This week only Tony, Roger, and Chad show up. Wayne's wife gets a way nasty headache, and I suspect that Dave and Jim probably won't be playing from now on. I don't know why, but it seems that at third to half of roleplayers are part or full-time flakes. That is why I don't mind overbooking just a tad.

I messed with the order in which things happened just a bit so that I could work in Chad's character as early in the series of events as possible. I delayed Dumas taking the big dirt nap until after the Katrina arrived in Marvah, which I had happen early on in the game. No new victims were found until then, including Dumas. I omitted the pogo stick makers' deaths because I didn't want to make things too redundant. The party already had a very good idea of what was going on, so I just headed right into the meat of the adventure with Dumas getting whacked.

The players have figured out the puzzle for the most part. The first murder was of Widow Evia, owner of the Comet Velocipede Showroom (and the company, for that matter, but the group only found the deed to the showroom). The second was of the owner of a rollertrack company. The group determined this when they found a satchel containing a pair of prototype rollertracks with design notes (I had to throw in the last part when they didn't appear to immediately pick up on the fact that the skates are usually flashy and covered with decorative designs, where these were plain black). Then Wayne heard the sound as of crackling lightning, and broke into a guest's room just in time to see a man leap into a closing portal. When the owner of the room was sought out to tell him of the burglery, the man was found to be Pharei Detskav, the hoverboard King. He nearly became crazed when he discovered his satchel missing. The party was not informed of what was in the satchel.

The party determined that there was some kind of conspiracy towards those dealing with magimotive transportation. They were right on. They followed up by seeking audience with Gina's Father Dumas, the owner of the ship though not the company that built it. This title goes to the baron of cheap cars and the landship, the imp Tim's master, baron Mai'tran Kaipher. Dumas told the party that there were 6 barons, and as far as the common man goes, that is all there is. However, a new baron was given his title not two months ago before the inventions he had in the works. The title is bestowed by the Grunburg city council as representatives for things technical. Gina knew nothing of his title, knowing only that Dumans had purchased the Katrina from him.

Dumas Vs. the Baron

Dumas will confront the baron through the flow, realizing that he has been but a pawn in his plans to emiminate his competition through foul play. He will then attempt to pin the blame on Dumas. If all goes according to his plan, Dumas will end up in prison or bankrupt, losing his landship back to the baron, only the first half of which was paid for with cash advance. He then will own all landships himself, keeping the rich market solely to himself.

Dumas will engage in a heated discussion with the psychicly-aware baron and psionic battle will ensue. Dumas is found dead the next morning, bleeding from the nose, eyes, and ears. The baron defeats him easily, outclassing him by several levels of experience and using newly developed offensive abilities. He sees Dumas as far too great a threat to his plans, and disposing of him makes his life much less risky in the days ahead.

At lunchtime, Gina comes to each member of the party, telling them in private that her father has been murdered. Roger is the first on the scene. He finds the door locked and no sign of forcible entry whatever. There are no sooty scorch marks anywhere on the walls which they had found with each other vimtim. Looking over the body thoroughly, Roger discovers a rusty-red smear near Dumas's nose. This is from spice, specifically rush, which Roger finds in a pouch on his person. He comes to the conclusion that it is some form of poison. I had suspected that the party would get the blood from the head orifices as something to do with things mental, but none of them even mentioned it.

Once Tony and Chad arrive, Roger devotes himself fully to consoling the almost hysterical Gina. He is getting mighty cuddly, just totally taking advantage of the situation, though he cannot turn tragedy into affection somehow, darn it.

In searching Dumas' quarters, Roger found a payment schedule for Dumas to pay off the baron for the landship Katrina, which he purchaed on loan with about half down. Nobody in the party thought to ask Gina if she knew about it. She doesn't. She assumes that her father bought it outright, which he led her to believe, not wanting her to know that he had wasted much of the family money on spice and lovers.

The Next victim

I skipped this part because it was somewhat redundant, where the party already got the connection between the baron and magitech transportation-related companies

The crackling of lightning which accompanies the opening of a portal sounds in the quarters of Fen and Gloria Alexia, alternate lifestyle female Felann. They own the Stop and Hop pogo shop, the sole producers of the magimotive pogo stick.

Once a popular means of covering distances, it is now all but replaced with magimotive velocipedes, carts, and trains. It was one of the earliest magimotive devices due to its simplicity. Someone skilled in the use of a "hopper" can move at 15" over uneven terrein. That is one thing that they have over magimotive cycles is the wide variety of terrein that they can traverse. Also, a rider of one is harder to hit with missile fire, especially with the optional shield attatchments. One can also get a repeating crossbow for one at extra charge. With the side rearview mirrors, the product has advanced as far as it probably ever will. The paving of Asterland's roads assure that in time the other magimotive vehicles will make the pogo go the way of the dinosaur, though some still swear by them.

The baron is masked, and fires a shot immediately with his needler. It drops Gloria, the more effeminate of the two. Before he can get off another shot, Fen is through the portal and on him, ripping and shredding. If the party member guarding the hall didn't hear the lightning, he will certainly hear the cat's shriek and hissing. The portal closes immediately after Fen leaps through. Fen tears up the baron's face savagely, going for the throat. Before she can kill him, the baron's ironman siezes her by the neck and pulls her off. The baron plugs her with four poison darts and she expires quickly. The portal opens for a half second, long enough for the body to fly through and land in a heap. If a party member is quick, they will get to see the bloodied baron and the ironman.

The Baron's Bribe/Extortion

There ended up being enough things to fill up the time that we had that I didn't get a chance to do this part. Also, the party members were never really alone for this to happen. I may work it in next week. I try to create the outlines to be more a framework on which to build the adventure, and sometimes things deviate from the plan, but that just keeps me on my toes as a gamemaster.

The baron will contact the crew members one-by-one and offer them 500 gold upon arriving in Grunburg to actively avoid detection of the Baron's doings or to do anything that would thwart his plans. If bribes won't work, he will threaten the party members, citing the demise of Dumas as proof that he can carry out his threats. He fails to mention that his attacks are only effective against the psionically aware or others that are capable of mentally existing in the flow.

Take the party members out one by one as they recieve their communications. This will happen anytime they are alone.

Arrival in the City of Marvah

Chad arrives before the party to Marvah, a place of enlightenment and spiritual and druidic learning. As he approaches, he sees a circle of druids chanting. He reaches out into the flow to see what feeling exists here. He senses the peace of many souls that have achieved tranquility of soul. He becomes aware of others sensing his presence and communication between them. At last a consensus is made, and one speaks as representative of the others. He states simply,"I am Gailen. Peace and welcome be unto you. I will come for you.."

Chad approaches the monastary of sorts and is met by Gailen, who introduces himself. Chad is show about the beautiful rooms and experiences feelings of wonder at the leafy paradise, a tribute to all growing.

Disturbing the peace of it all, the ground begins to vibrate ever so little, picking up in intensity, eventually accompanied by sounds of crunching trees outside.

"Damn!"exclaims the druid leader,"Not them again!"

When chad asks who, he is told of a terrible machine that passed this way less than two days ago. He curses some more, heading for the door. As the landship approaches the city of Marvah, the group will notice far overhead a rainbow, thought it has not rained all day, with Marvah directly below it.

I described the effect as like a northern lights effect over Marvah. The former sounded cheesy and stock to me.

Gina: Ah, yes, the city of Marvah. Here magic is strong enough to reflect into the heavens. Certrinah must be in a particulary good mood. She is the grand priestess of druidic magic, and this is her home. Here tread only elves and druids of any race. Those of you not fitting into either of these catagories must stay aboard. Oh that I could climb the spires of the city grown of plants themselves. I have heard of the wonders that lie within those walls. Sparkling brooks with dancing colors and flocks of beautiful birds from every land are there. What a sight it must be to see.

The Katrina parks in a clearing near a small lake where swans swim and bees collect pollen from the countless flowers along the shore. The city itself sits atop a hill, made of vinewood, a plant used by the elves to literally grow cities. Vinewood's growth rate increases with the proximity to magic. Here it grows up to an inch a day, a fairly rapid growth rate.

In the field where the Katrina parks, druids perform the rites of spring, taking in the beauty of the earth reborn and spreading life magic to plants and animals of the forest. Indeed, the trees of the valley look far more healthy than those that the party has seen thusfar. Ivy climbs everywhere as well as mistletoe. Rabbits munch contentedly on the plantlife. Men seem quite out of place here, much less within the living walls of Marvah.

Another thing that looks out of place is an airship tied down to the meadow floor. It is a zeppelin of black silk, filled with elemental air. In our world, it would be called hydrogen. The craft is protected will all sorts of warding against fire. Emblazoned across the length of the craft is a blue eagle, the symbol of the Sparks, an obscure faction of the magipunks. They believe that the true enemy of the world is man. They are the conservationist consciance of the punkers. They believe that our thrill seeking and expansionist tendancies are what destroyed the world before, and will do it again. They believe in use of the land, but not at the cost of exploitation of it. They get along very well with the elven nation. By and large, the Sparks are elven, most of which are wood or high elven.

This will be the first encounter of the group with punks. It will go against much of what they have heard about them. The sparks blend the trendy dress of the stock punker with the woodland garb of the wood elves. The result is something resembling a hip shaman of sorts. They do not cast off the traditions of their forefathers, yet they enjoy and embrace the magitech society. They see the use of magimotive force and heat as the alternative to burning wood for energy, something which the wood elves especially agree with. They are working on dimension doors to allow one to work in the city and live virtually in the forest, where one will not forget his origins and the nature that gave him birth.

Karshell Uvenah, an elven shaman will emerge from the zeppelin to confront the Katrina. He walks up to the ship, shaking his head at the ugly tracks left behind by the beast.

Karshell: Where is the captain of this abomination?! I would speak to him NOW!
Gina(pointing her ballista):Who are you to demand?
Karshell: I am Karshell Uvenah, leader of the Sparks!
Gina: I know nothing of your order. What do you want?
Karshell: I would speak to your leader, woman. The trees cry to me of your carelesness, the streams break from there banks where you have trespassed.
Gina motions to one of the party to get Laren
Karshell: Would you pollute the world as it was before?
Gina: I know nothing of this pollution of which you speak. As for our trespassing, would you claim to own the whole of the forest?
Karshell: I speak for those that have no tongue to talk, for the deer and the meadow, for the ...

Laren claps like a fool, an enthusiastic grin on his face

Laren: Good show! I really liked the bit about the deer. They are such tasty animals though, aren't they? How may I be of service?
Karshell: The great spirit speaks to me of your sins, trampling afoot...

Laren: We have great spirits too! Can I fetch you some whiskey? Pinemay! (he shouts for a barmaid, who appears) There you are lass, could you be a doll and get this chap a glass of whiskey. (He motions to Karshell) You'll like this!

Karshell: The wind whispers to me and the owl screeches in the night!
Laren (a pleasant look on his face): Do they? Great! This is just the sort of thing that the tourists want to see. Can you do the dance to make rain. They would just love THAT. PLEASE? (he begs)

Karshell begins to chant something that Laren can't understand. From a pouch he sprinkles red dust onto his hand, a scowl on his face.

Laren: I do believe he's going to do the dance! Quick, Gina, gather the guests to the observation bubble. They won't want to miss this!

Gina walks away shaking her head

Faces peer against the glass of the observation dome and from the windows of the ship

Karshell chants louder, in a sing-songey voice this time.

Laren looks like a kid at his first circus.

The wind picks up out of the east, brisk and cold. For a moment if feels like it might snow. Karshell blows the red dust into the wind. It swirls around him for a few seconds, then becomes an ever enlarging cloud over his head. The grass beneath him is blown flat against the ground in a circular pattern around his feet. At its worst, the small funnel cloud heads towards the Katrina and envelops her. Karshell raises his hands in triumph and yells "kahfrah!" (or some such nonsense). With a clap, the cloud dissappears. When all can see once more, the results of the spell become clear. All exposed metal is coated with a thick covering of rust. From somewhere deep within the ship howls are heard. The huge maintenance door swings open with a clang.

Two enraged dwarves pour out of the door brandishing huge wrenches, waving them like madmen as the close on Karshell, who breaks into a run in panic. The dwarves chase him to his zeppelin, which he jumps into and casts off, but not without recieving a few good whacks to the back of his knees by the enginemasters.

Laren (his hand outstretched): When will the rain start? (staring at the blue sky)

Repairs

The enginemasters announce that the gears are all gummed up and that they will have to work through the night to get them shipshape by morning, but they are confident that they can do it.

Gina has the party scraping off rust and helping to oil the wheels and such. In short, the craft is a mess. Only with all hands helping can the craft be ready by sunup. It is now late afternoon. It won't be pretty, but the craft will be ready to move by morning. The dwarves have to clean all moving parts, including all of the wheel bearings, and regrease them. Even some of the kitchen staff is put to work.

Night Attack

A group of shambling mounds of leaves and branches approach the Katrina by night, slowly so that by the time they are noticed among the hustle of repairs, it is too late for a member of the kitchen staff who is busy cleaning the iron wheels of the craft with a knife and a file. She manages to get off a scream before the animated vegetation knocks her out cold.

As it turned out in the game, she gets away when Chad comes to her rescue, using the reverse of an entangle spell to make the creature lose its hold on her long enough for her to get away, her skin shreaded by the thorny vines of the Ivy Horror.

Name	Ivy Horror
How Many:	5
Hit Points:	20
Hit Dice:	4
Description
The ivy horror is a less dangerous version of the shambling mound. It attacks mostly by throwing things (usually rocks), wielding a weapon of some sort (usually clubs), or by smothering. The latter attack is perhaps the most deadly. The Ivy Horror has the ability to hide in forest terrein with little likelihood of being spotted. From its concealment it attacks. If it makes a successful attack (for d4) with each of its arms, it hugs for suffocating damage. The victim will die in 1d4+3 rounds if unaided.

Chad is the first to notice the airship descending on the Katrina. He runs for the ship.

Roger fails to notice until the first leather sack of oil ignites the area to the left of the turret where he was checking over the weapons, filling in for Gina's responsibilities while she slept, trying to get some rest from her mourning.

Roger tries to get the ballista around to target the airship. Gina has worked on it a bit and gotten it functional. Roger lets loose with a bolt, missing widely.

The second is a direct hit on Roger, who leaps out of the turret, which is covered in burning oil, slapping his clothing like a madman, finally shucking them altogether. He sustains some nasty burns, but will be all right. From below him he hears the sound of the vine creatures snaking their way up the side of the Katrina. Dropping to the lower deck and retrieving his bow and arrows (which did not sustain more than cosmetic burns), he drew a bead on the plant creatures.

Two more bags of oil sailed down onto the already burning ship. All but the last one drop onto the metal roof of the ship, burning harmlessly. One hits the upper deck and starts the wooden planks on fire. Roger manages to drop the first plant creature with a few arrows.

Coming to their aid, and the instigator of the attack is the Sparks' leader, Karshell himself. Flying in his zeppelin, he drops leather sacks full of ignited oil on the ship, hoping to burn it down. The ship's staff fights the flames furiously and keep them from spreading, though smoke pours into the ship itself.

Just when things begin to look a bit bleak, a man emerges from the Katrina, smoke rolling from his clothing, one Wesley Dragonfire, a guest of the ship, and he looks pissed!

Wesley is the founder and owner of Primal Force, the leading manufacturer of focal amulets, of which he himself wears several beneath his clothing (among mages, they are worth more than gold and gems). He is a 9th level mage as well, a former adventuring wizard. Wesley doesn't look like a mage. He wears loose-fitting clothing and has a lute slung over his back. To the casual observer, he would appear to be a bard of some variety.

Wesley gives a defiant look and raises his right hand skyward, pointing to the craft above. A volley of 9 delayed blast fireballs leap from his fingertips one by one, completely incinerating the craft. If there are any Ivy Horrors left, he will deal with them similarly. With each spell that he casts, light shines through his shirt, a dark green. He coughs once, then heads back to his quarters as the remains of the craft shower down into the forest lake and valley. This is the first time that Wesley has been spotten onboard the ship since their departure from Grunburg over a week ago.

If the party asks, they will be told that he owns the Primal Force Company and that he leads and owns it. Nobody had seen him due to his simply not being there. He owns a chest with a false bottom, through which he can emerge in his private woodland labratory. He is seen from time to time throughout the rest of the voyage.

Gina proposes that Wesley be enlisted to help to defend the guests and to kill the one that killed her father, which she assumes to be the same "baron" that left Tim (aka Squigs) the imp behind when he attacked the widow Evia. If they can, she promises them each a 100 gp bonus if her father's death is properly avenged, more if one of the party himself kills him.

Wesley has a weakness for spice. It is probably the single thing that he will do most anything for. He is currently out at the moment. Finding some for him could prove very influential in turning him to the party's cause.

Reporter from the Grunburg Tribune

As the party, aided by some druids of the city of Marvah, fight to put out the last of the flames, a reporter from the Grunburg Tribune flies in on a miniature airjammer. It is a two seat model with a pilot up front. He flies in low, recording the entire experience with a primitive camera consisting of a box with a lens that shines on enchanted metal. Where light shines, the metal burns away, ideal for doing lithographic-type prints for a newspaper. He takes special care to get one of the wreckage of Karshall's airship, still smouldering in the shallows of the lake. The craft slows to running speed and then bounces on skids to a stop not far from the Katrina.

"What a scoop this is!" yells the reporter,"My source was correct!"

"Just what do you think you're doing?" demanded Gina.

"I am Selemon Eriksson, of the Grunburg Tribune. I was told of the launch of the Katrina, but it wasn't so newsworthy until I found about the killings."

"Killings?" Gina asked nervously.

"One Gamra Flestoe, mistress of Phileas Kingston, contacted me through the flow. She claimed to have seen a body dragged down a hall to the kitchen. Does anyone have any comments?" said Selemon, looking over the crew.

"Oh there you are at last!" shouts a finely dressed woman emergin from the upper floor of the Katrina. She hurries down the stairs and down a rope ladder.

The Party will have a heck of a time dealing with the commotion, especially from panicky guests that want anything from information to their money back. As far as content goes, wing it.

Not wanting to go to all of the trouble of roleplaying the meaningless banter between the reporter and passengers (and adding nice comic relief), I had Gina physically throw him off the ship. A sound of a twig snapping heralded the breaking of Selemon's leg. His bodyguard/driver muscled it into place. I am sure that I heard several empathetic "ooooooh" and "ouch!" comments.

Wesley gives one of the party members a flow monacle, a one-eyed version of flow goggles. He has tuned his own goggles, a sleek pair of wrap-around glasses to the lifecode of the wearer of the flow monacle. All that the wearer has to do to contact him is to speak his name and he will be there if there is trouble.

Selecting someone to get the monacle will be done randomly.

The roll comes up in Ton's favor. Wesley pulls him aside (as did I) and tells him of the basice functionality of the monacle and warning him of not moving around physically or mentally while using the device. It is to call him only. I give a very limited description of the flow for him. Wesley warns not to move around too much within the monacle. Wishing yourself in a direction without moving your feet propels you in that direction. He warns that without a guide to help, you can easily get hopelessly lost and with the monacle, you can lose whole parts of your memory, having no way to link back to the present, so to speak. He advises to stay in one spot, the safe zone where he left the view window of the monacle. With full goggles, one runs the risk of becoming lost entirely, though the newer goggles are translucent, such that you still see some of what is around you, the flow just being superimposed over your reality.

Wesley bids the group good luck and he only wishes that he could stay and help more, but he is in the middle of an experiment. One might wonder why he went on the trip at all, since he spends so little time actually on the ship. In short, the trip was his wife Lucille's idea from the start. All of the important people of the new wealth would be there, she said. He just went along to keep her happy. Wesley just can't get into the whole social thing. He enjoys the wealth that his business earns him so that he can afford to hire the best researchers. His real interestes lie in developing more powerful focal amulets. The ones that he works on now will give one more than one spell per day, such that it might give up to 5 spell points to distribute. A 1st level spell costs 1 point, a 2nd level spell 2, and so forth. Welsley is saving to build a magically grown castle for himself somewhere far from the wagging tongues of Grunburg and its forth and fifth generation welath, which he despises.

What Wesley doesn't tell the party is that he set up a trap for the baron. His room is warded such that anyone stepping into the room will pass out from toxic gas. Various alarms will go off as well, bells, whistles, and gongs to announce the intruder's presence.

On the Road Again: Quietra

The Katrina sets out again for Grunburg, and makes it as far as Quietra by noon. Quietra is an wood elf villiage. The houses are built in the very tall martrees, an oak that grows up to 200 feet tall in only the most fertile soil. Entire communities live in the treehouses, which can be quite significant in size, which are anchored to the trees with peg and hole construction. The martrees knit themselves to any wood that is next to them for any time, making them ideal for building houses in, for the houses grow sturdier over the years. The outsides of the houses actually sprout new leaves, becoming part of the whole as the sap of the martree soaks into the wood that the houses are built with, especially if the wood integrated in is also of the same species. A few halflings live in the villiage in hollowed-out martrees long since dead. Some of these homes are more than adequate in size for an entire clan of halflings living apartment-style.

The baron Revealed

The baron cannot resist Wesley as a target, not to kill him, but to steal some of his focal amulets of the 8th or 9th level, which sell for over a hundred thousand gold pieces each, the posession of which is quite a status symbol among mages, for it implies not only the ability to pay, but the ability to use spells of the level of the amulet. The colors and associated power levels are common knowledge among Asterland mages.

The knockout gas drops the baron as soon as he steps into Wesley's room. The gas floods into his chambers and drops the mage opening the portal and the iron man. The portal stays open, and will do so for the next hour, though the party has no way of knowing how long it will stay open for. If they are quick, they can explore the Baron's mansion. If they do, they will have to look out for his guards, four zombies that do his bidding and watch his home. This will only happen if they make their saving throws.

Chad was the first on the scene, hearing a crackling sound, then a thump as the baron hit the floor. He saw the green gas hanging over the floor, somewhat heavier than air, but blending enough with the air of the room to knock one out easily. He also saw the portal, still crackling and OPEN! The gas had penetrated into the portal and knocked out the wizard doing the spell to open the dimensional portal. Closing the door being a mental thing, it remained open for the duration of the spell. Chad held his breath and went into the room to recover the "victim." He dragged him out of the room, unaware that the body that he was dragging was, in fact not one of the ship's passengers, but the baron himself. He then dragged him to the room where Tim the imp was still being held in a reinforced chest.

Chad then went back to the room where the mist began to dissapate down the halls, rolling like dry ice vapars. Chad ventured back into the room to see what else was up. He held his breath and this time looked through the portal and saw the wizard in the alchemy lab lying unconscious on the floor. Thinking (understandably) that this was the Baron, he hauled the body back through the portal and hauled it back to where the baron had been laid out.

With both men laying on the floor in the same room as Tim, soon Tim spotted the baron through the keyhole and began to call to him.

Tim: Baron! Wake up! Hey, what's wrong with the baron?

The cleric comes by this time and begins to try to help the baron to come to. In the meantime, the party ties up the mage so that he cannot cast any spells requiring physical semantics or spell components, which they took from his person.

The baron wakes up with the aid of the cleric. He immediately senses that his familiar is in the chest across the room. Not wanting to give himself away, he disguises his voice to a coarse whisper to Chad that he wants to go back to his room. Chad assists him, of course.

The baron walks across the room, sensing the strong magic emanating from the focal amulets in a drawer across the room, the reason why he gated in in the first place, to steal these that he knew to be in the posession of Wesley Dragonfire, the inventor of the focal amulet. Using a knock-knock spell to open the lock, he opens the drawer, declaring,"Thank goodness they are safe!" He puts them in his pocket, stealing them. When asked what they are, he replies,"These have been in my family for generations! They are so dear to me." The clever dog!

Crossing the room, the baron lays down on the bed and askes Chad to watch outside to guard him, trying to get Chad out of the room so that the baron can contact a wizard friend of his through the flow to open the portal on his command. Chad does him one better, selecting this as a good time for meditation.

Once it become obvious that he will not be able to get Chad out of the room, the baron contacts his friend through the flow, asking him to be ready in the lab to open the portal. When all is ready, he creates a distraction down the hall, the crackling sound of a portal opening. Chad sprints out of the room down the hallway the other way, to get the rest of the party. They in turn run down the hall, past the baron's room to the crackling sound. Out of the corner of his eye, Chad catches a fleeting glance of the baron leaping through the now open portal. He laughs victoriously like a baddie out of Scooby Doo. The party arrives at the source of the sound, which is nothing. They see no portal opening, but the crackling sound comes from nowhere.

Chad is the first to catch on to what has happened, stating simply, "We have been fooled." I REALLY felt for the party. They were SOOOOOO close! Gina will want to kill the baron and burn his house. The party must decide if they should or not. She is not very reasonable. The baron is a Savai Vampire. As such, he cannot be killed except by fire or acid. Driving a stake through his heart will not work. If a Savai Vampire is brought to zero hit points, they will go into a sort of hibernation, where they have no heartbeat or vital signs. Once they are underground (buried) or such time as they choose to reinhabit their bodies, they will begin to regenerate at a rate of 1 hp/minute. They will continue to feign death until such time as they are confident that they are healthy enough to get away. The baron is not the only one in high society that is cursed with vampirism.

Golane at Nightfall

We didn't get this far as the ship was still just pulling out of Marvah when we ran out of time. We gauge this by when one party member starts to get red eyes or nod off. Tony had to work in the morning starting at 7, so he had to go home at 3 for some sleep (or at least a nap). It takes a special breed to play the marathon stuff.

As the sun is only a few spikes of light through the thick trees of the Kirschwald, the outpost of Golane is seen over the trees in the distance only another five miles away. It is a keep atop a hill that stands out above the forest floor.

Golane is one of the largest military bases of the high elf nation. The fortress has stood for over a thousand years, since long before the great war. It is said that strong enchantments were placed on it to keep it safe during the 200 years that the elves were away.

The Katrina parks in a training field outside the base. The soldiars and officers mill around the ship, intrigued by the military possibilities of using such a machine in warfare. Colonel Harvant makes an offer of 250,000 gold for the ship, even in its state of disrepair. Gina refuses. Her father's contract with the baron forbids the selling of the craft until such time as the debt is paid in full to him. Otherwise, she would have in a minute just to be rid of the whole business.