MA summer of 2010 continues

Here is a short write up of the 3rd play session:

The party has waited 5 full days in the village resting. They decide to go and seek the party that went East. The doorway to "Heaven" interests them; they believe the lost group may have headed there.

Rayquan takes the lead and the group head east through the woods. During the noon lunch break they are hailed by a "voice from the trees" ! Looking around they see a male and female Orlen with hands outstretched. The male "speaks" without moving his lips!!! After a few minutes of talking Rayquan realizes the Orlens are telepathic!
The Orlens are called Rjakis (male), Dymemne (female). They have come to this land by way of the Sky Column and the "moving room". They have come in search of aid because their land is suffering from longer "night cycles". Their home is called "LevulWhon" and is made of Halls & Rooms.
The group believes the Orlens are from an underground bunker. They ask the Orlens to join them in a search for the missing party and then they will help the Orlens with their problem. The Orlens agree and the group continues east. As camp is being made for the night Rayquan, Xen and Buckstar realize the map of "ward" they have is off. Distances are wrong, etc. But hey what do you expect from a hand drawn map that is over 50years old. The group is wary of the "Blighted wood" shown to be on the other side of the grasslands that lie just beyond their own woods.
Rayquan and Rjakis are on 3rd watch as the sun rises when a cackling noise alerts them to a large silent spider grasping and dragging of Xen! "Blakun!" cries Rayquan and the rest of the group awakens! Rayquan attempts a mind blast and discovers it is useless on the spider! Rjakis fires an arrow (1pt dmg). Buckstar gives chase and fires his Slug Projector! Blowing a leg off! Sabetha follows up with a shot from a paralytic Dart thrower! Hit! Spider is stunned for 3 rounds! (amarillo now called Hindenburg) charges the stunned spider and mauls it to death with a claw attack! Xen is roused and a search for the Blackun's lair is done.
A large web in the trees is found as well as a man-sized cocoon! This is opened carefully with the hope of finding a tribesman. A tribeswoman "Jafria" is found but very dead, clutched tightly in her hand is a "strange item" (gray ID card, engineering), also found is a portable stove (works!), a zippo lighter ( few charges left), and a case of 9 bottles of synthinol WOOHOO!
The group leaves the forest and heads east across the open fields of grasslands. Around midday they come upon the body of another tribesman "Jolo". Though wrapped in bloody bandages his wounds were grave and he died here. The party decides to stay on the outskirts of the Blighted wood and head SE towards the doorway to Heaven.

So ends Session 3.

SESSION 4
 The night passes by uneventful, strange glowing wispy lights are seen in the Blighted wood! Morning comes and the party sets out east:
Buckstar - pure human
Sabetha - mutated bipedal cat girl
Hindenburg - mutated armadillo
Rayquan Photomat - mutant human
Xen - Synthetic

2 NPC friends - Rjakis & Dymemne the Orlen couple. In MA1e these would be Humanoid #5 in the creature listings.

They reach the Doorway around noon, it looks like a metal archway with a door in it sitting in the middle of the grassland maybe a 1/4 mile south of the Blighted Wood. A few miles in the distance beyond the arched doorway they see the crystal spires of what can only be a "city" of the Ancients! Xen decides to bypass the Arch and head out across the grasslands to the city. "I want to meet the Gods" he says! Rayquan and the rest of the group gather in front of the "door to Heaven" and Rayquan knocks on it!. At this point Xen discovers there is an invisible barrier preventing him from traveling past the "doorway" to the city beyond! "There must be a test, before we meet the Ancients." says Rayquan.
Taking a closer look at the Archway the group sees it is quite overgrown by a patch of vines. Rayquan steps forward to pull them away from the doorway and is promptly ATTACKED! A poisonous "grabber" vine! wraps itself about his arms! Fail save vs. Poison! Paralysis sets in!Sabetha's plant phobia kicks in and she runs off, Buckstar draws forth his powerful "Sunsword" and slices Rayquan free and drags him away from the vines! Hindenburg rushes up and swiftly tears the remaining "grabber" vines to shreds with her claws! The main body of the "grabber remains perched atop the Arch a few vines quivering! Xen takes the "zippo" from Rayquan and lights a ball of dried grass weed he has impaled on the end of his spear and uses this to burn the mutant plant! Sabetha returns once the plant is dead.
A few minutes later Rayquan is feeling better and the group studies the Archway in depth. The discover a small rectangular slot on the right side. Rayquan asks Buckstar for the Gray card they found on Jafria. Buckstar steps up and slides it into the slot......
A low humming sound emanates from the arch and the door begins to open, at first it is pitch black beyond... the group as a whole leans forward peering into the blackness. . . when . . bzzz . .click! They are all momentarily blinded by the bright white light of Heaven! Blinking they see a stark white entry hall with a small doorway leading to a second chamber which itself contains a doorway to a third chamber which from there they see a closed doorway seemingly made of white light! A soft melodious voice beckons them inward! They decide as a whole to enter the white hall!
The doorway to Heaven closes behind them and the entire group crowds the 10x10 first chamber. Hindenburg notices that a body lies just inside the doorway in the 2nd chamber and peeks in to look at it, meanwhile Xen has discovered a talking/vision wall on the left hand side of the 1st chamber. He sees a woman that begins to beckon to the party and regale them with the wonders of the "Sohni kroncom!" Buckstar realizes there is a matching vision wall on the right side and touches it! It blazes to life showing a scene of the Ancients in all their glory moving about a vast chamber carrying backpacks and getting inside cylinders that rise into the sky! Xen, now sees a man drinking from a red cylinder and smiling! Rayquan cries out, as the vision wall before Buckstar changes to show the flying cylinder in a night sky meeting a "Shut-tal"! Rayquan says perhaps the "Shut-tal" is the true way to meet the Ancients and this is the way to get to it! everyone is very excited when Hindenburg reveals the body from the next room! It is another of their missing tribesmen, his name is Jale an orange haired mutant of superior strength. He is cold, and dead at least a few days. There however is no sign of wounding upon him. It is decided that Buckstar should see if the Door can be reopened to the Ward and Jales body is placed outside in the grass. This completed and the 1st chamber sealed again the group as a whole steps through the inner doorway into chamber 2. A crystal blue door slides down blocking their retreat back into the 1st chamber. A vision wall comes to life in here showing strange symbols and lights, even Xen says he really doesn't "get" what they mean. A soft melodious male voice talks for a moment and then everyone feels tingly all over! They decide to move into the 3rd and last chamber and check the doorway of white light. Upon the group entering this last room a door seals them off from chamber 2. The door of light seems to be a clear door lit from the other side and nothing can be seen beyond! However in this 3rd chamber hanging from racks to the left and right are silver suits of the Ancients! "Shut-tal Pihlott" cries Rayquan! and begins to take off his buckskins in favour of the silver garment! He cuts a hole in it for his tail, Xen, Buckstar, and Sabetha follow suit! The Orlen couple remark that they have never been in a place like this before! A stern womans voice is heard in the room and the lights go all Red! after about ten seconds the lights go Yellow! everyone is very nervous! "the ancients have been angered!" says Xen. Then the lights go Green, the white light beyond the door goes out! there is a loud hissing noise, the room starts to become very cold! As the door slides up and utter blackness is revealed beyond at the same time as explosive decompression takes the group by surprise!!!!!


Save vs. DEATH all around! Those who make it have grabbed something to keep from being sucked out, failures are going out the door! Those who made it are allowed a d20 roll equal to or less than Dex to grab someone who is going out the door! Clatter! Clatter!

Rjakis and Dymemne, as well as Buckstar fling off into the void! All the while Xen and Hindenburg have activated their greater forcefield mutations in hopes it will save what remains of the party! Rayquan makes an Int roll for his studies of the ancient "Shut-Tal" manuals back in the village and finds a red lever behind a small panel that he pulls on and causes the Door to heaven to close! The remaining 4 party members have suffered 2d10 dmg apiece as well as the loss anywhere from 1-3 CON points! But they live! all the doors open behind them and they scramble madly to the original entry when Rayquan realizes "Aw crap! Buckstar had the gray card key to get in here!" Xen shoots the door with his slug projector and merely scratches the paint! Rayquan ask him to shoot the wall where the Key would go. Doing so makes a hole and reveals wires and sparking circuitry! Rayquan starts jamming a spear in there in hopes to short out the door! after a few moments the Main doors do open about 2 inches and the sunlight from the Ward and the grassland can be seen! An enraged Hindenburg pushes through and with a feat of strength forces the doors open! As the group tumble out onto the grass they look up to see 4 bipedal sword armed cat-men growling at them! Sabetha steps forward and assures them the party mean no harm and want only to get away from here! The reaction roll is favorable and the cat-men allow them to leave.
As a whole the party decides to head home report what they have found, heal up and then make a trip to the Sky column to try to locate the village or Rjakis & Dymemne and let them know what became of them.

so end session 4

MORE GAME BACKGROUND:
 So the game Thurs night July 1st ended up being cancelled, which in a way was good. It will allow me some time to work on the areas they may be entering next; most notably where does the Sky Column allow you to go? Well they know from Rjakis & Dymemne that they came out of a "moving room" from within the Sky Column, and that their land was known as "Levuhl-whon".

I have decided that each dome is an approx. 25-30 mile diameter. There is an emergency airlock (as the group has encountered as the Doorway to Heaven). There is another doorway (Doorway to Hell, on players map) that will lead to a jump tube that will take them to level 13-14 of the Warden. Also the dome itself has 3 other major areas. Level 1: this area is in the base of the dome directly beneath the environment level it contains labs, living quarters, storage and other amenities that would have been used by the scientists, techs, laborers & robots that would have worked in the Forest Dome. I am going to use the map from Barrier Peaks of Level I as a guide for myself for the layout of this area. So far I have in my head that they will meet the other peaceful Orlens of Level 1, as well as the twisted Vegypygmies! the now intelligent mutated hydroponics plants!!!
Level 2 of the dome will contain the magnetic rail trains/ travel tubes (Space 1999) that connect back to the Warden as well as to other Domes.
Lastly there is the a maintenance are at the top of the dome, Kinda like a low attic space with all the tubes pipes wiring etc. for the Holographic dome interior, simulated weather machinery, etc. Alot of this stuff is OLD and brittle, lots of danger of possibly irrepairbly harming or even destroying the Dome here!

Well more to come soon!

P.S. watch Space1999 episode: Mission of the Darians for a great MA influenced treat!