerbated by Artur (not a Nordvast spy) who lifted him by the hair to talk to him while standing on his back.

Simone was heartbroken but vowed to carry on running the inn and didn’t actually blame the characters for the mess that had occurred. The characters continued on to…

As the characters entered this sad and depressing grey stone town the most impressive feature was a large statue of an robed man on a horse (perhaps a priest) at the edge of the road – the inscription read "Marco Lentini – hero of the Levetian empire" and was dated 500 years ago.

The majority of houses were shuttered up and did not appear friendly places to enquire, but after asking at the inn it was determined that the boy in question lived in a large house on the northern edge of town and his father was a wealthy local mine owner. Sentiment in the town was that the boy was a witch and deserved to be burnt at the stake.

The characters slept the night then headed to see the boy and his father (family name Lentini). They were barricaded in their house but the party managed to gain their trust. Marco, the boy, spoke of a strange stone circle outside town and said it was magic. He had entered the circle as a dare and investigated an underground chamber.

The characters went to the circle outside town to investigate these claims. They turned out to be true. A tomb of a strange humanoid (approx 9’ tall, black scaled and with a head resembling that of the mythical dragon) was found. Artur found that the flashing buttons on one surface could be made to conjure voices that made an incomprehensible speech about environmentalism.

Haldir and Sky however had more fun with a headset that replicated the things they thought of – beer, whiskey and food (however it would not replicate metal items). The entrance to the tomb was an invisible lift that levitated characters to the floor and on the way out back up again.

Cedric remained outside the circle, watching for signs of contamination with witchcraft in his companions (who were all of low morals anyway – the northerners were even heathens). Upon seeing the rest of the party levitating out of the ground his worst suspicions were confirmed.

Cedric attacked the party and was restrained. The party returned to the Lentini household and negotiated a deal whereby they would look after Marco for his fathers life savings. They then faced down a lynch mob – who retired. About dusk the characters noted that something odd was happening and all of the townsfolk were gathering at the church (where the rabid magic hating priest was whipping them into a frenzy).

The characters prepared to leave with Marco, but during their preparations they noted mounted elite Imperial forces had entered the town (but the party hadn’t signalled and Levezia is 3 days ride away?). As they escaped (with some bloodshed) they noted that these forces appeared to be murdering the inhabitants of this small town.

The characters escaped into the mountains, buying time by severing a rope bridge behind them. As they climbed higher the air became thinner, the ground snow covered and their clothing entirely unsuitable for the most part (eg Flashy – clothed head to toe in blue satin). More time was bought when at the top of every incline the characters would roll large rocks or snowballs down behind them, hoping to cause avalanches.

Eventually the party climbed a particularly high mountain and found a drop of approx 100 yards on the other side. The party negotiated their way down this with some difficulty and were now vulnerable to attack from the pursuers above. The elite guardsmen were gaining and the characters hustled down through conifers to a river flowing at the bottom of the valley.

With options running out (everyone was cold and tired – except Flashy bizarrely – and beginning to have difficulty keeping going) the characters felled a tree, cut handholds and launched downriver.

The journey downriver was about 4 hours by which time some characters were nearing death from the cold water. Then in the distance a waterfall was heard and the pace of the river began to quicken.

After falling down the waterfall the characters found themselves in an underground cavern, where the majority struggled under their own steam to the beach (remember that Haldir could swim with shield, 2 battleaxes, backpack, bulging money pouch and all his other equipment). The air in the cavern was pleasantly warm and a strange tunnel was discovered leading away from the beach that was made out of a dry, black spongy substance that was warm to the touch.

The characters ventured deeper into the complex and the tunnel expanded out into a cavern larger than any indoor space they had ever seen. In fact the entire mountain had been hollowed out - an unbelievable engineering feat. Winding around the walls is a spiral stairwell rising into the distance. A shaft of light falls from a hole in the mountaintop is illuminating a pentangle in the centre of the floor on which rests a crystal coffin.

Within the coffin rests another dragon humanoid. The inscription says "Here rests Modor, Best of the Drakken". There are a few exits off the room that the characters later find out lead to sleeping quarters and simple living rooms.

Of more immediate interest however was the 4 foot at the shoulder cat that walked towards the characters and then sat down washing itself. A brief pause in the washing, then "Hello, I’m the guardian here, you can call me Maledar. What is your purpose at the tomb of Modor?"

Well the characters smooth talked the cat and convinced it they were only passing through. They even managed to convince it to stop any pursuers and found that the way out was via some kind of transporter at the top of the staircase. The characters stayed the night and the set off up the staircase – a journey that took about 12 hours. Upon reaching the top of the stairs there was some kind of code pad. The puzzle was presented to the players who failed to crack it – luckily their characters had greater intelligence and found it no problem.

The door slid open totally silently and the characters found themselves on a wide ledge at the top of a high windswept mountain. On the ledge are four gateways carved from a black glassy stone resting on a square of the black spongy material.

Sky and Haldir started testing the different gateways. Haldir popped his head through the first gateway and had time to register a misty, swampy landscape before his head was almost separated from his body by the axe of a 12 foot tall giant dressed in matt black plate armour. He retreated quickly.

The second gateway led to another mountaintop next to a gigantic palace shaped like a dragon’s head – the characters decided to check the other gateways and maybe come back.

The third gateway led to a small room, Artur was first in and managed to avoid being crushed in a trap with some acrobatics. He then continued down a corridor, avoiding other traps until he got to a shaft leading down into the depths with small ledges set into the side. Here he sensibly paused and waited for the characters blundering along behind him (having not informed them of the traps). Haldir was next in and he too decided not to mention the traps to Sky, who was third. Sky was pissed off with the two people ahead of him, but he did bother to inform those following him. Hence everyone ended up standing at the edge of the shaft being coy about going down…

Sky was the bravest however and he ventured down into the bowels of the building. The second ledge down slid back into the wall so Sky had to leap to the next ledge down. This ledge was coated with contact poison and Sky began to feel ill. He continued down however and a couple of ledges lower gets caught by a blade trap. Sky is now feeling really unwell and gets hauled to safety. The characters decide to call it a day and try the final gateway.

The final gateway leads to an invisible gate (from the other side) on a wide plateau in the centre of an extinct volcano. Flashy recognises it as being called "Dragon Plateau" and being about 2 days travel from the city of Tilano on the island of Tilano. There is a rumour of a dragon living here and the characters search for it for some time but then they give up and head down to town.

So the characters, now rich from Marco’s dad and with the little lad in tow check into the classiest hotel in town. Flashy knows the place well and seems particularly friendly with Claude, one of the waiters. The characters book entire floors of the hotel and settle in (alcohol, many whores etc – pretty classy entertainment).

The characters established that the Tilano Carnival was starting in two days and decided to hang around for it. In those two days Haldir started to have some disturbing dreams about 12 foot tall axe wielding automatons hunting him. Others started to learn about the town and lined themselves up to take part in a race on the first day of Carnival to claim the first bottle of the new vintage from Chateau Correnelli.

Tuesday – The carnival opened with a speech by the Grand Duke, Luca Malvoli, in Church Square; the largest square in the city, framed by St Sebastians Cathedral and associated Church buildings.

Then the characters set off on the vintage race to a chateau on the hillside overlooking the city, they performed creditably, ie they weren’t last! Then Haldir was humiliated in the local game of yokel baiting. The afternoon was spent in contemplation of the arts at a Matinee of Bards and Poets.

The evening centred around a garden party at Villa Correlli (the social event of the day that the characters had managed to blag their way into). The characters all behaved quite well and caused a stir among the ladies (Katherine Coronelli paired off with Tolmen – bizarre but there’s no accounting for taste, Natasha Sinsala – love at first sight with Sky, Ariana Sachi – Haldir and Katrina Ormond – visiting princess took a shine to Flashy). On the return to the Grand a couple of strange things happened to some characters - the Spy contingent saw a gruesomely murdered body in an alleyway (lungs spread either side of the head etc etc), whereas Flashy had a more pleasant experience, a beautiful mysterious lady got into a carriage and dropped a handkerchief, which he retrieved.

Wednesday – At 5am the Maidens of the town swam naked in the Tilea. At 11 the characters retired to Bernabau Stadium for a combat tourney, where they won their first round match. Then they pottered around for the afternoon doing a few more bits and pieces, until some characters decided to attend the Requiem for those departed at St Suspins Cathedral (which sits on the hillside over-looking the city).

During the service the Cardinal, Roberto Tiberius, appears shaken and afterwards invites the characters to meet him at his personal residence. Sky’s eye was caught during the service by a particularly impressive gold cross encrusted with rubies and an illicit thought began to run through his mind. At the meeting with the Cardinal it was revealed that just before the service there was an assassination attempt by an acolyte armed with a dagger and that he would like to hire the characters as bodyguards for several functions he has to attend during the week. The characters accept. At 8 Sky meets with a representative of the local Thieves Guild to discuss some work.

In the evening some characters visit the Opera and as they return through the streets they notice some outcry over another murder. Other characters visit the Honours List party at the Grand Dukes residence where there was an attempt on the life of the Grand Dukes paramour Emmanuelle Etive.

Thursday – The characters limbered up for the day by beating another opposing team at the combat tourney. During early afternoon the characters attended a boat race down the Tilea where Flashy met a merchant called Fernandez Otero who offered the characters shares in his merchant venture to Araby.

At 2 the characters bodyguarded the Cardinal at the Nordland Choir Recital. During the evening Pale meets a scholar called Heinz Spielman who persuades some of the characters to investigate a rare Eagle nesting on the cliffs the subsequent day and also tells of disturbing reports of grave robbing. Oh and there was more parties in the evening as well as another murder.

Friday – The characters once again skip the early lecture at the Academie des Artes to attend a combat tourney – unfortunately this time they lose. In the afternoon some of the characters climb the cliffs to check the nesting site of the eagle and discover a way down through the cliffs to the sewers. In the sewers evidence was found of others using the walkways and a newly bricked up tunnel was also found but soon forgotten. More events beckoned and in the evening the characters attended a mystery ball at Villa Coronelli. There Flashy finally met the mysterious woman and returned her handkerchief – he was rewarded with a dance.

Saturday – Final day of the carnival – the merchant caravan to Araby sails on Sunday morning tide. In the morning the characters watch and take part in the Open Ragball in Church Square (lots of people, a ball of rags, a goal and glory for whoever puts the ball in the bucket). During the games the characters were confronted by assassins who attempted to kill them – their attackers died swiftly.

At 1 the characters were back to performing their bodyguarding duties – however this time there was an attempt on the life of the Cardinal. The characters captured the acolyte assassin and discovered he had been blackmailed by the Grand Duke who is engaged in a bitter power struggle with the Cardinal. Some more investigation turned up the likelihood that the Cardinal was behind the attempt on the life of the Grand Dukes Paramour and maybe behind the attempt on their life as well. There was a confrontation with the Cardinal in which these facts were presented and he was extremely displeased – in fact he threatened the characters with death!

In the evening most of the characters attended the last night of the Opera with their ladies and then headed to the Grand Dukes Ball. At the ball Flashy again saw his mysterious woman, but she left (good idea). The characters again do some sleuthing and discover that Dieter, the Dukes Champion is behaving strangely and that the Chancellor, Guiseppe Allona appears agitated and maybe on drugs.

Then all hell breaks loose! The floor of the room suddenly buckles upwards as a massive explosion rips the night. People die (including Sky’s lady – Natasha - with a lump of masonery in her head). The characters realise that the Grand Duke has not been killed in the explosion but that Dieter has a sword out and is moving towards him. The characters foil the assassination and retire to the ship to wait for the morning (except Flashy – who has decided to stay with Claude in Tilano). Sky steals off at two hours before dawn for a little payback on the Cardinal by stealing the cross from St Suspins. He is almost caught but makes it to the ship as the tide turns and the characters make good their escape.

The characters spend a couple of weeks on a comedy ship filled with Captain Pugwash characters. They kill a sea monster and escape being murdered by something much worse (that is still haunting Haldir’s dreams). The characters land, defeat a small army of hillmen (mustered by an ex-character!) at the cost of some casualties and head down into Araby, by-passing Addis and going directly to the capital of this strange land – Huzuz.

From a distance the city appears golden, with the walls covered in a thin gilt coating – still more wealth than the characters can imagine! Entering the city they are exposed to a variety of bewildering sights, sounds and smells.

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