Greetings, for those of you who couldn't make the RQ meet in State College, you missed an enjoyable weekend.

To pick up our story where I left off, the group had found the hidden lab where the world gate had been constructed by the Afadjanni heroquester, and went into battle with the lab guards, some Afadjan Taken and the heroquester. The more powerful Afadjan sorcerers had all ready gone thru the gate. It was a good, knock-down, drag-out fight, with hacking, slashing, crushing and multiple gunshot wounds. During this fight, Bob's Black company fighter, who was armed with Soul Catcher's sword, lost his sword when he slashed his Taken opponent in the chest, and the sword got stuck. The Taken managed to pull the sword free and throw himself into the world gate. A number of his buddies made it out with him.

After looting the installation of whatever stimpaks they could find and re-praying for magic, the group went through the gate, which deposited them in a forested hillside at night.

Checking their surroundings, the group realize it is summer time, and notice tracks that tell that the Afadjanni had been met here by some people and then had left, traveling NW from the hill. (this was about 6-8 days after the Afadjan had fled thru the gate). They also noticed the lights of what appeared to be a caravan coming from the S/SE. Approaching the caravan, the group discovered that they had entered a world where magic and technology mixed. The caravan consisted of what we would see as jeeps, but also with people mounted on broomsticks and with trucks being propelled by broomsticks. There were aircraft armed with machineguns, and bombs, but with brooms instead of engines. They were part of the US army in this area, and the time is World War II, the war against the Caliphate. (this is the world described in the book Operation Chaos, by Poul Anderson).

Army Intelligence had detected the opening of the world gate both times, and had dispatched this force to investigate the 2nd opening. The US witches and wizards verified that the group was telling the truth, and that they were here chasing the allies of their enemies. After some consultation, the Americans offered to share information and resources.

They were fighting the Caliphate, a group of Muslim fascists allied with the Dark Powers in this world, who had conquered half of the globe. They had been defeated at the battle of the Mississippi 6 months before and were now being pushed back to the Pacific. The player characters where in a place called Washington state, near the town of Trollsburg. Trollsburg was in Caliphate hands and was the logistic and communications nerve center for the enemy on this front. The Americans were getting ready for a big push, but wanted to know if the other people who had come through the gate the first time could provide aid to the Caliphate. The pcs answered with a big YES to that. And the Americans had some other bad news as well. It seems that the Caliphate had dredged up a bottle out of someplace called the Red Sea. This Solomon's Bottle was supposed to contain an immense chaotic spirit of fire and air called a Djinn, and the bottle was in Trollsburg. The Americans were going to try a rather desperate attempt to raid the Caliphate's center of magical power in Trollsburg and steal or permanently seal the bottle before it could be opened. This was also were the Afadjanni appeared to be. Did the PCs want to come along and play?

Sure.

Everybody gears up, and goes off the next night. They manage to sneak through the enemy lines due to a diversion provided by the top US field operative in the area (a werewolf) and make it to the county courthouse in Trollsburg. They slip inside and go up to the 2nd floor where a big fight breaks out with about 20 Caliphate soldiers. Guns roar, grenades explode and the few enemies left standing are wiped in melee. Then they stumble upon the Afadjanni in the next room and the real fight starts. In the meantime, the US witch has gone upstairs to find the Djinn bottle. The other Americans, her familiar (a 30 lb. tomcat) and the werewolf hold the stairs against the Caliphate reinforcements with some help from the players not present.

There is a nasty fight with the Afadjanni; after most of the party takes some pretty serious damage, they manage to kill most of the Afadjanni, the rest flee through the world gate on the 3rd floor. The exception is the Afadjanni heroquester, who flees up a side stair to the 4th floor, where the Djinn bottle is.

The party goes up to the 4th floor, where they find that the US witch has been looking things over; she thinks she can seal the bottle up and screw up the Caliphate ceremony to the point where they can't get the Djinn out. If she fails and the Caliphate unleashes the Djinn under their control, the entire front will fall apart, and the Americans will have to fall back hundreds of miles. If the Djinn escapes control, EVERYBODY within 500 miles is screwed.

The Afadjanni heroquester hears this and in order to spite the party, deliberately slashes his own throat and spills his life blood on the wards surrounding the bottle. The wardings disappear, and the bottle shatters. The Djinn is loose and uncontrollable.

At this point, Thad saves the day by cutting loose with the Frost Hammer, and casting all the points of Snow and Ice magic the Frost Hammer has. A divine blizzard descends on Trollsburg and drops 10 feet of snow within a radius of 1100 meters. Trollsburg (from a distance) appears to be the center of a swirling column of snow and sleet that is more than a kilometer across and a mile high. The Djinn is a chaotic spirit of fire and air, whose home is the middle of the Sahara desert; it reacts by going catatonic, and the witch grabs it and seals it in her own bottle. The Caliphate forces are paralyzed by the snow and demoralized by the loss of their secret weapon, and the whole front cracks. The US forces drive the Caliphate army back to the Bering Strait.

And the party re-prays for the divine magic that they cast (8 days) and then they go through the world gate.

The next world the party enters is (unknown to them) the last one; it was to this world that the most powerful Afadjanni sorcerer, the leader of the chaotic sorcerers who ruled the Afadjanni empire had fled from the world gate at Charm, to strike a bargain with the master of the forces of chaos in this world. He came to the city of Hwarmgarrl, on the isle of Pan Tang, in the world of the Young Kingdoms, and cut a deal with Jagreen Lern, Theocrat and leader of the Church of Chaos.

The party arrives on the northern end of the isle of Pan Tang: everybody gets a check in their Sense Chaos skill, or get the Sense Chaos skill, if they don't have it. And then Sense Chaos no longer works. (in effect, the radar has been jammed). They spot a man running towards them; he is marked with the sign of chaos and tries to throw himself off the cliff. He eventually succeeds in doing so, and the party winds up waxing the guards who were chasing him. They then explore the northern end of the island, discovering and killing a demon sealed up by the Pan Tangiens as a guardian, and finding some of the Screaming Statues the island is famous for. They discover a road, and eventually follow it when they sense a summoning ceremony being started at the other end of it. At the end of the road, they find an open air summoning chamber guarded by both warriors and demons, and containing Jagreen Lern and the leader of the Afadjanni sorcerers, who are conducting the ceremony, which is centered around 3 objects: a dragon's tooth, an old Melnibonean battle flag and a white rope about 12 inches long (actually a braid of hair from an albino).

The party, with Thad in the lead rushes the warded area, which is bound by eight pillars with statues of eight of the major Chaos gods of this world atop them. Thad attacks one of these pillars (screwing up the warding and the ceremony) and hits the warding around the summoning area and dies. The warding comes down. Thad's POW and INT are joined with the POW and INT of his fetch and some of his magic items and all of his crystals, including the Frost Hammer. And because of what happened to him in the Undying Lands, the Valar of Middle Earth have a way of reaching the world of the Young Kingdoms. They act.

In the meantime, the summoning succeeds, but the attempt to turn the summoned creature into a Taken under Jagreen Lern's command fails, and Elric of Melnibone, known as the White Wolf, the Pale Prince of Doom himself is free to turn on Jagreen Lern and his companion. Wielding the black blade Stormbringer, Elric screams "Die, upstart human!" and attacks the Theocrat and the Afadjanni Leader.

The party engages the Pan Tang defenders and eventually defeat them, but not before taking serious damage from the demons (permanent STR, CON, INT and DEX drains were possible.) Then they are attacked from behind by the remaining Afadjanni Taken and sorcerers, with gunfire (one sorcerer fumbles with his grenade launcher and all that is left is a pair of smoking Afadjanni boots). All hell breaks loose.

People die. Divine interventions are made. People die some more. Elric kills Jagreen Lern and turns to deal with anyone left standing. At this point, that means only 3 Taken Afadjanni, everyone else is down or dead. The party included.

Now, at this point, all that the Valar were going to be able to do was to bring down one big-ass storm and tidal wave on the northern end of Pan Tang. But then Keith intervened. Basically, Keith, when he becomes aware of the presence of the power of Ulmo from Middle Earth, says "here I am, take anything you need". And provides a willing sacrifice to strengthen their hand. It works, because Pan Tang is not originally from the world of the Young Kingdoms, the Valar are able (THANK YOU, KEITH) to rip it loose and send it into another plane, a relatively empty one, and slam the door shut behind them. For good measure, Thad, who is now a raging spirit of ice and darkness, and who has killed the last of the Afadjanni who could have created Taken, is set as the guardian of the plane Pan Tang is banished to.

The survivors of the party are teleported to the Isle of the Purple Towns, where there are world gates out. They eventually leave, with Bob's character returning to the world of the Black Company, and everyone else eventually returning to Glorantha.

Characters killed: Thad's Shaman, Keith's Black Numenorian, Tony's Argan Argar Arkati, and of course, Mark. Characters who lost permanent stats: almost everyone else, including Dwayne, down to a CON of 4, and Leon, who lost a bunch of STR.

Thanks guys. It was....SWELL.

The party is now reorganizing in a small city in Umathela, where Harrek the Berserk has his kingdom. Thad managed to make his roll and is now playing a Melnibonean; everyone else is human, with Keith as a troll.

Next RQ meet: late October, early November. Look at your Calendars, and let me know.

I don't know about you guys, but I had a lot of fun this past weekend.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:24, Tue 22 May 2007.