After avoiding the army in the valley, the group found a place to camp. In the morning, two of the bonds-brothers had a startling announcement to make - they had dreamed in the night that they had to separate from the party for a while to accomplish a task. The ancestors’ spirits were rather insistent. So, Kan’ Vi’ Don Lu and Mykal departed - each heading in separate directions. Neither stated what they had to accomplish, only that it was urgent and important - but that they would catch up with the group as quickly as possible.

Aquila, Bingo and Gi’ Kar proceeded toward Kel’ Sai and the tribe of Kon’ Te Kel’ as quickly as possible. The first three days of their journey were rather uneventful and good time was made, however on the third night things changed. Aquila was on first watch, and heard something that sounded like a person wimpering and whining. It was further outside the campsite than he had originally anticipated. Shortly after leaving camp, he discovered a Kaa’ Jah Kushani child huddled up in a ball. The child appeared very frightened of Aquila.

While Aquila was attempting to placate the child and reassure her that there was no danger, he caught a sound that gave him pause. Taking to the air, he noticed two humanoid shapes making their way toward him and the child. He also caught a glimpse of three other shapes moving into the camp area.

Before he could act, the two slumbering Sol’ Kal were awoken by the sounds of approaching feet. Bingo reacted first and silently kicked Gi’ Kar’s feet to rouse him. Aquila also realizing the danger, swooped toward camp raising the battle cry.
The Enemy

Wolf-things: Two of the five assailants were approximately 7 feet tall with bodies that appeared to be stitched together from various other bodies - all the major races appeared to be represented in one fashion or another. The head, was that of a wolf - a dead wolf. These two appeared to be the “leaders” of the motley horde.

Necrogoblin: The other three beings were roughly Kaa’ Jah Kushani in build and shape - however, they did have more pointed feature and had a deadish look to them as well. Their teeth were pointed and sharp and their hands ended in claws.

The Conflict

At the sounds of alarm, the three shapes approaching camp, charged. Fortunately, Bingo was ready and was waking up Gi’ Kar.
Quick to join the fray, Gi’ Kar rushed forward to join battle with the second Wolf-thing and the ghoul, thus keeping them focused away from Bingo. Gi’ Kar was still groggy, though, and failed to do anything of significance to either foe.

Seeing that his friends were alert and defending themselves, Aquila raced back to the child. Landing next the girl, he scooped her up in his arms and took to the air again. The two ghouls that were confronting him and the child were powerless to do anything other than stand and try to throw stones at them. Aquila had other ideas, though - and blasted them both with a furnace of hot air that caused them to expire.

The battle raged and Bingo scored a few good blows, hurting the Wolf-thing. Upon seeing the one foe taking severe damage, Gi’ Kar quickly changed targets and focused his efforts on the same Wolf-thing that Bingo was attacking. It was only a matter of a few moments, and Bingo was able to deliver the finishing move on Wolf-thing number 1.

Upon defeating the first Wolf-thing, Bingo and Gi’ Kar were able to turn a unified front on the remaining two enemies. Both of whom went down without much effort, and no serious injuries to Bingo nor Gi’ Kar.

While Bingo and Gi’ Kar were mopping up the last of the beasts, Aquila took the opportunity to try and Divine what had happened to the child. Feeling the child’s shirt and uttering the new word of Power he had been taught in a dream the previous night, the following vision unfolded:

Darkness - utter darkness. Blinding light - so bright it hurts the eyes. The child is unconscious on the rocky ground. She awakens and hears the sounds of hungry Kep Hounds. She is frightened and runs from them. She finds a cave to hide in, but the Kep Hounds know where she is. They circle around the entrance (now blocked by a boulder). They growl and dig - trying to get in. They are unable to. Days pass and the girl stays hidden in the cave. Frightened and fatigued she eventually leaves the safety of the cave and runs. She seems to pick a direction at random and changes direction frequently. She is unable to find food. More days pass and the sounds of Kep Hounds are heard again. She runs faster and climbs a tree. The Kep Hounds find her, but are unable to get her from the tree. They leave. Too weak to hold on any longer, she falls to the ground and curls up on a fetal position. She cries. She is exhausted and passes out. She wakes up and cries some more - there are other sounds, something is approaching - it is a Seraph…

As Aquila makes his way back to the campsite, he finds the other foes defeated and Bingo and Gi’ Kar surveying the scene of the battle. They all hear something - not too far distant. It was a Necrogoblin fleeing the scene. Gi’ Kar ran after it and easily took its head from its shoulders.
While Bingo and Gi’ Kar were collecting the bodies of the completely dead things, Aquila thought it might be interesting to see the history of his Armor - he laid his hands up on his Armor and uttered the word for Divining. A different flash occurred this time, however. A blast of hot air, so hot it turned the ground to glass in its passing, passed between Bingo and Gi’ Kar - doing neither one any damage but startling them nonetheless.

Once the bodies were collected they ensured that all the heads were removed from the bodies and dismembered them as much as possible.

That task complete, it was time to discuss the girl. Gi’ Kar was all for eating her. This notion apalled the other two who felt that she needed to be protected and she should accompany them. After some considerable debate, Gi’ Kar acquiesced, but put the responsibility for caring for her firmly on the shoulders of Aquila.

They broke camp early the next day and proceeded on their way.

Several, uneventful days passed, however, after three nights, they were beset up on by Another Wolf-Thing and a Necrogoblins. The attack occurred on Bingo’s watch - and he was alerted by the screaming of a Wolf-Thing charging him. Bingo woke the others and prepared to plant his spear for the charging, hulking shape of the Wolf-thing - however, there was no spear in his hand. Instead it was his scimitar! Amazed, Bingo nearly missed the charging beast. Gi’ Kar was quicker and more able with his weapon this time - he dispatched the Wolf-thing in one blow, beheading the beast. Aquila took to the air and unleashed an arrow that hit the Necrogoblin in the neck - killing it.

As he was about to land, Aquila spied another necrogoblin fleeing the scene here as well. He took after it to prevent that from happening. He landed and was preparing to attack it, but was caught off guard by how quickly it reacted. He was struck by a blow that broke the skin. Within seconds, he felt his limbs becoming unresponsive and stiff. Fortunately, Gi’ Kar was able to remove the head from the necrogoblin before it could do any more damage to Aquila.

With the last of the necrogoblins dispatched, quiet settled on the camp once again. Fearing attracting attention, Bingo and Gi’ Kar quietly removed the heads from all the creatures.

The next day, the heroes arrived at a 20′ wall, atop which were two Gru’ Dwari guards. The heroes had arrived at the village of the Kon’ Te Kel’.

This session started out with the opening of a chest. Bingo, ever the curious one, immediately went to open the chest with no thoughts for traps. Much to Bingo’s detriment, on this chest, there was a trap. It was something I had come up with on the spur of the moment and thought it would make a nice addition. Unfortunately, it was a bit more potent than I had wanted and intended… It would have dealt a deadly blow, but considering that this gauntlet was a test that was set up by others much further in the past, the magical trap only dealt non-lethal damage. I will need to remember not to use those traps in the future (unless I am prepared to deal with a potential PC death).

The Treasure:

• The History of Sarkil ‘Kai - an ancient book bound in leather
• Sah Mor ‘Tak - a suit of chain mail that appears to have been crafted for a Seraph
• The Right Hand of Korem Dai - a gauntlet that is etched with runes and covers the entire forearm of the right arm
• ‘Tan Shai Kim - a finely crafted katana with runes and other decorative etchings on the blade
• Dea’ Com Dai - a finely crafted katana with only one single rune etched on the blade
• Ring of the War Chief (5) - silver rings etched with runes
• Crystal of Car’ Mehl (5) - A quartz like crystal suspended horizontally from a leather cord

As Bingo was going through the treasure, he passed by the stuff that wasn’t interesting to him rather quickly. The book was quickly passed back, the Chain Mail appeared to be broken (because of the slits in the shoulder blades), the katana that he picked up shocked him so badly, he had to put it down. Finally, he landed on the Gauntlet (although, he did try to pick up the katana again).

Gi ‘Kar immediately chose a katana, Mykal was enthralled by the book and Aquila was interested in the chain mail.

Bingo also passed around a ring of the War Chief to everyone, and upon placing the ring on their fingers, the ring “absorbed” into their skin and a new Tattoo appeared on the nape of their necks. Each person was also handed a Crystal of Car’ Mehl.

The room looted, there was nothing left to do, but leave via the only door available - which happened to take them back to the room with the “map” on the wall and the dias in the center. Only this time, they entered the room from the west wall and the spirit entered the room again, from the East wall, this time.

The Spirit gave the following message:

You have survived the Gauntlet and are better prepared for the work ahead of you. Each of you carries a shard of the Crystal of Car’ Mehl. This shard will return you to this sanctuary instantly when needed. To return, you have but to simply hold the crystal in your hand and utter the words “Korum Hai”.

You are the saviors of Koreb, you must prepare the people for the burning which is to come shortly. Already, the forces of evil begin to spread abroad. You must hurry if you are to save the blood of Tun’ Rheal - Azvantus will be upon them shortly. Hurry, for Azvantus must not be allowed to destroy Tun’ Reahl!

After the Spirit’s departure for the second, the door leading to the stairs reappeared, and the four adventurers were able to make their way back to the cave - whereupon they discovered the fifth member of the group - Kan’ Vi’ Don Lu. Kan’ Vi’ Don Lu is a Sol’ Kal Lobite with an ill-temper. Kan’ Vi’ had had a bad few days prior to him being selected for the Bonding Year, and the bad days didn’t stop there, either.

Despite the poor disposition, the rest of the group accepted him rather graciously (for which I am thankful). After introductions were made, the group relayed the information of their quest to Kan’ Vi’, and the group departed the cave on its way to the mountains. The trip was fairly uneventful for the first week and most of the second week of travel. However, with only a day or so left before they would exit the Dune Sea, they encountered a Dune Worm!

Dune Worms are massive creatures that “swim” through the Dune Sea and hunt by vibration. They are generally found near the borders of the Dune Sea, as that is where most of the available food is - however, Dune Worms have been spotted further in the Dune Sea upon occasion. Surprisingly, the group was able to get to an “island” of rock and made quick work of the Worm. The party suffered no injuries.

A few days later, the Bonds-brothers were out of the Dune sea and began the ascent of Mount Kel’ Sai - a barren rocky mountain with sparse shrubs and scraggly trees. A few days into the climb the group came up on a bluff overlooking a large valley. As they crept closer to the cliff, they were able to see the valley filled with an army that was terrible to behold. Many of the men, if they could be called men, appeared to be shambling and many were completely stripped of flesh. This horrible army was about the work of an army - scavenging anything and everything to produce weapons. There were forges burning and the ringing the hammers on steel could be heard, even at this distance. The army seemed to spread throughout many of the smaller valleys as well.

With a sense of foreboding, the band of brothers decided it would be smarter to skirt quietly around this massive force of destruction. As they backed away from the cliff they were assaulted by two men that were more gray than is natural for a Kaa’ Jah Kushan (which both appeared to be). They moved slowly and appeared to be rotting. Neither spoke, nor made a sound as the moved in for the kill.

Immediately the group took to arms and the fight commenced. The three Lobites unleashed with a fury of melee attacks that should have easily dispatched any normal foe - but these two seemed to take it in stride, never uttering a sound, even as blows fell that should have cleft head from shoulders. The other members of the party had similar results as well, every blow that seemed it should have taken an enemy to the earth, only served to slow it for a moment. The battle seemed to rage on for hours, but in reality, it was only a few minutes and many of the bonds-brothers were considering retreat when in a moment of desperation, Aquila grabbed one of the gray-men in a headlock in preparation to take to the air to drop it. As Aquila completed the head-lock, the gray-man let out a terrible scream of pain and rage. Quick on the uptake, Bingo (followed by the Lobites) immediately grappled the other gray-man. Within moments, the gray-men were both…more dead and unmoving than before.

While both of these foes were difficult to put down, neither seemed overly capable of doing much more than causing scrapes and bruises to the bonds-brothers and all walked from that fight with no serious injuries.

With the day wearing on, the party decided to move as far northward as possible from the army in the valley and found a place to make camp.

I must thank Amy for her kindness in drawing the images of the amulets for me.  I gave her some basic concepts to work with and she took the ball and ran with it - creating the images used for the amulets.

I think she did a great job, especially considering the crap I gave her to work with.

Thanks Amy!

After dispatching the mummies, the party was joined the fourth member of the Bonding - Mykal. Quick introductions were made and then the characters proceeded to the next room - a room identical to the previous room, except that there were six animated suits of armor. These suits of armor hovered above the ground and were only the upper portion of a suit of Plate - including an enclosed helmet. The armor was black with spikes protruding from the shoulders and elbows.

Aquila was quick to discover the weakness of this encounter (called shots to the neck/head seemed to dispatch them quickly), and Bingo picked up on that right away.

The Treasure:

• Amulet of Ver ‘Foor (3)
• Bingo is wearing one of these

• Charm of Skoren (3)
• Bingo is wearing one of these

Gi’ Kar, ever the one to get moving, proceeded to the next room where there were three Minotaurs. Sizing them up quickly, Gi’ Kar decided to attack the leader - impaling him against the wall with his spear (if it wasn’t for a benny, this blow would have killed this Wild Card Minotaur). The Minotaur extracted himself from the wall and proceeded to prove a challenge to the group. The other minotaurs went down fairly quickly, however, they did extract their price in blood (especially from Aquila).  Through wonderful teamwork, however, the heroes were successful in dispatching the final Minotaur.

Once the threat was taken care of, Aquila proceeded to heal the wounded in the party (having miraculously healing himself) and the party was about to open a chest that was in this room.

These are the GM’s notes from the first game - these are being captured here to help me remember certain things and correct anything that may have happened during the game that should not, etc… This will serve to store important information that the characters may want to remember for future games…

The Bonding

The adventure began at the Oasis of Ver’Dun - one of the most propsperous and lush oases on Orb. A week of The Gathering had already transpired, and this was just the next portion of The Gathering.

The bonding ceremony was conducted via lottery, by the Elders. There were two chosen that did not step forward. This annoyed the Elders (the insolence of the youth), however, the Elders mentioned that they would be found and dealt with - they would take part in the Bonding Year one way or another.

The names of those selected for the Bonding Year are:

• Aquila (a Seraph of Clan …)
• Bingo Pajama (a Sol’ Kal of Clan K’toneh Tah)
• Gi’ Kal (a Sol’ Kal of Clan …)
• Kan’ Vi’ Don Lu (a Sol’ Kalof Clan Anch’udran)
• Mykal (a Kaa’ Jah Kushan of Clan Sarkil ‘Kai)

Once the drawing was complete, those that were present were led away to be bonded. They were taken to a Marker (a mute shaman) who tatooed each hero on the left side of the neck. The tattoo was created with molten gold and precious gems. The pain was exquisite, but not unbearable (curiously enough). The end result is a metalic tattoo that has glassy color (from the precious gems - rubies, emeralds, sapphires, etc). The pattern is unique to the participants of the Bonding Year, but all participants bear the exact same tattoo). As other members were tattooed, they became “aware” of one another (they received the Common Bond Edge for free).

Kan’ Vi’ Don Lu and Mykal received the same tattoo once they were located and reprimanded. They also were able to “feel” the others.

Correction for consistency: The Marker is mute. In the game, Bingo made a comment and the Marker responded verbally - in actuality, he did not respond, but merely chuckled to himself…sorry for going out of character for a minute…

After the tattooing, the heroes participated in a “feast” - as Bingo pointed out more ceremony than feast, but it was to serve the purpose of allowing the heroes to learn to trust one another and serve one another. The ceremony (which we didn’t go into a lot of detail in the game) were mainly serving and feeding one another. There were also blessing bestowed by the elders. While the two that were missing were not able to participate in this, they had their own feast with the Elders where they were able to receive their blessings from the Elders and admonition as well.

The Quest

The Bonders were advised that they must travel to Mount Kel’ Sai, because the tribe Kon’ Te Kel’ has not been seen for several gatherings and no other tribe has information regarding this tribe. The Kon’ Te Kel’ are primarily Gru’Dwar and are responsible for most of the fine steel produced (including the firearms that have recently been invented). This concerns the Council greatly. The Bonders are to travel across Kim-Seth (the Dune Sea) to arrive at Kel’ Sai as quickly as possible.

While traveling, a great Keevah (sand storm) came up, forcing the three heroes to seek refuge in a cave. It immediately became apparent (at least to Bingo) that the cave wasn’t an ordinary cave - there were stairs leading down…

Bingo, ever curious, decided it was a good idea to investigate and the others agreed and followed.

The Ghost and his Message

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a door - as the heroes entered the room, the door closed and disappeared. The room was roughly square with a small dias in the center. On one wall was a large mosaic of what is assumed to be Orb. The landscape was slightly different than what is known, and their were indications of where rivers should be, but aren’t.

As the heroes were looking around the room, a ghostly apparition walked out of a wall, and onto the dias. He then turned and addressed the heroes:

Welcome heroes of Koreb. I have waited for this day a very long time. Your coming was foretold long ago.

Unfortunately, the time is close that Koreb will be bathed in fire and conflict. In preparation for that day, you have been prepared and now it is time for the refiners fire for the final preparations.

You have been called and prepared to unite all the people for the Battle of Ka’ Dhuum is approaching. All the people must be united under the banner of Tun’ Reahl if there is to be a glimmer of hope.

The true blood of Tun’ Reahl is found in the mountains of Tar’ Kahn. You will need to hurry, for if you don’t the lineage will be cut short and Koreb is lost. The sorcerer Azvantus is already marching on Tun’ Reahl and his army is vast and grows daily. He must not be allowed to destroy the line of Tun’ Reahl!

From this point forward, there is no coincidence for you - only consequences and trial. Good luck and shade to you!

Following the delivery of the message, the ghost disappeared. At that point, and upon further inspection of the mosaic, it became apparent that the mountains of Tar’ Kahn are very close to (if not the same mountains as) Kel’ Sai. There was also a large black “blob” with tentacles that seemed to be reaching out toward Tar’ Kahn/Kel’ Sai.

The Gauntlet

While Bingo and Aquila were investigating the room, Gi’Kal felt the urge to press forward - there was a door opposite where the first door was… The others didn’t notice he was gone until they heard the familiar click of a door shutting and disappearing. They then followed after Gi’Kal and found themselves in a room with four mummies.

The battle was intense with Aquila suffering two wounds. The only other injuries were suffered by the mummies.

The Treasure:

• The Torc of Ken Al’ Aziz (provides a two step increase to the wearer’s Spirit)
• Te’ Nacus - a finely crafted Scimitar

To Be Continued…

The Legends or Orb marks a change in my GMing style - to some degree or extent anyway.  In none of my other games that I GM’d have I had an overarching story idea that I wanted to tell.  With Orb, I have an idea of where things are going to go.  I’m not sure of all the minor sub-plots, but with this setting, there is an epic tale to be told.

I’m also trying to take a more collaborative approach to Orb.  I want to give the players as much free reign with their characters as possible.  Several years ago I was playing in a game where my brother was the DM.  He literally ran with just about everything we came up with.  If our characters told a story about a some legend - that legend took on a life as part of the adventure - it became relevant and real to ALL inhabitants of the world.  As a result of that I took a much greater interest in the world itself.  He did this, even for goofy things that we may have mentioned.  Fortunately, the world itself was a bit on the silly side, so it was easier.  I want to do this, but I will work to keep the feel of the world while incorporating as many of their ideas as possible.

With that being said, welcome to the world Orb.  I hope you enjoy your visit as much as I am enjoying creating the world.