Author: Séa

The Great Dragon of the Realm was awake and terrorizing the local villagers and had been all week. All that lumbering, roaring, screaming, and crunching had also awoken the Great Dragon of the Island and the Great Dragon of the Woods. All three Great Dragons were hungry, cranky, and running low on snack foods. The villages were becoming severely underpopulated and condiments were in short supply.

Ace fled to the Field of Destiny, dragging the Scribe behind him. In their haste, the Scribe lost both her quill and her scroll. But still Ace was hoping to find others brave enough to face the Great Dragons and drive them back into their lairs to slumber again, even if their heroic tale would never be told, or at least not told accurately.

When they reached the Field of Destiny, they found the fearless Dark Knight and a new companion were already there gathering forces for the coming battle. Soon their hearts soared as an Assassin and a Swordfighter came charging over the hill. Then their hearts quailed as they feared the two were running from a Dragon. Fortunately, they were not. And so they all hid under the trees together, hatching a plan.

The first order of business was to recruit more brave heroes unafraid to face the Great Dragons. A great shout went out across the interdimensional communications network, and soon six more brave adventurers arrived at the Field of Destiny. The Scribe scratched their names into the dirt, but the record was later obliterated in the battles.

The battle plan was simple: divide and conquer. So the band of heroes divided into three conquering forces. Working together and independently, the adventurers tracked the Great Dragons to the Mystical Isle and attacked. After a long battle, in which many died and many were revived, the heroes managed to trap all of the Great Dragons in their lairs and seal them in for another centuries-long slumber.

Then Lord Maul, seeing that the Resistance had once again gained the upper hand, seized all their minds, and the heroes began to fight each other. The resulting epic skirmish so frightened the Scribe that she went to find a sandwich, so that’s all of the story that is known.

With the help of their new giant friends, the adventurers have been busy hunting down and eradicating the minions of Lord Maul. The decimation of his Maul Corp legion has enraged the evil master, and so he has reached out to his ally, Death, and together they have hatched a most evil plan to destroy all the heroes of this dimension and secure them for the legions of Death. Now Death walks the prairies, the woods, the fields, even the waters of Dragonwood.

The adventurers have an advantage though. Death has entered this dimension by taking possession of his great24-grandson, Ace, who is one of their own number and one who they know how to free from the grip of Death. Without a body to possess, Death will be sucked back into his own realm. To free Ace, the heroes must find his half-brother, Spade. Eleven heroes gather at the Field of Destiny to discuss their current problem: Spade has gone missing.

Without warning, three adventurers succumbed instantly to a Heat Curse. Their limbs were rendered boneless, so their fellow heroes left them flopping in the shade of an inhabited tree with the promise of the tree spirit to watch over them and nurse them back to health by regrowing their bones from the tree’s roots.

Having settled their fallen companions, one of the heroes revealed that they had heard tales of Spade being seen near Decision Point, and so armed with a map of the realm, the remaining eight adventurers set off to find Spade, with Death close on their heels.

When the adventurers reached Decision Point, they found no sign of Spade, but a wandering wizard was there. This wandering wizard offered to scry for Spade’s current location. While the heroes were negotiating terms with the wandering wizard, Death fell upon them! Though Death was fearsome and armed with his Spear of Souls, the heroes were heroic and skilled in battle. Also, one of the heroes had wisely stocked up on holy water bullets, and thus Death was swiftly defeated. Death faded into the ground back towards Hades.

The heroes returned their attention to the wandering wizard who pulled out his scrying bowl and gazed within it. The wizard told the heroes that Spade would soon be at the World Tree.

Death, however, had quickly recouped his strength and he rose again before the adventurers could continue on their journey. The combined efforts of the eight heroes with the talents of the wandering wizard soon drove Death back to his knees. While he was recovering, the adventurers took their chance and fled toward the World Tree in hopes of soon finding Spade.

Death soon followed. But at the World Tree, the wandering wizard created an illusionary wall obscuring both it and the adventurers from Death, and so Death walked on by.

Soon Death realized that the adventurers were no longer in front of him, so he turned back and soon spotted the adventurers dashing through the illusionary wall and running back towards Decision Point. He followed swiftly intending to bring all eight to his side, but he soon found out those adventurers were just an illusion for they all walked into the water and then disappeared.

Meanwhile, the real adventurers had failed to find Spade at the World Tree, and the wandering wizard had looked again into his scrying bowl to reveal that Spade was now on his way to visit Valhalla. Unfortunately, while at the World Tree, yet another hero was felled by a heat curse. This hero was tucked under the tree with the promise of the Guardian to keep him safe until his bones regrew. The heroes then stepped out from behind the illusionary wall and began their travels to the rainbow bridge to ask passage to Valhalla.

Meanwhile Death, deeply angered to have been so fooled, rushed back towards the World Tree where he began to trace the scent of their souls on their journey to Valhalla. Valhalla is a realm where Death may enter at any time, but there was no need for once again, the heroes found that Spade had moved on and was heading toward Kattyswampus. Death fell upon the heroes as they were exiting via the Rainbow Bridge. Finding himself outnumbered and facing some of the bravest heroes there were, Death was swiftly defeated again.

The heroes then foolishly took too long to gather their spent ammo and their thoughts and so Death rose again and fell upon them as the approached Kattyswampus. Before the heroes could take action to defend themselves, Death was dragged into Kattyswampus by one of the killer Kattails. Death was not amused. However, he was pleased to see that two of the adventurers had also been dragged under by the Kattails for he knew that he would rise again but their souls would soon be joining his army.

When Death arose, he was surprised to be greeted by a lost soul asking for safe passage to the underworld. This was a delightful turn of events, so Death personally escorted him there.

Meanwhile, following the scrying advice of the wandering wizard, the remaining five adventurers managed to reach the Elven Hideaway. There, much to everyone surprise, the wandering wizard revealed that he was Spade and that their journey had been a test of their worth to help him on his quest to save his half-brother Ace and all of Dragonwood from Death. Also, he needed stuff.

Spade asked the heroes to help him find five magical artifacts so that he could perform the ritual necessary to cast Death from the realm.

The adventurers quickly agreed, and Spade now used the scrying bowl for real to reveal the location of the Ever-Flowing Mug. The adventurers then rushed to the Portal, where they searched for and found the needed artifact. Death was nowhere to be seen. He was too busy giving a tour of his own realm.

Spade looked again into the scrying bowl, and the adventurers set off for Vagabond Nest to find the Heart of the Crystal Giant. At Werewolf Way, Death fell upon them again for he had finished his grand tour of Hades. Fortunately, close at Death’s heels was yet another brave adventurer, and so the six heroes swiftly defeated Death. The adventurers left him disabled and rushed to Vagabond nest, but Death recovered quickly and soon caught up with them. However, Death was feeling a bit woozy by this point, and he was defeated so quickly he wasn’t even sure how it happened.

The adventurers collected the magic artifact, Spade quickly scryed where the next could be found, and then as he touched the Heart of the Crystal Giant, he released its curse upon them all. Now they moved as if swimming through honey. Fortunately, Death was also hit with this curse. The chase was now continued at a walk, a very slow walk.

Slowly, the adventures reached the Invisible Mill, slowly Death followed, slowly they searched for and found the Dagger of Destiny. Slowly, they pulled it from the ground.

Death walked on by. The adventures walked after him.
When they finally reached the Everchanging Artifact, the adventurers paused to retrieve the Shard of the Sun and then walked slowly to the Field of Destiny where Death was found resting.

Spade procured the last artifact needed for his ritual, a Soul of a Fallen Warrior. Spade used the soul to resurrect the warrior, as the Crystal Giant’s curse lifted. The adventures then defeated Death for a final time. Their newest member was skilled at casting water spells, so a weakened Death was quickly disabled. While Death was down, Spade cast his spell, and Death was banished from the realm.

With the help of their new giant friends, the adventurers have been busy hunting down and eradicating the minions of Lord Maul. The decimation of his Maul Corp legion has enraged the evil master, and so he has reached out to his ally, Death, and together they have hatched a most evil plan to destroy all the heroes of this dimension and secure them for the legions of Death. Now Death walks the prairies, the woods, the fields, even the waters of Dragonwood.

The adventurers have an advantage though. Death has entered this dimension by taking possession of his great²⁴-grandson, Ace, who is one of their own number and one who they know how to free from the grip of Death. Without a body to possess, Death will be sucked back into his own realm. To free Ace, the heroes must find his half-brother, Spade. This is their current problem, for Spade has gone missing. But they have heard tales of Spade being seen near Decision Point, and so armed with a map, they set off to find him with Death close on their heels.

Death will be close on their heels the entire time, so he may engage them in battle at any point that he catches up with them. While Death cannot die, Death can only take 6 hits before needing to rest to recover. It takes Death a mere 15 seconds to do so, but if he receives another 6 hits that same day, it will take him 30 seconds to recover. If he receives yet another 6 hits, it will take him 45 seconds to recover, and so on and so forth. Because Death has taken the body of the quarter-Phoenix-quarter-dragon Ace, he is also immune to fire and heat, but he is extra susceptible to water and cold. Cold will slow him down for 10 seconds and the use of water doubles any damage done. He can breathe fireballs (sock bombs) and those have an explosion radius of 1 yard (which is a 6-foot diameter) and their damaging heat will pass through any shield. Fireballs deal 2 damage 5 seconds apart (that is, first damage, 5 seconds, second damage).

If in their quest, all of the adventurers should die, the Guardian of the World Tree has agreed to revive them. They will respawn at the last location they searched for Spade, while Death will be cast back to the one before that with his respawn time will be reset to 15 seconds.

Post-LARP Addendum

Storyteller’s Notes for the Wandering Wizard

At Decision Point, the adventurers will not find Spade but will be met by a Wandering Wizard who approaches with news of Spade’s whereabouts. The Wandering Wizard tells the adventurers that Spade is at the World Tree, but they must move quickly as Death is following them.

The Wandering Wizard offers to travel with the adventurers. He may join them in their battle to help them defeat Death. Water spells deal double damage to Death, but if the WANDERING WIZARD casts a water spell, he himself takes 1 damage. If the Wandering Wizard casts a cold spell, he is unable to run or move quickly but can only walk or move slowly for 10 seconds.

Upon reaching the World Tree, the adventurers will discover that Spade has moved on ahead of them again. The Wandering Wizard will scry his next location.

Upon arriving at the Elven Hideaway, the Wandering Wizard will reveal himself to be Spade in disguise. Telling the adventurers that they have proved their worth as loyal friends of Ace, Spade tells the adventurers that he needs their help to gather 5 magical artifacts to drive Death from Ace.

Upon returning to the Field of Destiny, Spade will collect the soul of a fallen warrior. The adventurers must have disabled Death enough times for his regeneration to be at least 1 minute long. Then the adventurers must then once again defeat Death, and while Death is still reviving, Spade must assemble all five artifacts and chant his spell and then Death will leave Ace and all will be well.

This is the path on which the WANDERING WIZARD/SPADE shall guide the adventurers in their search for Spade.

• 1. Decision Point (the intersection of East Circling Path, South Circling Path and Shimmering Alley, and the Somber Footbridge)
  2. East Circling Path (or better yet, the as yet unnamed dirt path that runs between the East Circling Path and Silver Lake)
  3. The World Tree (scrying)
  4. East Circling Path past Dragon’s Way
  5. Dragons’ Smorgasbord (scrying)
  6. East Circling Path
  7. The Crossroads
  8. Last Circling Path
  9. Valhalla (scrying)
  10. Last Circling Path
  11. Kattyswampus (scrying)
  12. Hidden Way
  13. Ent Graveyard (scrying)
  14. Elven Hideaway (revelation)
  15. Hidden Way
  16. Last Circling Path
  17. Portal (Ever Flowing Mug)
  18. North Circling Path
  19. Vagabond Nest (Heart of a Crystal Giant)
  20. North Circling Path
  21. Invisible Mill (Dagger of Destiny)
  22. West Circling Path
  23. South Circling Path
  24. Everchanging Artifact (Shard of the Sun)
  25. South Circling Path
  26. Decision Point
  27. Field of Destiny (Soul of a Fallen Warrior)

Supplies for Death and the wandering wizard:

• • maps of the Realm of the Silver Elves
  • scrying bowl for the wandering wizard
  • 4 magical artifacts (Ever Flowing Mug, Heart of a Crystal Giant, Dagger of Destiny, Shard of the Sun)
  • 1 soul of a fallen warrior
  • firebombs for Death

“Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms…” — Monty Python, “No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition”

Since that dreadful day when Lord Maul opened the portal to the other dimension, the heroes have been waiting for a chance to strike back against Lord Maul and his evil Maul Corp. Due to disagreements within the heroes, four of them have left the group to form another alliance elsewhere. There were only seven heroes left to stand against the Maul Corp soldiers. But those remaining heroes were waiting for the day that Maul Corp would come back in bigger numbers. They were training and they were getting stronger and stronger until anyone who dared face them would surely lose the battle.

But those training battles were always fair in numbers. The heroes had never faced a battle against twice their numbers or battled against beings from another dimension. That is why they had trained — because they knew they wouldn’t be able to face Lord Maul and his otherworldly creatures unless they were well prepared.

And so the strongest of the heroes remained and waited. Then one day while they were sleeping, one of them heard the portal open and thus the war commenced.

The eleven Maul Corp minions stepped out from the interdimensional portal onto the Mystical Isle. They quickly got into formation and charged across the Somber Footbridge. However, being evil and thus disinclined to cooperation, they soon broke ranks so as to move faster individually. Lord Maul’s minions charged ahead, heedless of the disarray within their ranks and shrieking evilly with bloodlust. They descended upon the hapless heroes gathered near the Iron Stables. Despite the ferocity of their charge, Lord Maul’s minions were forced back by a Knight carrying a massive shield and a small pistol and by a Berserker carrying two swords who was so powerful that a normal battle strike could not fell him.

Then these two heroes began to retreat backward, luring the Maul Corp legion after them. Thinking the heroes were leading them to their base of operations, the Maul Corp soldiers pressed their presumed advantage until they arrived back at the Somber Footbridge. There, the Berserker once again engaged them in battle, distracting the bloodthirsty members of Maul Corp while his Knightly friend retreated stealthily towards the Field of Destiny. Suddenly, the remaining heroes rushed forward from the Field of Destiny, lead by the valiant Knight. The entire Maul Corp legion was swiftly slaughtered.

Before they could congratulate themselves on their bravery and general awesomeness, a frantic fleeing peasant came upon them and told the heroes that some Maul Corp agents were destroying her nearby village. The heroes quickly gathered up their arms and rushed off to towards the village where they found it had been utterly and evilly destroyed. In righteous anger, they set out to destroy the minions of Maul Corp again. However, on the way to battle, they encountered three giant warriors. The giants declared that if the heroes could defeat them in a duel, they would join the heroes on their quest for revenge. The heroes, of course, defeated the giants handily and together they hunted down the Maul Corp agents and killed them

Unfortunately, as the final Maul Corp agent lay dying, with his last breath he whispered to one of the giant warriors a promise that if the giants would instead fight for Maul Corp, then Lord Maul would reward them with unfathomable riches.

The monstrous warriors then turned and attacked the heroes, who knew of the power that greed held over giants, so they quickly promised the giant both riches and honor if they helped them defeat Maul Corp agents instead. The giants agreed and the heroes and giants parted ways to go hunt down more of the Maul Corp legion.

Twenty intrepid yet hapless heroes gathered in the lee of the Faraway Leaf Inn. Their goal was to find and secure five magical relics. These relics had little power on their own but could be combined to generate an interdimensional portal. The most honored teller of stories had learned that Lord Maul planned to capture these relics for his own and to use the interdimensional portal to escape from Dragonwood and enter another realm where he could amass new armies for Maul Corp.

The heroes’ goal was to retrieve the relics, secure them safely from Lord Maul’s minions, and to cast a spell upon the relics to render them powerless, leaving them as mere inanimate objects.

The heroes set out toward the Mystical Isle, where three of the mystical magical mysterious relics were hidden. Tragically, Maul Corp had set out sooner and thus the heroes were not the first to uncover the three objet d’art. While Maul Corp celebrated their capture all three powerful precious ponderous commodities hidden on the isle, the heroes charged off towards the Dire Garden to collect the fourth contrivance — except for three particularly sneaky adventurers, who split off from the main group in an attempt to secure the fifth trophy of terror before Maul Corp thought to seek it out.

Unfortunately, a Maul Corp assassin spied the three brave souls slipping away from the main group, and suspecting a devious plot, the assassin followed them. Seeing that they were after the fifth relic, the assassin killed all three heroes and claimed the large luminous luscious artifact for Maul Corp.

Back in the Dire Garden, Maul Corp was also victorious, claiming the fourth relic which had been hidden within the Dire Garden. Opening the portal, Lord Maul jumped through with some of his officers and a grand scheme to amass a new army in a new realm.

Utterly defeated in their goals but not in their spirits, the twenty heroes decided their best course of action was to go celebrate friendship and honor with a cold drink and a sweet biscuit from the Faraway Leaf Inn. And to never speak of this day again.

Twenty-two adventurers gathered together under the bright sun of spring, preparing for some everyday combat training. Suddenly, a crack of lightning rent the air above them, and to their great surprise, the voice of the Norse God of Thunder boomed down from the clouds passing overhead. The Mighty Thor declared in deep and solemn tones that he sought the bravest of heroes to join him on a noble quest.

Being brave heroes, everyone immediately volunteered without waiting to hear any details.

Thor welcomed them all to his band of warriors, introducing them to Baldr and Týr, Váli and Víðarr, Freyr and Freyja, and, of course, Loki. It was then that Thor revealed to the star-struck heroes that he had lost his hammer … again … and needed their help to find it. Before they could express any disappointment in the nature of this quest, Thor promised that whoever found his hammer would be granted incredible strength — strength enough to lift Mjölnir and return it to Thor. The adventurers cheered at Thor’s largess and swiftly set off to find the missing hammer.

A lone warrior set off down a hill and spotted the hammer just lying there in some bushes, a mere giant’s stride away from where the adventurers had been setting up for their combat training. A quick inspection revealed the hammer to be the mislaid Mjölnir. The warrior felt a rush of supernatural strength, and uttering a swift thanks to Thor, the warrior picked up the hammer with ease. Holding Mjölnir high above his head, he rushed back towards Thor’s camp.

The other adventurers, spotting the hammer in the hand of the warrior, gave chase for they all wished to be the one to secure Thor’s boon. Fortunately, they were not swift enough to intercept the warrior in time, and the warrior returned Mjölnir to Thor, who promptly used it resurrect Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr so that they might be slaughtered again for the night’s feast.

Thor then carelessly set his hammer back down and resumed acting like Thor, which was rather smelly. It was not long before Thor realized that he had once again misplaced Mjölnir, so he once again called down to the heroes for help. The warriors once again set off to find the hammer, each eager to be the one to gain the blessing of the thunder god.

A tall warrior soon found Mjölnir not far from Thor’s camp, laying on the far side of a hedge. Not wanting to be waylaid by his ambitious fellows, the tall warrior made a pact with a stout warrior who, once infused with the strength of the gods, rushed the hammer through their enemy’s ranks while the tall warrior distracted everyone, ensuring that Mjölnir was once again restored to its rightful wielder.

Predictably, it did not take long for Thor to realize that he had lost sight of his hammer again. In this case, it turned out that Thor had left Mjölnir in the care of his brother Baldr, and then completely forgotten about that. During the search, one of our heroes came upon the handsome, gracious, and cheerful Baldr. After basking for a while in the pure warmth and joy of Baldr’s presence, the hero remembered his quest and asked Baldr if he knew where Mjölnir might be. To his surprise, Baldr said that he did indeed and indicated the hammer sitting beside him. The hero thanked the god of summer, called upon the god of thunder, felt a rush of supernatural strength, hefted Mjölnir under the benevolent smile of Baldr, and swiftly returned to Thor’s camp with his prize.

Thankfully Thor then managed to keep a grip on his hammer for the foreseeable future and the adventurers returned to combat training but only for a clock’s turn as they soon had to retire for their evening meal.

Seventeen brave adventurers arrived at the Field of Destiny and rejoiced to be reunited in friendship once again. Looking forward to undertaking an honorable quest together, they became careless of their surroundings, allowing one of Lord Maul’s minions to slip in and divide them asunder with an evil spell of deception.

The adventurers now found themselves on separate sides. Eight of them fled to the Dire Garden, eight fled to the Mystical Isle and one went to get a refreshing beverage from the Faraway Leaf Inn.

The Dire Eight quickly established the Dire Fortress, a strong base to call home, imbued with powerful healing charms by their skilled sorcerer so that merely returning home would heal any injuries they might sustain.

Meanwhile, the Mystical Eight were building the Mystical Fortress and their own skilled healer was enhancing it with its own powerful healing glamours.

Abandoned on the Field of Destiny lay the Fortress of Destiny with its own strong magical healing powers.

The Dire Eight and the Mystical Eight worked feverishly to fortify their home bases against assault (and pepper).

Then, having strengthened their Dire Fortress with dastardly spells, bothersome traps, unassailable walls, and deadly barricades, the Dire Eight set out for the Field of Destiny where, seeing no sign of the Mystical Eight, they quickly occupied the Fortress of  Destiny and began to fortify it as well, casting protective spells and establishing a strong perimeter.

Having now established two strong bases, the Dire Eight now felt emboldened by their success at and skill in fortress fortification, so they set out to find and conquer the stronghold of the Mystical Eight.

Brimming with hubris, they marched upon the Mystical Isle and assailed the Mystical Fortress — and were soundly defeated by the Mystical Eight. Their beloved healer now lay dead upon the ground.

The Dire Eight wisely chose to gather their dead and wounded and make a tactical retreat back to the Fortress of Destiny where they could be healed by its powerful magicks.

The Mystical Eight wisely chose to make a tactical advance and strike at the Dire Eight within the Fortress of Destiny. The Mystical Eight had better generals and a better strategy and thus soundly routed the Dire Eight in a swift battle, driving them from the Fortress of Destiny.

With the Mystical Eight following much too closely on their heals, the Dire Eight fled swiftly home to the Dire Fortress where they had only a short time to nurse their wounds and recover from the last unfortunate battle with the aid of their now-revived skilled healer before they were once again attacked by the Mystical Eight.

Due to their superior leadership and strategizing, the Mystical Eight soundly defeated the Dire Eight in an all-too-short battle, capturing all eight Dire Warriors, securing all three bases, and winning the war.

The Mystical Eight celebrated their great victory and conscripted the Dire Eight into their army as lowly privates.