My charcter just died!

Alright, nobody panic. I am not about to do anything irrational. It looks like our ongoing PbP, the "Last Fantasy Campaign" just shifted gear and is moving towards its end. Is our quest to rid the world of the Egg of Coot once and for all going to end in a TPK? We are certainly not the first to have perished at such a foolhardy task. I take comfort in the thought that my character, General Harwan, was killed in the same moment as the grandson of the Great Svenny, played by Greg Svenson from Arneson's original group.

Here is the last moment of General Harwan:

"At the same time, Harwan, around whom James' remaining soldiers have begun to return to a formation, is hit in the face, by the shaft of an Orcish axe, right in that long, painful moment when he sees his friend die... With a warrior's instinct, he rises his shield to parry another blow, but that way, gives an opening down below...He doesn't see or feel the axe, but when he sees into the eyes of his murderer, his own black sword still in hand, all he feels is the cold..."

Wait a minute. My 9th level fighter was killed by an Orc??? How embarassing is this? I am reminded of the dying words of Lindsey McDonald, a villain/hero character from Joss Whedon's Angel:

"You kill me? A flunky?! I'm not just... Angel... kills me! You don't... Angel..."

To my defense, it was an army of them, and severa of them were mounted on dragons. All in all it was a fun game. Death is part of the game and General Harwan, a military man, would not have liked to grow old. His life was dedicated to the defense of Blackmoor, a sort of analogy to my own efforts here on this blog. But dont worry, even if things look bad for our party in the PbP Campaign, I will go on promoting Blackmoor :)



-Havard

Last Fantasy Campaign Coming to an End?

Our ongoing Blackmoor PbP Campaign, DMed by Rafael has been going on since 2005. The Last Fantasy Campaign as it has become known as, has become legendary in the realm of forum based gaming. Now it seems the grand finale is approaching. "The Promised Land and The Ghosts of Summer will be the final parts of the Last Fantasy Campaign." Rafael says. He continues:

"Furthermore, with the end of our current story arc, our ambitious project, The Last Fantasy Campaign, will achieve the goal we had set for it: To bring closure to all the main story arcs from the original Blackmoor setting, and to effectively write that epilogue that never was."

Read Rafael's full detail on his plans for the conclusion of this more than 6 year long campaign here.



-Havard

Blackmoor Player's Guide

Last week, my friend Rafael wrote a review of the Blackmoor Player's Guide over at the Comeback Inn:

1 of 5 smashed Afridhi skulls.

Ahh, the infamous BMPG. Why infamous? - Because the book was published as a nearly unedited manuscript,
without proper editing, spelling correction, or indexing (yeah, that means placeholders in the ongoing text).

This is, by far, the worst edited roleplaying book I've ever seen, apart from Wizard's "Expeditition to Castle Ravenloft". And I have seen a lot.

So, alone for that, the worst possible grade is well earned.

The content itself is not bad, though, basically being a summary of much that was introduced in the MMRPG in the first two years of its run, if maybe a bit too generic for my taste.
- In fact, I even took quite a bit from the BMPG book for my own game, and never regretted it.
BUT the book's presentation and layout are simply unacceptable for a piece that supposedly cost 35 bucks back in its day.

Basically, if you can get this one for cheap, enjoy it.
But if some crazy ebay seller wants to sell it for a fortune, gladly pass.

The paizo and amazon prizes are fair, but, as I said, don't expect anything above average from this book.

The review is a little harsh, but I guess this isn't my favorite in the D20 Blackmoor line either.  Still, if you are a D20 fan, there is plenty of stuff in the book that you could use. There are new classes, new prestige classes, new feats, new spells and so on. I guess what I am missing in the book is more Blackmoor specific setting information. My favorite parts of the book are the sections on various organizations and the section on temples. I really liked the idea of the players being able to become apprentices of some of the official Blackmoor NPCs this is a great way of including those NPCs in the campaign. 


For this and more reviews of Blackmoor products, check out the Merchant's Guild section at the Comeback Inn Forum.






-Havard

Blackmoor Product Reviews

My buddy Rafael has been posting alot of product reviews over at the Comeback Inn Forum. You can find them through the links below:


Blackmoor The First Campaign (2009)

D&D Supplement II: Blackmoor (1975)

The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor (2006)

More Reviews!




-Havard

Inception (2010), Dreams and Blackmoor

I was watching the movie Inception (2010) the other day and really liked it. Not only did I like the action scenes, but I was fascinated by the concept of shared dreaming and delving deeper into someone's subconcious. Rob S Conley wrote a small review of the movie here.

Dragonsfoot poster Kveldulf made the following suggestions of how to adapt some of these ideas to D&D

On a side note, lots of ideas in there for both planar travel (transfer the film's idea of how things work in dream states to, say, astral travel and what happens when the silver cord is damaged or cut) and psionic combat (dreamer's subconscious projections taking on outside dreamers who intrude, and a few other ideas). 

In the Last Fantasy Campaign, we have been venturing through the Dreamscape lately as well. The characters have been visiting King Uther's subconcious in search of a way to prevent the destruction of Blackmoor and a way to get back at the Egg of Coot. I like how our DM, Rafael used this as a way to incorporate some of the more bizarre elements from Dave Arneson's original Blackmoor Campaign. We have now seemingly at last escaped the Dreamscape, so now we shall see what the real world might bring us of dangers...


Illustration: Gustave Doré's illustrations from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.









-Havard

Dave Arneson's Adventures in Fantasy (1979)

In 1979, Dave Arneson and Richard Snider created an RPG called Adventures in Fantasy. Two versions of the game were published that year, one by Excalibur Games and the second by Arneson's company, Adventure Games. The game consists of three books -- Book of Adventure, Book of Faerry and Magic, and Book of Creatures and Treasure. A good review of the game appeared on Grognardia earlier this year. DH Bogg's "arnesonian" RPG , Dragons at Dawn, is said to have drawn heavily on Adventures in Fantasy.

Jeff Berry worked for Dave Arneson in 1979 and could reveal the following about the life at Adventure Games (AGI):

I was working for Dave at the time at Adventure Games, as the chief 'Tekumel Boat Person' (as he described us); the staff at AGI was made up of Dave's friends from the First Minnesota ACW reenactment group, and none of them were fantasy gamers of any type. Ken Fletcher and I were the only people there with any fantasy gaming experience; Richard was a free-lance author, and rarely in the shop.

Why didn't the game do better? At this time, D&D was still a young game and it would seem that the market was hungry for fantasy RPGs. If RuneQuest could coexist with D&D, why not AiF? Was it simply not good enough? Jeff Berry has the following explanation:

The problem with AiF wasn't that is was a bad game or anything, it was simply one of no marketing. Dave had bought it back from Excalibur with the money that the first of his settlements with TSR, and like many other of the AGI product line was more or less just there because Dave or one of his friends had done the game. There was no real 'in-house' support for this game like there was for, say, "Compleat Brigadier", and it has to be said that there wasn't much support for fantasy gaming of any kind in house. AGI's Tekumel line existed because of Dave's personal friendship with Phil, and my presence at AGI was a direct consequence of that. It always amazed the AGI staff that we 'boat people', so-called because we lived on pallets in AGI's basement under tarps (it was a very wet basement!) could sell our rather recondite products and the main AGI line never seemed to sell at all; I kept pointing out that one needed to run games at conventions and advertise the heck out of a game, otherwise it'd never sell to anyone.

Recently there has been speculations to whether it would be possible to get ahold of the lisence to the game so it could be published again. Unfortunately, Rafael just shared the following on Dragonsfoot today:

The news back then were, as the admin staff over at the CI discussed in various threads, that with Dave Arneson's death, apparently all of his rpg-related IP reverted to WotC. INCLUDING AiF. - This was apparently part of the agreement that allowed the licensing of the BM d20 line through several companies associated with Arneson. A dead end, it seems.Though IANAL, as to the Comeback Inn crew, things so far look far more like we will go on an produce our own setting some day instead of continuing DA's work.

So, the chances of seeing Adventures in Fantasy back in print seem very low indeed. Thankfully there are other things happening in the Old School community and many out there who are interested in honoring Dave's legacy in any way they can.









-Havard

[LFC] Skelfer Ard is the Ran of Ah Foo!

In the Last Fantasy Campaign, the game Rafael is running for us over at the Comeback Inn, a frightening revelation has just dawned on the heroes: Legendary wizard Skelfer Ard and Ran the Lich-King are one and the same!

Who are these guys again? Let's backtrack a little. Centuries ago, the magic users of the north were fighting over the Wild Magic that is so potent in the lands surrounding Blackmoor. Noone knows its true source, but many suspect it is tied to the very magical rock that Blackmoor Castle is built on. As these so-called mage wars raged on, Skelfer worked in his laboratory and came up with a way to control the wild magic, through the use of crystals. With his newly gained powers, he brought an end to the mage wars and set up an organization to keep magic under control in the future. This organization was called the Wizards Cabal. Once his work was done, Skelfer simply disappeared. Noone knows where he went off to, though the speculations have seemed without limit.

Lord Ran, or the Ran of Ah' Foo is another equally mysterious entity. He was believed to have started out as the puppet of the Egg of Coot, who then turned upon his master, seeking refuge in the west. For a while, he ran the Duchy of Ten, but this must have ended before the Afridhi invaded those lands.How could a good mage like Skelfer have been turned into a creature like Ran? Did he witness such dark things during the mage wars, that he could never go back to being truly good? Or did he fall under the spell of the Egg of Coot, just like Moorkok the Slayer?




-Havard

The Last Fantasy Campaign: Uther Lives!

The ongoing Blackmoor PbP, coined the Last Fantasy Campaign, and in which I play the character General Harwan, has taken a shocking turn of events. King Uther, believed to be dead and buried, is revealed to be alive!

As Vestfold and large parts of western Blackmoor have been destroyed by the Egg of Coot, the return of Uther hints to a turning of the tide. Could this be a chance for the Company of the Maiden to finally strike back at Blackmoor's enemies? I am excited to see what our DM, Rafael, comes up with next!








Image source: http://www.bzents.co.uk/blog.html


-Havard

New Releases from the Comeback Inn!

The two first major publications from the Comeback Inn were made available this weekend. They are based on the ongoing PbP game, collectively known as the Last Fantasy Campaign, and incorporate both Blackmoor and Wilderlands lore.

Both have been uploaded to the Blackmoor Archives (my website):

The Maiden's Blackmoor

"A short written companion, containing information on our past games, on the concrete changes we made to our setting,  AND the big "Maiden's Timeline", the backbone of the setting we use, containing about all information about our game that we can spare."

The Grim Winter PbP Backup Files

"The complete transcript of the "campaign that started it all", from December 2005 to April 2009. Docs come in txt and rtf format."

-Havard

The Last Fantasy Campaign

"The skies of the world were always meant to have dragons.
When they are not there, humans miss them.

Some never think of them, of course.

But some children, from the time they are small,
they look up at a blue summer sky and watch for something that never comes.

Because they know.

Something that was supposed to be there faded and vanished.

Something that we must bring back, you and I."

- Robin Hobb, "Golden Fool" 

WHAT BE... "The Last Fantasy Campaign"?

"The Last Fantasy Campaign", dedicated to the memory of Dave Arneson and Richard Snider, and consisting so far of "The Grim Winter", "The War of the Thieves", "The Road", and "The Promised Land" aims at bringing the tale of Blackmoor's struggle against it's many enemy, as begun by Dave Arneson and continued by many others, to a coherent ending. By the end of "The Company of the Maiden's" and their companions' adventures, the Blackmoor we have known for forty years will cease to exist. - At least in our campaign's own continuity...

HOW TO... Join campaign?

An invitation to join "The Last Fantasy Campaign" and "The Company of the Maiden" comes by personal invitation only. This is not because we would be a bunch of arrogant bastards, but because our group was established in 2005/2006, and the players have the same right as the DM to decide if someone new will join us, or who in particular. If there ever are free spots and we don't know whom to offer membership we will make a public rolecall.

HOW TO... Create character?

In 2005, this started as a d20 game, and remains so until today. Base for character creation is, essentially, everything ever published for D&D 3.5, by any company, as long as the character makes sense in our campaign environment. - Though I, as the DM, specifically encourage players to use either the material put out by Zeitgeist Games for Blackmoor, or by Necromancer Games, for Wilderlands of High Fantasy, for the creation and later, advancement of their PCs.

WHAT BE... "The Grim Winter"?

Started in December of 2005, and ended in March of 2009, "The Grim Winter" was the Company of the Maiden's first adventure and told the story of the Third War of Ten.
By the end of the campaign, the forces of Blackmoor had overthrown the evil Afridhi, albeit suffering great losses due to the treachery of the dread Bascom Ungulian. On the climax of the campaign, that later would have been called "The Battle of the Longest Day" by northern historians, King Uther, who had ruled and defended the Kingdom of Blackmoor since the days of the first war with the Egg of Coot, was said to have been severely wounded and to have later been abducted by the infamous lich-wizard Ran. The Company of the Maiden is said to have been among the last ones who saw Uther alive.

WHAT BE... "The War Of The Thieves"?

Starting in summer of 2006, and ending in spring of 2008, this was a side campaign to The Grim Winter, but advancing more slowly than the main game so players who couldn’t post as regularly as the rest didn’t have to quit our game. The War of the Thieves essentially told the further adventures of the thief Rowell and his companions, a group of NPCs the party had met during the first chapters of The Grim Winter, and featured an adventuring party participating in the Coven’s (the Blackmoorian Thieves Guild’s) conquest of the abandoned city of Mondburgh (based on Ernie and Luke Gygax’ lost city of Gaxmoor for Troll Lord Games’ setting of Erde). Though relatively short and admittedly not very coherent, the game had a huge impact on the development of our campaign and touched some of the topics that will alter be detailed in The Promised Land.

WHAT BE... "The Road"?

No relation to the famous book and movie. Running from March 2009 until December of the same year, "The Road", previously called "The Road to the Promised Land", was a collaborative writing effort by the players of "The Company of the Maiden" and chronicled the years after the Third War of Ten, and until six months before the beginning of "The Promised Land". On their quest to rebuild the war-ravaged lands of the Northern Marches, the split-up members of the "Maiden" survived a multitude of adventures, but ultimately could not prevent the second, and successful invasion by the Egg of Coot. By the end of this tale, many Blackmoorian cities had fallen to the enemy, while the Free People, led by Uther's and Risa Aleford's illegitimate son Mordred, had established to bring the front line to halt between Newgate and Vestfold.

WHAT BE... "The Promised Land"?

Our upcoming campaign, starting in February 2010, reuniting the old cast of characters, and set shortly after the events of The Road…, beginning with “the day on which Vestfold felll”… Word is that this will be the final stage, the last battle, and the end of days for the Kingdom of Blackmoor, as we know it…








Posted by Rafael 
(Edited by Havard)

New Blackmoor Forum Opening

Here's the big announcement I've been dying to share with you: 

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my special pleasure to announce the grand opening of "The Comeback Inn", the new home of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor on the internet!
As some of you might already know, Blackmoor was one of the last "Golden Age" D&D settings that was officially supported by WotC,
through license holders Zeitgeist Games and Code Monkey Publishing.

When WotC didn't renew the license last autumn, our little group, tentatively called "The Regency Council", decided it was time to step up and do something to save our favorite setting from falling into oblivion.

The result is our little message board, which we now humbly present to the public:

http://blackmoor.mystara.us/forums/index.php

What are we?!

"The Comeback Inn", called so in reference to the first D&D in-game tavern of all time, is already the biggest database
for Blackmoor lore on the internet, and also home to the "Company of the Maiden"
and the latest installment of their long-running PbP campaign "The Promised Land".

We have prepared a small line of fan publications that we will present to the public in the next few months,
starting with a rules-free 30-page companion to the "Company of the Maiden's" take on Blackmoor.

Also, expect all kind of supplementing articles on gaming in Blackmoor for all editions,
investigative articles on the history of the setting, interviews with some of the icons of D&D's earliest days,
reviews on old and current gaming items of interest, and many more things that will help you to run a campaign
in Blackmoor, in a time were it is increasingly harder to get one's hands on out-of-print books.


What is that "Blackmoor" thingy we are talking about?!

Ugh... I know there might be some among you who don't know what I am talking about...

So, let's check Wikipedia's article on Blackmoor:

Quote:

Blackmoor is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting generally associated with the game Dungeons & Dragons. It originally evolved in the early 1970s as the personal setting of Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, first as a setting for Arneson's miniature wargames, then as an early testing ground for what would become D&D. Blackmoor is the longest continuously played fantasy role-playing campaign in existence.

Yeah, Blackmoor is arguably the mother of all D&D settings, and in great part responsible for the birth of the original (White Box) D&D game!


So, that's all pretty nice, but why should YOU go there and register?!

The idea of the "Regency Council" is to give Blackmoor what it has lacked all the way through its forty-year long history:
A place for the community to grow and to exchange ideas, and a place to discuss the many aspects and elements of the setting,
while staying accessible and open to n00bs.

In short, if you are or ever were interested in Dave Arneson's World of Blackmoor, this is the place to go!


Hoping to see you soon over at the Comeback Inn,


Rafael, speaking for the Regency Council






-Havard

[Rafael]The Lodoss War

Another entry from Official Guest Blogger Rafael on sources of inspiration for his Blackmoor games:

In my (apparently developing?!) series about things of all kind that might make a good inspiration for Blackmoor, I sooo want to take a closer look to a series, or better, a setting I mentioned in the “Northlanders” review:

The World of “The Lodoss War”, where “The Lady of Pharis”, another extraordinary comic book is set: Having long become an all-time classic among anime-fans all over the world, “The Record of Lodoss War” OVA (=direct-to-video-series) is the best product of a franchise that can basically be described as “Japanese D&D”.

Being based on ACTUAL OD&D SESSIONS in which the main author and developer, Ryo Mizuno participated, this is like the closest you can get to classic D&D fiction without relying on ebay, or WotC periodical republications (kudos to Wizbro for rereleasing a lot of the old stuff from time to time, btw).

An entire universe on its own, “Lodoss War” and the RPG it is “officially” based upon, the Japanese “Sword World”, span dozens of gaming books, novels, graphic novels, artbooks, musical CDs and even a few video games. – And, Yours Truly absolutely loves it.

You can perfectly be a friend of fantasy literature today without knowing “A Song of Ice and Fire”, “The Dragonbone Chair”, or “The Name of the Wind”. – However, if you miss “Lodoss War”, especially the first OVA, this is like not having seen Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings”, at least as far as I am concerned.

What connection, you may ask, is there between some Japanese RPG to “my” or “The Maiden’s” Blackmoor? – “Lodoss War” is, more or less, how I visualize D&D for myself! The dragons in my mind look like the Lodoss Dragons, and the Elves look like Lodoss Elves, and the “Evil Island Marmo” is pretty much how thought of the darker places in “The Grim Winter”.

It’s been years since I first suggested the 1990 “Record of Lodoss War” OVA to my players as the kind of introductory material they would want to watch to get into my style of  D&D. For my personal view of roleplaying and fantasy, I think, it’s safe to say that the Lodoss universe was the one that influenced me the most, at least in the last few years.







-Rafael

(Edited by Havard)

Northlanders

Today the Blackmoor blog features another entry by guest blogger Rafael:

So, during one of those days, while I had to wait for the van to take my furniture out of my old flat, I did a short of visit to my FLGS, “Hermkes Romanboutique”. (Yeah, that’s what one calls viral marketing!)

Among other treasures I found there, I literally ran into a comic book that instantly captivated my attention, not only as a Blackmoor aficionado, but also as a fan of comic books in general:

“Northlanders”, written by Brian Wood, and published by Vertigo comics, is certainly one of the better indie series I have in recent years: Narrating pseudo-historical stand-alone episodes from the British Dane Law era, the comic manages to stay captivating, intelligent, and artistically pleasing in its minimalism all through the two trade paperbacks ( a third one being due in March of this year).

The first one, “Northlanders: Sven the Returned” is my favorite, telling a byronesque tale of revenge about a lost son returning home to the Orkney Islands and declaring war on those who have wronged his family. – The most intriguing comic book tale with a medieval/fantasy background I have read in years, and I am talking “really long ago”, like, since the publication of the Japanese “Lady of Pharis” in Germany.

Of course, the book has the usual Vertigo weaknesses: In-your-face action, too much sexual innuendo, and some lesser logical flaws concerning the plot. However, as it comes, Brian Wood’s story is convincing, and the artwork provided by Davide Gianfelice is extraordinarily well suited. Of special interest, and good for a few smirks is he fact that the storyteller and hero, Sven, is not only the typical Vertigo badass, but also a very unreliable narrator when it comes to moments where he could look bad.

In sum, a very good comic book, and already a favourite of mine. As to medieval action and suspense, an example of how things should be done.


The second TPB installment of the series “Northlanders: The Cross + Hammer”, unrelated to the first story arc, and telling the story of a solitary rebel against the Viking attacks on Ireland, didn’t convince me as much as “Sven the Returned” did, though it’s still a solid read; the problem is that Wood overdoes the perspective of the unreliable narrator to a point where I personally had problems following the story. Also, I personally dislike totally grim tales; the comic would have done better showing some of the narrative balance the “Sven” arc had displayed. However, that might be just a matter of my own personal taste.

So, what connection do I draw between “Northlanders” and “Blackmoor”? - Well, the visuals, of course!

In contrast to the manga-like, over-the-top illustrations 4e and Pathfinder provide the fans with, Gianfelice’s, and in the second arc, Ryan Kelly’s art is almost exactly how envision my own personal world of Blackmoor: Simple clothing, Dark Age weaponry, sumblime sceneries and hostile weather.

In addition, I like low-paced stories; nothing big and spectacular, just slow and dark, naturalistic action. Scenes, that when made to a movie, maybe would be filmed without a musical score.

For my personal taste, a reader’s pleasure, almost all the way through.




-Rafael

Edited by Havard

Something is coming...

A storm is brewing.  Lisence questions aside, 2010 will not be a quiet year for Blackmoor. While we are keeping our fingers crossed for the industry to get things sorted out, things are also stirring among the fans. Some clues can be discerned here..

Only a few weeks to wait...

Havard

Introducing Rafael

I am Rafe, the Judge of the “Grim Winter Winter” and “The Promised Land” campaigns Havard mentions on here from time to time, and since I am pretty jealous of him for having such an extraordinary blog running so successfully, I thought , “if you can’t beat’im, yield”, and sent him a few of my scribblings on Blackmoor and related topics that will probably appear around here in the next few months.


While I probably won’t be able to write too much on the Blackmoor game itself, in order not to give away too much on the games I run, I thought it might be worth sharing some of the impressions and experiences I take from running those games, if for nothing else than to remember them some day.



I hope you readers will like my ramblings, and find them at least somewhat of use.

Yours,

Rafael

The Grim Winter Campaign: Behind the scenes!

Back in 2005 began what would become the longest running Blackmoor PbP Campaign in history. After 5 years of play, the game is still not over. It's sequel, Road to the Promised Land was announce last year.  The players are a group of highly dedicated and creative gamers, including original Blackmoor player Greg Svenson. Blackmoor author Jeff Quinn also took part in the game for a while.Other Blackmoor fans and game designers are avid readers of the game.

Back in 2006, the following add was posted for the campaign:

A Grim Winter has fallen over the lands of the Bitter North, as valiant heroes and vile foes fight for the control over the once so beautiful lands called the Duchy of Ten! While the troops of Blackmoor and Vestfold march on against the cannibal Afridhi, two small bands of rogues and mercenaries travel through the battered lands of the West, following their quests that might come to determine the outcome of this lethal conflict... If you want to come to the rescue of poor Ten's helpless citizens, and join our brave heroes in their perilous attempts to free the lands of men from Toska Russa's iron grip, then read on carefully...

Today. Grim Winter DM, Rafael, revealed some of his secrets over at Dragonsfoot:

What I would suggest new DMs, or DMs unhappy with the course of their games:

1. Keep a slow pace. Daily updates are difficult to manage for most people, but updates two or three times a week are doable. The better you adjust to the gaming rythm to your players,
the more probable is it that you can go playing on the long hand.

2. Don't write a novel. Or, well, do. In any case, keep the measure of the game modest.  This is the most important thing I think many DMs don't understand, IMO. The way I run PbPs, even the standard 32-page adventures by TSR would take more than a year to complete. So, my suggestion would be to have a DM script of, say ten pages, which you can complete in just a few months.

- And then, revaluate if the game has potential for successful continuation. That way, you will get less frustrated, should the group lose interest in the game, than if you go on and prepare a monster project.

 I have been fortunate enough to participate with a small role as the hardened soldier Harwan, who started out as a Sergeant, but has now become promoted to the rank of General. I am looking forward to the sequel and I know the core players are doing the same!





-Havard

PROMISED LAND PREVIEW

Rafael asked me to post the intro for the upcoming new season of his legendary PbP:

21th day of Asum in the year 1032 of the Northern Calendar. Night.

Four years and two days after the conquest of Starmorgan by the forces of the Free Nations.





The kingdom of Blackmoor stands surrounded by enemies.

To the west, Westryn raiders and demons roam the plains of Hak.
Though they haven't yet dared to attack the rebuilding cities of New Duchy,
it's only a matter of time until Tenlish blood will be spilled again.

To the south,the forces of the tyrannical Great Kingdom have taken advantage
of the Free Nation's sudden weakness and are lying siege to Blackmoor's southern cities.
It might not be long, and even mighty Dragonia will fall.

And to the north, an icy stormwind over the sea, The Egg of Coot lets its armies advance.
The town of Blackmoor, destroyed.
The town of Glendower, burned by a raing of black fire.
The city of Maus, sunken into the sea and its citizens eaten alive by mermen
from the darkest depths of the shallow ocean.

A high prize is paid for the freedom of mankind.
A prize so high in blood that it seems unsure if the brave people
of the Northern Marches will be able to pay it much longer.

Blackmoor is in need of heroes.
Now more than ever.





The "Company of the Maiden" is summoned to the Kingdom of Blackmoor's
ancient capital, the city of Vestfold, by the prince regent himself.
Members of the old Imperial guard, the best of the North's remaining knights,
all cled in red armor, lead you into the great dining hall in the old king's
ancient city house, first erected by the time Vestfold's most perilous enemy
was not the Egg of Coot, but the devil-worshipping followers of the Id.

In the dining hall, lit only by the dim gloom of fresh candles,
three men sit around a big round table, made of the Druj Forest's best wood.

The red knights order you to remain standing and bring big and burning coal pans
to the table, so you can see who awaits you at this late hour.
However, you are surprised to find that none of the men sitting in front of you
is actually Prince Mordred:


Instead, you behold, from left to right:

Dressed in black, leaning backwards with his big boots on the table,
as if this wasn't the very royal throne room, but some wayside inn,
the famous rogue Rowell, called "The Blade".

Next to him, grinning from one ear to the other, Zuki,
your loyal travelling companion, and, so is the word, second one behind Rowell
in the criminal organization known as "The Coven".

On the higher seat usually reserved for the king of the Marches alone,
his face pale, yet his eyes narrow in anger and discomfort, bishop Garamond Bolitho,
highest-ranking cleric among the civilized people north of the Misauga river.

To the bishop's right, his hands weaving an invisible web into the thin air as he watches you
with the same fascination a spider would watch a fly approach its nest,
a figure paler and ghastlier than even Sir Garamond at this nightly hour.



It's seems it takes more to kill me than just the wrath of a bearman and two magic blades...



The figure next to bishop Garamond chuckles maliciously, as it leans forward its horned head,
and for a moment your blood in your very veins seems to freeze:

The fourth man sitting there on your own king's table is none but your old enemy,
the Westryn sorcerer Gorileth!


TO BE CONTINUED ON FEBRUARY 1st, 2010!