Campaign Updates

   That's right, here you can read the campaign from start to finish. Right now, I only have the most recent games we have played. I will be including the campaign in its entirety, but that will be when I have more time. The following information is from the game sessions of April-June 2002.

   The group has come to Chiaroscuro, the only haven close to them in the South. All of them decided to stay in the City of Glass to make money, shelter, and to build in power. Little did they know the troubles awaiting them there.

   They stayed at a small inn named the Rising Shard, near the Merchant Quarter of Chiaroscuro. With three rooms between them, they are suffering small difficulties getting along. Mashimoto and Logan have clashed on many issues, ranging from simple commands to ideas on money.

   They sold the Golden Bull's armor and at the black market on the waterfront to avoid notice. They received a small reward and some jade, which Alucard would use to make artifacts. They disagreed at first on whether to sell or use the armor.

   Alucard wished to follow his roots and search some of the Delzhan tombs in the city. He and Two-Rings searched the tomb of Rhagor, the first Tri-Khan of the Delzhan. What they found was a mystery. The tomb, which held traps and undead horse riders, had a false tunnel and tomb. The false tunnel led to the real tomb of the Tri-Khan.

   The real tomb had an inscription on the wall written in an old Southern dialect. It read, “Here lies Rhaegor, He Who Was A Horse.” When Alucard and Two-Rings searched the tomb they found a bejeweled sarcophagi bearing the likeness of a Delzhan. They stole the jewels and opened the sarcophagi, only to find it empty.

   They left the tomb with their spoils and found the others at the Rising Shard. They decided they would look into the disappearance of Rhaegor's corpse. Two-Rings stated that he would use his skills to find information on the disappearance.

   Mashimoto, Alucard, and Logan decided to try and find other means of making money. They visited the magistrate of Chiaroscuro, an immense fat man named Manos, to see if any bounties have been placed in town. They received a list of names, many of whom left town months ago. Only one person was on the list that they could track down.

   It seems one person, whose name was unknown, has been seen running around on the rooftops of Chiaroscuro. Many robberies have taken place in the areas he has been seen. Manos asked for him to be brought dead or alive to the town's correction facility to claim the reward.

   Mashimoto and Logan decided to go after the man, which they found one night on the roofs. The man, a Southerner by his look, refused to talk to Mashimoto. Mashimoto tried to use force to hold the man in place while the others caught up, when the man turned into a giant crow. The Lunar, as Mashimoto knew him to be, thrashed Mashimoto soundly and flew off.

   During this time, Alucard had decided to try his first attempt at making an artifact. Using the jade gained in the trade for the Golden Bull's armor and some gold he had on hand, he spent the week folding the metal and creating a ring. His result was the Jade Messenger Ring.

   Mashimoto and Logan returned to the Rising Shard to find that Two-Rings had not returned from his information gathering. They went to find Alucard, who was still forging the ring at this time, to see if he knew of Two-Rings location. Alucard stated he had no such knowledge and was too busy to help.

   Mashimoto and Logan waited for Two-Rings to arrive back at the inn. After a week passed and Alucard returned with the Jade Messenger Ring, they all realized that Two-Rings was in trouble. They began a massive search campaign to find Two-Rings, starting with the Noble Quarter. No one seemed to know anything about the Westerner.

   Days passed with no word, Mashimoto felt that the Lunar might know something. As it turns out, the Lunar had heard that a Westerner with a white jade sword had been kidnapped in the Noble Quarter. After searching in the Noble Quarter, they found a man offering word of Two-Rings location for an exorbanent fee. They tracked the location to Manos' office.

   Inside the office, Two-Rings had been undergoing a slow torture for over a week and a half at the hands of a man named Bruff. Two-Rings had seen another being standing behind Bruff in the shadows, directing Bruff's actions. Two-Rings was slowly going mad from the torture. No matter how much his body healed over the day, which revealed him for what he was, Bruff would re-inact the pain the next day.

   Realizing that Manos had Two-Rings and would not release him without a significant bribe, the group realized it needed a large amount of cash quickly. They decided to make a Melee and Tournament in Chiaroscuro. After discussing the legality with Manos, they sought a location that could hold a large amount of people.

   The Theatre of Red Light, the glass dome that held the local theatre troop, was the location they chose. A man named Grupa ran the Theatre and the troop. Negotiations began and they settled on a amicable deal for all involved. Grupa came up with the logistics of what was needed and the group provided most of the cash.

   The tournament drew members from all over Chiaroscuro in two events. The Individual Tournament held over 40 warriors from various backgrounds. Alucard and Logan themselves joined the events, but Logan was eliminated later by Alucard in the quarterfinals.

   Alucard, Mashimoto, and Logan left for the black market to see if they could find any artifact weapons that would not reveal themselves as Solars. What they found only strengthened their resolve to find Two-Rings. Hidden in the back shelves was Two-Rings white jade elemental dragon sword. They bought it with the Golden Bull's hearthstone necklace and the Jade Messenger Ring Alucard made.

   The semifinals were much harder. Alucard faced off against a woman called Sesus, a human posing as a Dragon-Blooded. She used greek fire to make others believe she could conjure fire on her sword. Alucard foolishly decided to bear hug her, so that she could not throw the fire on him. The resulting fire engulfed both of them, killing Sesus and severely injuring Alucard.

   They decided that the last match will be fought after the Great Melee. While they were clearing the arena from the greek fire, Mashimoto (who was in charge of security) heard from the Lunar that Two-Rings was to be fighting somehow in the Melee. Considering Two-Rings background, Mashimoto realized he would have to search those that wanted to fight in the Melee before they entered. He did what he could, but most would not let him look under helms and such, so Mashimoto walked out into the Melee to protect Two-Rings if he appeared.

   Half way through the Melee, the glass columns in the arena opened up to reveal many surprises. The two center columns released two naked bodies, Two-Rings and a teenage boy. The four outlying columns released Buck Ogres. Chaos ensued as the mass combat became more deadly. Mashimoto used Lightning Speed to grab Two-Rings from combat, hoping others would assume him a Dragon-Blooded. He bounded from the arena and brought an unconscious and badly wounded Two-Rings out of harm's way.

   No one moved to save the boy, who was in the center of the arena and combat. A sword took him through the stomach, leaving part of his intestines on the floor. Suddenly, a great light filled the arena. The child had received his Exaltation. The symbol of the Dawn Caste clearly on his head, he took the sword from out of himself and fought his way to an exit.

   The chaos had stopped for a small time, many wondering what they had seen. The guards could not stop the child, who took their lives as he ran through the wooden gate. He ran down the passageway out of the arena, fighting any who got in his way.

   The Great Melee began again in earnest, with Logan trying hard to fight his way to the prize. Unfortunetly, he found his way towards a particular fighter named the Unnamed. The Unnamed tore off the veil that disguised its face and revealed a spirit warrior with the ability to turn opponents to stone. Logan wisely ran to the exit seeing the spirit. A normal human from the Tent City slew the Unnamed from behind and became the champion of the Melee.

   Finally, Alucard faced the last match of the Tournament. His opponent was Lord Regalias of the Green, a Fair Folk noble. Alucard had never faced the Fair Folk before, and noticed that Lord Regalias would stand in front of the cheering crowd in a daze. His eyes would sink back into his head as he felt and fed off the crowd's emotions.

   The battle was much shorter. Lord Regalias used every dirty trick in the book and won over Alucard. Lord Regalias fed off the crowd once again and took the prize money for being the Champion.

   All told, the Great Games won the group a substantial award, one that they did not need to use to free Two-Rings. The exact amount is still in question after they have paid the appropriate fees and taxes to the Tri-Khan.

   After Two-Rings had recovered, the group noticed some significant changes in him. He looked gaunt and harder around the eyes. He asked if Mashimoto and Logan would aid him in getting revenge for his two week torture. They, of course, agreed and set off to find those that betrayed him.

   Two-Rings first set off for the black market, for they had told him where they found his sword. Two-Rings almost killed the man in charge looking for his other artifacts. He tortured the grimy clerk until he found his hearthstone necklace with his Manse's stone in it. He took another just for a bargaining chip.

   Mashimoto and Logan began to fear for Two-Rings, since he had changed so much. They had never seen him hurt or torture another with no remorse before. They could only stand by and watch as he bluffed, threatened and coaxed his way through to see people of importance.

   Two-Rings found Manos and tortured him for the information regarding the dark stranger, Bruff, and his orichalcum breastplate. Manos had sold the breastplate to a Guild trader named Vraga. After that, he killed Manos with the reasoning that he knew what Two-Rings was. He went into the dungeon where he was tortured only to find Bruff and two others butchered in the hallway.

   Two-Rings became furious that his chance for revenge was crushed and quickly rushed to find the Guild member Vraga and his breastplate. He was under the impression that the dark stranger was defeating his goals. He met Vraga at his warehouse, claiming he was a treasure hunter for the Immaculate Order. He received the breastplate back, mostly through threats than anything else.

   His next mission took him to the Tri-Khan, himself. Once again, under the guise of a messenger of the Immaculate Order, he apologized for having to kill Manos. He explained the situation of Manos stealing a breastplate that needed to be “kept from the Anathema's hands.” Two-Rings gave him the red jade hearthstone necklace as an apology, the same one he took from the black market trader.

   While relaxing, Alucard, Mashimoto, and Two-Rings decided to hunt after a tongue of a known tradesman for an artifact Alucard was working on. Two-Rings came up with the idea that the Guildsman, Vraga, may be what they were looking for.

   They went to Vraga's warehouse in the merchant quarter of Chiaroscuro and were roughly stopped by the guards that recognized Two-Rings from his visit two days prior. They tried, keyword here is tried, to stop the Solars from entering. All three Solars trounced the guards and entered the warehouse.

   Unfortunately, Vraga had been expecting some unexpected customer to become irate and attack his interests. Years earlier, he had gathered two rare stone guardians that protect the master they are sworn to serve. They only needed essence infused into them while given the commands and they would serve willingly for years. Vraga had to make a sore bargain with an outcast Terrestrial in order to accomplish it.

   The result of that bargain came down heavily on the Solars. As soon as they entered the warehouse, Vraga spewed forth the command word and the guardians lurched to life. While normal humans would have failed against the guardians, the three Solars destroyed them after a drawn out battle.

   Vraga, amazed and upset, pulled the last card he had out of his sleeve. He called an old favor with a Sidereal Exalted named Grial. She appeared using some sort of magic and laughed at the young Solars. None of them recognized her, but were not afraid. The Favored of Serenity threw herself upon them stating, “Old Man should have killed you by now!”

   This battle was one that each Solar would remember for all time. Grial brooked no quarter for them. She fought ruthlessly and efficiently. Alucard was practically knocked out in one blow from Grial. Two-Rings' pathetic attempts to harm her were unsuccessful. Even Mashimoto had some difficulty. While his Hearthstone protected him from severe harm, he could not do enough damage to harm her enough.

   Finally, after minutes had passed and a good section of the warehouse was bathed in light, Grial left the warehouse using the same magic she came by. The Solars are absolutely furious. Mashimoto hunted after Vraga, who took the time with Grial to run for the hills. It took one round of Lightning Speed to catch up to him, kill his guards, and take his tongue.

   The three waited a small time to calm down their auras and search the warehouse. There, they found Ten Winds, much to Alucard's dismay. After touching the sword, he fell to unconsciousness. The others spread oil around the warehouse and burnt it to the ground while making their escape.

   After they got back to the Rising Shard, the rested for a day. Logan, now feeling better from his run-in with a whore, joined the group in trying to sell Ten Winds. They first tried to see if they could use by touching various people (namely Logan) with the sword.

   Once again, they sauntered towards the warehouse. Two-Rings quickly disabling the guards by touching them with Ten Winds (after covering the hilt in velvet so he wouldn't touch it). There, the group met the leader of this particular black market, Hesias. She was a woman who looked to be in great shape. Her gown was well cut and made with rich fabrics. Her face was a potmark of scars and wounds.

   They received their goal in trade for the sword and jade, a shop for Alucard's wares. Now they lived in the merchant's quarter, with their own home and shop. Now they had a base of operations to which they can retreat to safely.