The HoM Fact-Files: Osiris the Mispronounced.

Hi all,

Shell's assassin has a magical fullblade presumably blessed by the Queen of Winters herself. Want to know more? Read on. This excerpt is by Shell, written specially for his character.

For decades he lay in silence and darkness, waiting. Waiting for the call of the Queen to once again pass back through the Veil of Life. So long has he waited that he no longer remembers what spurred him to strike this deal with the Queen or what the Queen demands in return. Darkness is all he can remember now.
Three years ago, the Queen had appeared before him. She led him slowly towards a bright light, a gate through the Veil.


"You shall now be known as Osiris, the Bringer of Death to those whose time is neigh."
She continues, "You will be provided the skills necessary to undertake the task and the revenge you so longed for, along with this-"
The Queen passes a long black blade to him.
"Dath le Sefet. It shall be your instrument for as long as your service is required." 
Osiris marveled at the make of the simple yet elegant two-hander, cold to the naked touch, and the Queen spoke again.
"It possesses greater power, especially if you show that you are worthy of it and the path."

Dath le Sefet replica (S$29.99) Comes in three different colors- Black, Really Black and Too Black.

In an instant, Osiris materialized at the gates of Castle Greyskill. He trained there for several years and left for Maya soon after, a strange calling urging him on.

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Dath le Sefet? Interesting. Maybe its Elven for "I Teleport quite a bit."

Next time round, I will be posting Alvin's take on Astra-- his reflex-tanking sorcerer, so keep your eyes peeled for it.

"The Young Ones, Darling We're the Young Ones..."

Hey all,

On Chinese New Year Day Two, I rounded up my unsuspecting cousins and put them through two and a half hours of tutorials DnD 4e basic starter rules (modified). Throughout that time, I had to tell them the fun part was soon to come, and that the creation of the characters and the many many rules would not translate to the game proper. They all agreed and snored blissfully while waiting for the real thing to happen.

Shane had to go home early but was on Skype playing the part of God, with useful comments coming by way of the speakers attached to my computer next to the gaming table.

The necessary evil - Dice.

Finally, at about three in the morning, the final student passed his DnD examinations and the adventure started.

The DM and his minion cousin during tutorial.

I whipped up an impromtu adventure for them in Greenich Village where Mib Trannor, the self-styled dictator of the area has asked for his annual first-born offerings again. And the adventurers were conveniently the first-borns, and were relocated to the forest south to wait out the sacrificial period.

My cousins played a versatile party of five. 

• Rhino, the quietly bloodied Human Cleric (Lewis), 
• Mamasan, the Tiefling Wizard who cooks Boars (Melissa)
•  Vanessa, the male Elven Fighter with 12 Intelligence (Clara)
• Ang Mo Kio, the brash Eladrin Ranger who announces his powers (Andy)
• Lorong Ah Soo, the crafty halfling rogue who cannot really bluff well (Kelly)

They went through a skill challenge which tested their ability to forage food as they had run out of provisions in the forested clearing. Along the way, they smashed up three large wild boars, and with a bit of Nature, Mamasan cooked them and even managed to preserve some as Ba-Kua (dried pork) in case they had to prolong their stay in the unfriendly wilds.

Ba Kua, anyone? Rhino stands bloodied  proud amongst the vanquished boars.

After successfully getting their rations, they had to tackle a search party organized by Mib which they managed to distract intially (Mamasan Ghost Sound an SnSD tune to the east) and disposed off later with brute force after a failed Bluff check by Ah Soo to misdirect them.

They rested after that, and returned to town after receiving news that Mib had gone out of the village for some business. The five first-born will have to contend with the crazed man when he returns but that is ... another adventure for another day.

Maybe next year.

*grins*

Happy New Year everyone, and may you roll critical hits regularly all-season round.

The HoM Fact-Files: How the "Sir" got to be in Guy.

Hey all,

Not too long ago, Shane sent me his "Sir Guy" fact-file which touched on his homeland, childhood, teenage years, and his reasons behind risking it all - for a ticket to Maya.

Here it is, by him, in its full glory.

Tanglebottom was a halfling orphan who grew up in Pax Onarchos, a city known for its human-only populace, druids, knights and council, northwest of Sccor on the edge of the great forest.

Cutting purses and burglary was the common means of survival for orphans his age, but Tanglebottom was fortunate enough to meet the kindly but slightly addled librarian, Edward Pennyworth, whom, mistaking Tanglebottom as a human child, took him in and provided for him.

Under his tutelage, Tanglebottom learnt to read and write. He honed those skills in the library, absorbing volumes upon volumes of texts on knighthood, nobility and warfare. Seeing Tanglebottom's interest in such matters, Edward also engaged a trainer to teach Tanglebottom the art of swordplay. It was during this period where Tanglebottom first conceived of the idea of "Sir" Guy, The Morning Star- perfect knight and Savior of the people.  

Edward passed away when Tanglebottom was 17, never wondering why his foster son grew not an inch in the 12 years they've been together. 

On his dying bed, he told Tanglebottom to seek the Onarch Knight's council to be a knight. Tanglebottom did but was immediately rejected on the grounds that he was a halfling. 

Tanglebottom agreed with them of course, though his concept of the rejection was a little twisted. "Sir Tanglebottom" wasn't really the most inspirational Knight's name and the fact that he has yet to grow a beard weighed heavily on his mind.


He decided to reinvent himself, stepping into the shoes of his image of the perfect knight- "Sir" Guy. The halfling pawned all he had left, bought himself a suit of armor, weapons and most importantly, a boat ticket to the port town of Maya.

Sir Guy's secret- Notice the slightly bent knees for greater lateral support.

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I will c'yall on the flip side, with personal contributions from Shell and Alvin themselves.

"Hey, the power does nothing?", "Nonsense!! It does jack... Shadowjack."

Hey all,

Chapter 2: Blight of the Chained Demon kicked off last Saturday after a lengthy break. The first episode was especially fight-light due to my time allocated to the introduction and assimilation of the two new party members - Orisis (Osiris) and Astra the Bee-Squasher.

It was a rather smooth transition and they were introduced as outstanding recruits of the Headquarters, ready to help our severely depleted Heroes of Maya. As a bonus, Orisis (Osiris) was a former trainee at Castle Greyskill and would be of help in the party's trip to the Greater Desert of Harsh's where the castle is located.

During the session, there was a lengthy skill challenge involving the luckless farmers at the Northern Farmlands (First, a dragon attack and barely two weeks later, half of the new settlers from Greenich were abducted from their camp in a night raid.)

The party eventually found out that a winged humanoid had taken the role of a prominent "villager" in the Farmlands. He had been trying to implicate Arsilus, an exile, for his part in the night raid and eliminated the party's transportation (their horses from the Mayian stables) in hopes that they might not continue in their investigations.

Back in town, the party  confronted him in his house, with Orisis (Osiris) skillfully getting in by the back door to prevent his escape.

Then, came the move. The hapless resourceful assassin decided to use "Shadowjack", his new level 7 assassin power which allows Osiris to attach himself to said target like a bad clothing choice, making him an effective stickler until the end of the winged humanoid's turn.

Unluckily, this also meant that he lost his position to block the backdoor. And the fact that the winged humanoid might be able to fly. With his wings. And with a very brave assassin stuck to him for a single turn.

What transpired next was pure gold. The rest of the party watched in horror amazement as Orisis (Osiris) fought valiantly sixty feet in the air while the winged one continued his ascent into the star-lit night. For a moment, he was atop the creature's shoulders stabbing down on it with his fullblade.

Orisis (Osiris) practicing his mid-air balancing act during a training session.

Alas, the pain forced the creature into action. He threw Osiris off his precarious perch and he came crashing down to earth, skilfully avoiding major damage. The winged one then disappeared from their view.

Alvin the Arsenal Fan (Astra) summarized the mood by deadpanning in his roleplay voice,

"What actually happened?"

Shell (Orisis/Osiris) simply shrugged, and continued proclaiming his feat in reducing the actual fall damage to five.

Great.

With that said, I am looking forward to our next session, when the new party helps Hen-Lord Alan (Castle Greyskill's first-in-command) with his missing patrols in the harsh lands of the Desert.

C'yall soon on the flip side.

Countdown to Chapter 2: Secret Live Transmission Leaked. (Bonus In-Game Offer included!)

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His deathless eyes examine the huge map in front of him. He traces his bony index finger down the rough surface of the yellowed paper, and then stops.

He stares at what had made him pause - a blend of desert, plains and mountains layered over miles of landmass. His icy gaze narrows down on the area considerably and he jabs his finger forcefully at a particular spot on it.

"They think they have the Queen to guide them. And help from the meddlesome Shining One. But I too, have allies and ways so powerful that I cannot even start to fathom the greatness of them all."

"The prototypes had strength in abundance, but their flesh is weak like the mortals, and crumble too easily."

"But in time, and with each day that passes, I inch closer to perfection, and ultimate victory. For one cannot stop something... that cannot be stopped."

"Not even..."

"A God."

Cackling laughter is heard in the distance coming from a small naked figure, and an approving snort acknowledges the support.

"stop something that cannot be... stopped...stop something...that cannot be-", mumbled the small naked figure before being rudely interrupted mid-sentence.

"Now. Listen carefully..."

The room is empty once again. A large yellowed piece of paper rests on the table -blank-. A feathered quill dripping with red ink lays beside, seeping its edges with ugly blotches .

END OF SCENE
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Hi all,

I will like my existing players (Shane and Kat) in the campaign to :

• submit their updated character sheets to me by Friday latest. 
• Kindly include in the mail: current possessions (mundane and magical) and gold. 
• Any questions regarding character choices or the campaign can be posted to me via the blog (preferred), Skype or SMS. 

New players (Alvin) or existing players doing up new characters (Shell):

• are encouraged to participate in Leeto's Grapevine (Shoutbox), letting us know their new characters' names and a brief background introduction.
• submit their updated character sheets to me by Friday latest. 
• Any questions regarding character choices or the campaign can be posted to me via the blog (preferred), Skype or SMS. 

Help Save Haiti Shape Up Our Campaign (Limited Time In-Game Bonus Included!) 

Remember, the 9d20 blog can be used as a medium to role-play characters out of session and for you to get involved in shaping up Fracas and Ca-en too. Any interesting information regarding the characters, the world of Fracas or the continent of Ca-en can be sent to me via email so that I can put it on the blog.

I currently accept short stories, autobiographies, poems, songs, films, DVDs etc concerning your character and his experiences in Fracas or Ca-en: e.g. his/her childhood, hometown, goals, legends heard or places visited in Fracas/Ca-en.

To encourage this, anyone who does an article for me before the Chinese New Year will get his piece posted and receive a special in-game bonus perk (custom regional backgrounds, situational  in-game modifiers, custom contacts etc) to be announced after the promotion ends.

Disclaimer: The published article is subject to changes upon discretion of the DM and prior discussion with said player.