Kingbeast's Lair

Date At Start Of Game: 06/27/206

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 9th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

The Glacial Lair (cont)

After a quick discussion the party decides to have Oren tunnel into the adjoining room so that they can bypass a walk on the small ledge in the larger room with the crevasse. After breaking into the room at the end of the tunnel the group is attacked by several Whitefish Kin, the Whitefish Chief Yng, and the Blackfly Shaman Jarklo. The first focus of the characters is Yng. Po curses him while Cillian uses entangle sling stones. Oren bashes one Whitefish Kin setting him up for Bilby who takes him out with an assassin stroke. Jarklo uses ice entangle sling stones and a heat sapping spell to do some damage while evading attack using a type of blur related defensive spell. During the attack Cillian is entangled then melts out of it using a hereby unknown fire elemental power. Before falling Jarklo utters that the Dark Lord is regaining power in Ape Man.

After the attack the PC investigate the area in detail. In a massive spring there is a black mortar hanging from a simple rope. When it is pulled from the water Po confirms that the poisoning effect is removed. The players then decide to put the fertility idol into the spring. When this is done it begins to heal the poison in the water. The players decide to let it run for some time in several rooms.

In the same room appears to be a hovel that is the home of Jarklo. They find strange tally marks on one wall that seem to be some type of crude system for counting days and months. They also find that Jarklo’s necklace is magical. It is made of pearls and has a strange coral pendant of a scorpion with a raised tail. Po puts it on and discovers that it is a kind of magical message system that exchanges messages with Jarklo’s master. Po finds the following two messages behind two doors…

Blue Door – The camera fades to black then a stark white. The multifaceted scene is that of the urn with water running through it. A voice speaks in a buzzing tone, ?As you surmised convincing the Leopardess that I could cure her people using the fertility idol was simple. Desperate people will believe anyone offering a ?healing hand?. She immediately brought the idol to me. I have kept in as a gift for you.?

Red Door – The camera fades to black then a dark red. It pans back to show a small lantern lit chamber with throw pillows and a dark red carpet. Tapestries line the walls all in a deep brick red pallor. A masked and distorted voice speaks in Ape Man, ?You have done well my friend. I have learned of the warring tribes and I feel the low moans of ecstasy from the depths?ahhh?but I must inform you that our Maggot Kin friend has not reported. I suspect his package will not arrive and that his mission has been compromised. If you see Narduhl please tell him to find me and report immediately. My feeling is that the new group of avatars from the Gray Pine might be involved in his disappearance. I have also learned our “Dark Leader” is now working on a larger grandiose plan that should bring our Dark Lord back to the stature that he so justly deserves. With “Crimson Tears” nearing completion we should be well on our way…[evil laugh]…?

The PC then leave the glacial lair with Jarklo tied up and strapped to Oren’s back. They return to the Wolf Kin camp where they return the fertility idol and heal those that are sick using treated water. The PC decide to let the Wolf Kin pack decide how to deal with Jarklo. Silverback the shaman says that she wants to visit the Owl Kin tribe with Jarklo and the idol. She asks the PC to accompany her so that the tale will be believed. The PC readily agree.

The Last Member Of The White Owl Kin

The Wolf Kin scouts guide the PC to the area that is considered the home of the Owl Kin. After searching for several days the scouts are only able to find old camps, and trails from the dead. Eventually they track several Owl Kin back to Longwinter village near the fort. As the PC approach the village they see some movement near one of the houses. As they approach they are attacked by the Owl Kin shaman, Tiaga, who is now a ghoul and servant of the Dark Lord. (Tiaga is actually a Snow Leopard Kin.) Tiaga attacks the PC with her spear, a pet wolverine, and four animated Owl totems! Oren takes on Tiaga while the rest of the PC work on the minions. Cillian burns up some of the Owl totems with his newly discovered flaming hands. The wolverine attacks Silverback and nearly kills her before the PC and Wolf Kins warriors can kill the beast. Some magical healing and deft skill use from Po is the only reason she lives. After the battle the PC part ways with the Wolf Kin and return to Ambrosia Trades.

Returning To Ambrosia Trades

At Ambrosia Trades the PC report what they found to the leader. Oren spins a tale using his Oratory skill that attracts quite a crowd. After the debriefing the PC decide to stay a while so that Oren’s breast plate can get some work and so that Po can start researching some new spells. Gray Pine’s branch points strongly to the southeast…

Date At End Of Game: 07/28/206

Holy freholy! This is a steal. My gosh. 🙂 Here is a link to Fred’s blog with the details. Wow.

-== What is it? ==-

Albion’s Ransom: Little Girl Lost is an adventure module for The Esoterrorists by Pelgrane Press. It is written by Ian Sturrock and all artwork and layout is by Jerome Huguenin. This adventure takes the PC to England where they find that a missing persons case has taken a turn toward the outer dark.

I reviewed a printed copy from November 2007. I have not run the adventure I have only read it. The product is 105 pages long with a completely black and white interior with a color cover. There is not an index but there is a detailed table of contents.

-== What I Like ==-

The flow of the first few major chapters is not too bad. It moves in a logical fashion from one section to the next following the flow of the uncovered clues.

The adventure is of respectable length. It will take several sessions to complete the adventure. The supplement explains that Little Girl Lost is actually the first part of a longer campaign adventure called Albion’s Ransom. One issue is that the rest of Albion’s Ransom may never be produced. It will likely depend on how well Little Girl Lost sells.

There is a section on drugs use in The Esoterrorists. The section covers the effects of various drugs and what happens when they are combined. It is nicely done and very detailed.

There are appendices that cover the UK at a high level and discuss various Esoterror related threats. These sections also cover some of the culture that is relevant to the genre. It is a bit sparse but very nicely written.

I really like the cover art. It has a creepy sort of feel that fits the genre well. Jerome really does The Esoterrorists right with this one. The interior art is a bit dark in some places but overall it is not too bad. The layout switches between a darker and lighter borders every few pages. The effect is not distracting and is actually kind of attractive. I think the usability of the product could be increased if the light and dark transitions were done for each chapter. 😉

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The module has several elements that are not typically encountered in Esoterrorist runs. One of them I will spoil now so don’t read this if you don’t want any spoilers. In the adventure an OV resource turns on the PC. In general this is not standard of the setting. My feeling is that when you only have two published adventures you should not go too far outside of the box. You should make adventures that really fit the genre perfectly. After you have some material under your line then venture to other territory.

I think one of my biggest complaints about the module is that there is a lot of text dedicated to NPC who are really not important to the plot. Some NPC have very long descriptions with tons of interview information that provide very little, if any, critical investigation data. At the end where I felt there could have been more data provided it felt kind of rushed. This might be an editing issue but when I read the module that is how it came off.

The adventure is set in the UK but I felt like it could have also been easily written in the US. I actually think it should have been written in the US for a couple of reasons. One reason is that more material could have been put in to the adventure as less would be needed for the appendices. As I mentioned above I also feel that if you only have two adventures write them both in your primary stomping grounds, the US. Finally, if the adventure was set in a US city any background information could be then used for a campaign city for the PC. It would be less of a visit and more useful as campaign background material.

-== Summary ==-

Even though I was elated about Profane Miracles I was not so happy about Albion’s Ransom: Little Girl Lost. There is not a lot of material for the setting right now but I still have a hard time recommending this product. It sells for $22.95 which feels a bit high but not that out of whack.

I give it 4 out of 10 paws