[D20] Z is for Zodiac

The Ashford Valley shares the Realms Zodiac, a series of 12 (sometimes 13) signs that roughly correspond with the months (full moons) of the year. The signs begin and end on the 27th of the month.

Why 13 sometimes? Well, on the years that actually have a 13th full moon, that sign is included into the zodiac (and only then), so being born under that sign can be either a boon or a bane.

The twelve signs are:
1. Angwish's Iron Chariot (Latewinter to Storms), Element: Fire, Quality: Leadership.
2. The Ship (Storms to Vernal), Element: Water, Quality: Depth.
3. The Runestone (Vernal to Planting), Element: Earth, Quality: Prudence.
4. The Western Wind (Planting to Flowers), Element: Air, Quality: Expansion.
5. The Great Dragon (Flowers to Summertide), Element: Fire, Quality: Persistence.
6. The Scroll of Lamiel (Summertide to Highsun), Element: Water, Quality: Knowledge.
7. Lucky Tor's Table (Highsun to Leafall), Element: Earth, Quality: Creativity.
8. The King's Scepter (Leafall to Autumnal), Element: Air, Quality: Determination.
9. St. Nobian's Sword (Autumnal to Firstwinter), Element: Fire, Quality: Passion.
10. The Wererat (Firstwinter to Nightal), Element: Water, Quality: Adaptability.
11. The Tree of Life (Nightall to Deepwinter), Element: Earth, Quality: Stabilization.
12. The Key (Deepwinter to Latewiner), Element: Air, Quality: Initiation.

The thirteenth sign is:
13. Lucky Tor's Rolling Dice, (? to ?), Element: Aether, Quality: Change.

[D20] Y is for Yarkand, Emperor of the Valley

The Ashford Valley contains a wide variety of wildlife, herds of deer in the forests, mountain goats in the hills, packs of wolves along the rivers, wild boar in the brush and brown bear wandering among the Runestones.

One such animal is the paragon of animals - Yarkand, the Emperor of the Valley, Lord of Forest, Farm and Field. Yarkand is a gigantic red stag , reputed to be over 18 feet tall and 900 pounds, with a long history in the valley.

Yarkand is supposed to be as intelligent as a man, friendly with the elves (they refuse to confirm this) and conversant in many languages. He is claimed to have magical powers, mainly dealing with nature, and can command woodland creatures, including wolves and cougars, to do his bidding.

Legally, a symbol of Yarkand is included in the Lord of the Ashford Valley's coat of arms and has a tie to the ruling family (or any future ruling family by tradition). The laws on the books concerning this stag are surprisingly simple: "Leave Yarkand be or face the ultimate in penalties."

Culturally, the love of Yarkand is deeply ingrained in the people. According to legend, this giant stag is as old as the valley itself, one of the earliest inhabitants, even before the first peoples who created the Runestones, well before the current inhabitants' ancestors arrived. Yarkand is the true Lord of the Valley by these stories, responsible for forests, farmlands and fields (as the name), and that the gods set him here to watch over it.

When the Valley's human lord gets too old or sick and is close to death, it is said that it is Yarkand, not Death, who comes for them and carries them to paradise with the gods. A good lord is treated well by Yarkand while an evil one is carried off so that the giant stag can trample them to dust beneath his iron-sharp hooves.

To think of harming the stag or even hunting it is considered sacrilege and may get the talker in trouble, as the commoners take pride in the Emperor as their own and the belief that Yarkand is the protector of the forest and the field. A few cases of near lynchings have been reported but nothing worse than that - so far.

Claims to have seen Yarkand are taken seriously and obvious liars are shunned for their impudence, while those who actually have seen the stag are treated with respect and reverence. Yarkand, however, is rarely seen and to have witnessed the Emperor of the Valley is to have been granted either a lucky life by the gods or an opportunity to greatness (often full of trouble) will soon present itself to the witness.

If the PCs are lucky enough to see the stag, what could that portent for their future? Perhaps a glimpse would be all that is necessary to get them into a trouble that they've not expected. Perhaps an encounter in a glade will lead them to a treasure-trove. How the stag crosses paths with the PCs is up to the GM, but having the stag as an "off-stage" patron is always worth a thought.

[Aftermath!] GURPS Operation Morpheus, Session 9, Cut Scenes

Tuesday Night Sessions - GURPS Aftermath! Operation Morpheus session 9

Session Nine: "Lament for Johnny's Mama" (June 6 - 7, 2104)

The Mystery Man: The same room and the man is there. On the desk is a book, the Bible, open to Revelations. The man is meeting with an old man.

The Computer System: In a darkened room, a large mainframe computer is working away. On many monitors around the room are images flashing too fast for the human eye. On one monitor is a view of the University defense perimeter. The focus is on a area past the defense perimeter, where a group of Pirate Corp$ are being messily killed by the Rat Creatures.

The Nazis: A convoy is entering the outskirts of the city, with a large group of unknown vehicles (combat walkers - see pics). The uniforms the Nazis are wearing are either really good re-enactors versions or actually from the 1940s. The weapons and equipment (with the exception of the combat walkers) all look to be straight out of Germany during WWII.

The Rat Creatures: A view of the sewer system of Sydney. From around a corner, a bright light, a weird color, shines. Then the sewer is filled with moving and running Rat Creatures.

Duchy of Sydney: Duke William Bligh II receives news of the Fall of County La Parouse. He calls his generals together and begins to plan.

[D20] X is for Xalendar

The calendar (xalendar in common) for the Ashford Valley matches the lowland Realms pretty well. A few of the names may be different in some parts of the lowlands, but for the most part, the months and year are the same.

The year is divided into four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The three Winter months are Nightal, Deepwinter and Latewinter (corresponding to December through February). The season of Spring starts with Storms, goes through Vernal and ends with Planting (March through May). The Summer months are Flowers, Summertide and Highsun (June through August) and finally, the Autumn is Leafall, Autumnal and Firstwinter (September through November).

Each month has 30 days, broken into five 6-day weeks, and the year officially starts with Spring (the 15th day of Storms) and ends in Winter (the 27th of Latewinter). The three weeks between these two dates is known as Angwish's Feast, an opportunity for celebration of the coming new year and reflection on the past year. This feasting time is not included in the normal ten holy days that each of the gods venerates (as ten is a holy number in the Valley).

[My Collection] W is for Warlord of the Accordlands

The Warlords of the Accordlands is a D20 RPG series by Alderac Entertainment Group published in 2006. There are four books: The Master Codex, the World Atlas, the Campaign Adventure Book, and Monsters and Lairs. The books have over 1,200 pages of world history, character classes, monsters and spells, all based on a collectible card game Warlord.

I picked them up because I like D20 settings and this one has some difference. The world is sliding toward evil, with a decadent human civilization, elves that are long lived because of necromancy, and dwarves are fighting demons. There is a force of evil called the Medusan Lords, which is the big bad for the PCs to fight against.

RPG.net doesn't have any reviews of the series but I found one around the 'net for each of the books (1, 2, 3, 4). The reviews are mostly positive.

[D20] V is for Vanas

Vanas is old common for lust and desire. It can mean that for physical lust but also for lust for power or money. Many are the adherents of the Vanas of power and money in the Ashford Valley.

But Vanas is also slang for prostitution. While streetwalkers are not common in the Ashford Valley (most people can usually find a willing partner to couple without spending the cash), there are several reputable houses in the towns.

Clifton, in particular, has the valley-famous Vana Felix house (aka the Lucky). Because they are so close to the lowlands, the Vana Felix is very cosmopolitan and open, compared to the rest of the valley.

Sooton has a hidden house, rarely spoken of and few really know it's true name. Many things, both sensual and criminal, are said to be allowed there but it could easily be a story.

Ashford has a quiet house, the House of the Dawn. Just off a small, sleepy alley, it has an unassuming front and keeps a low profile. While the local constabulary doesn't give it trouble, the house tries to keep below the eye of Sir Raphel, the lord of the Ashford Valley.

Tradetown has two rival houses, the Vana Libertina and the Vana Verticordia. Like many things about their town, they are constantly competing and fighting with each other. Sir Hoel, however, has firmly informed them that any violence would lead to expensive fines, so the actual physical confrontations are limited to screaming, throwing flower pots and pulling hair.

While there is little societal or sectarian pressure against Vanas, most people keep in mind the old adage: Mind your own business.

[D20] U is for Unknown Gods and Fishes

The Ashford Valley has some different theological views from the lowlands, many which change the whole cosmology of the gods. Point in fact is Pesce, the unknown god. The Ashford Valley tale of Pesce is as follows:

In the beginning, the gods, Angwish, Pesce, Lucky Tor, Azrael and Lamiel the Crafty created the world and it's peoples and wandered across it in the early timeless time. They supped with human and Bugbear alike, taught their lore to the greatest minds of the age and drank with the various tribes that formed. They helped their creations grow crops, learn skills and enjoy the pastoral world. 

At this point, Azrael was consumed with evil and thirst for power, but the other gods didn't recognize that because the Evil One had created those things in private. One day, Azrael invited Pesce to accompany him to a far-off valley. Once there, Azrael slew his brother god and decided to enact a fitting revenge on his other brother gods - he prepared a stew out of Pesce and invited the other gods, as well as the humans, to join in a feast.


At the feast, he planned to kill the other gods, being full of hubris at his ease with slaying Pesce. As the gods and humans ate the stew, the spirit of Pesce infused them with knowledge of Azrael's deeds and plans. The gods, sickened by their cannibalism and Azrael's crime, rose up as one and case the Evil One out of creation, into the darkness where he became a demon-prince.


The gods, lead by Angwish, and their human followers, fell then on their knees and begged Pesce for forgiveness. The spirit of Pesce came before them and smiled sadly - though he could forgive them for taking his body into them, they forever would carry that part of him as a reminder, thus creating in each one a conscience of good and evil. Since the symbol of Pesce was always the fish, the tale relates that the spirit form of Pesce in each and every person is a spiritual fish.

Priests in the Ashford Valley routinely reveal the personal fish spirit to children in a sacred ceremony when they are about ten years old. The whole community gathers as the child is taken to a local waterway (pond, lake, stream or river). The cleric intones to the gods for guidance as the child stands in the shallows. When a fish breaks the surface (and it always does, even if it takes a while), it is believed to be the spirit of the child.

Common Ashford Valley fish spirits include all varieties of trout (mountain, rainbow, golden, brook, silver, sea, salmon, biwa, char), carp (mud, goldfish, bream, tench, grass, common, black), sturgeon (starry, green, fringebarbel, pallid, dwarf), eels (short-finned, highlands, speckled, shrieking), and even some lowland fish (though these are less common).

Having a healthy spirit is believed to be true to your fish. Cruel and mean people are often said to have dead (or dying) fish spirits. The truly evil and the undead have skeletal fish spirits.

The lowlanders believe that this is a mild heresy in the worship of the gods, while those in the Ashford Valley believe they have the truth of the matter. Better to have a god-fish-shaped spirit within you than what those crazy things the lowlanders believe.

One does note that having a fish spirit doesn't prevent one from eating fish - after all, the local Ashford Valley fish is excellent and a common staple of the diet. Any possible confusion on this matter is dealt with by pointing to the story in the first place: eating fish is an act in memory of Pesce.

[Vids] T is for The Secret of Kells

Netflix is a wonderful thing and Netflix Instant Play is even better. I have The Secret of Kells on my queue and I watched it recently.

A combined effort of Belgium, Irish and French animation industries, the film is wonderful. The art, the story, and the tone of the piece is excellent - no wonder it got nominated for an Academy Award.

The Secret of Kells tells the story of a young boy, Brendan, who is in Kells, Ireland, during the Middle Ages. Kells and all of Europe are just one boat ride away from being raided by Vikings.

The monks of Kells are split, one group wanting to finish a holy book and the abbot, Brendan's uncle, who wants to build a wall to protect the town and abbey.

The Vikings are going to come, but Brendan has is a forest to explore, an immortal faerie to befriend and an evil force (besides the Vikings) to confront, in addition to making ink, feeding a white cat and outrunning a pack of ravenous wolves.

I highly suggest watching this vid - it's well worth it.

[D20] S is for Sooton Stout

Sooton Stout is a magical beverage rare (but popular) in the Ashford Valley. Who makes this stout beer or where they make it is unknown but often it can be found, for the right price, in Sooton.

This dark beer provides the imbiber with excellent health and cures all diseases, magical or otherwise. As a side effect, the roughly 10% alcohol by content is an added bonus. The taste has been described as "better than the best beer you've had" or "even better than that."

The price of a bottle varies but usually is close to what a potion of Cure Disease would run. The merest rumor of the brewery that makes it (or even a case of the stuff) would cause many disreputable characters to come running.

[Aftermath!] GURPS Operation Morpheus, Session 8, Part 1

Part 1: "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" (June 6, 2104)

Important People: James (S), Bill (X), Bob (E), Alexis (C)

Important NPCs: Robbie the PolRob, Nasdaq the Robot, Miles Dayton, Rich Johnson, Amanda Hayes, John Ritter, Captain Adele Droblas, RAA Captain and SUR Commander, and various other Uni Survivors.

Group B calls to Group A in Electrical Engineering. They get no response besides incoherent screaming over the radio. Bob calls Anderson Stuart and talks to Capt. Droblas, saying that he believes Group A is in trouble.

Group B immediately goes to the surface floors of Biochemistry Building and Alexis taps into the Electrical Engineering computer. Pulling up the security cameras, only viewing, they look in horror on what is happening to their friends. Alexis patches Anderson Stuart in on the video feed.

Over the video, they see Miles pick up his Gauss Rifle and empty the clip into the walls and (cleverly) takes out several security cameras. The security cameras do not fire back, much to the surprise of Group B. Bob orders Nasdaq to go subdue Miles and secure the bodies. Nasdaq heads over to Electrical Engineering.

Alexis locks down the Biochemistry Building. Her attempts to contact the UDC are met with silence.

Capt. Droblas confirms, from the medical team, that Miles and the rest of Group A do indeed have the "Scourge of God" plague. The "Scourge of God" plague has an incubation period of about 3 hours, then boils and sore appear and the infected have periods of homicidal rage. Anderson Stuart is locking down. They are enforcing a strict 2 week quarrentine on both Groups. Any supplies needed, Anderson Stuart will ship up and drop off for them.

Bob sends Robbie over to help Nasdaq, and tells them to get a hold of Amanda for quarentine. Bob requests from Capt. Droblas two freeze tubes for Amanda and Miles. Capt. Droblas tells Bob that it will take several hours to get them disconnected and transported.

Miles, meanwhile, has dropped his Gauss Rifle and stumbles around, holding his head and screaming in pain and insanity. Suddenly, he stoops and goes to each body, taking something off of each: John Ritter's hand and pistol, Amanda Hayes's Gauss Rifle and Gauss ammo, Rich Johnson's ammo; and then runs down the hall towards the exit. Meanwhile, Amanda stirs and starts pushing John's body off of her.

Alexis manages to lock the doors to Electrical Engineering, but Miles just blasts through them with his Gauss Rifle. Bob confirms to the rest of the group that Miles running around infected is a bad idea, especially an armed Miles. The Group determine that Miles has somewhere around 380 rounds for his Gauss Rifle.

James and Bill exit Biochemistry in time to hear Group A's vehicle start up. Climbing into their own car, they give chase, travelling on and off road to catch up with Miles. They loose Miles around a corner and, approaching slowly, find his vehicle, crashed against a tree, with no sign of him.

Weapons out, the cruise slowly past the vehicle, trying to catch some glimpse of him or his tracks. Is Miles going back to Anderson Stuart? They find some tracks that confirm he is going in that direction. They spend an hour trying to find his tracks.

Bob mentions the Nuke again, and how the hell did he get it and where did he find it. James remembers that Miles told him about a downed Russian helicopter over at St. James College. Talking among themselves, the group determines that the Nuke was probably in the Russian helicopter.

Meanwhile, Nasdaq distracts the crazy Amanda while Robbie stuns her with his taser. Then both robots take her down and secure her. Capt. Droblas informs Bob and Alexis that only one of the freeze tubes is coming, the other was damaged, so they have to start over again.

Alexis and Bob prepare Biochemistry for a stay. Bob prepares the garage for decontaminating the vehicle. Alexis checks the video records of the Electrical Engineering building, and finds video of someone entering the building several days before Group A got there. James and Bill head over towards St. John's College, thinking that Miles is headed there for the Nuke.

End of Session Eight.

[D20] R is for the Real Story on Bugbear Longswords

Few sages of the Ashford Valley know the real reason Bugbears make such wonderful longswords, often falling back on the more common telling (see the letter B).

The real story is this one:

In the long, long ago, in the time before time, the gods had created the world and peopled it with peoples, living among their creation. One tribe of humans, however, had little to do with the gods, so Angwish the Just called the other gods together to discuss this tribe.

Angwish, Lucky Tor and Lamiel the Crafty met and talked long. Angwish thought to directly confront them and find out why they weren't worshipping the gods. Tor wanted to make war upon them. Lamiel thought trickery to find the reasons. In the end, Lamiel won the argument (by trickery, of course), and set off to meet this tribe.

He disguised himself as a lowly human, which the gods can do easily, but a clever one at that. The human tribe welcomed him and fed him, asking about news of the world. This Lamiel did, expounding the virtues of the gods.

The tribe, however, dismissed his talk of the gods, haughtily explaining that they had found knowledges even the gods knew nothing about from a local spirit name Azrael. Knowing that Azrael would recognize him, Lamiel eschewed meeting him (and thereby perhaps falling under his sway).

Lamiel spent many months with the tribe, learning from them all the knowledges they had gained from the wily spirit, realizing that Azrael was planning an overthrow of the gods, with the tribe as willing dupes. So, using his trickery, he bargained and gained all the knowledge of the tribe, bit by bit, from their greatest skilled practitioners. Always he gave something else in exchange, something worth less but with the appearance of something greater.

After Lamiel gained all that he could, but not everything, Azrael came among his people asking about his knowledge and where it was. Time and again, the tribe pointed to Lamiel and at that point Azrael recognized the god. In anger, he smote Lamiel and the facade of a simple human fell off of Lamiel. With all the spirit's knowledge taken by trickery from the tribe, Lamiel rose up into the air and cast a curse upon the tribe and Azrael. For their disobedience, they were surely damned.

Azrael was cast into the place where demons dwell, there to become a prince, nay, a king of them. The tribe of humans was twisted by their haughty behavior in rebellion against the gods and became the Bugbears.

Lamiel departed and returned to the gods, thinking he had all the knowledges (which, in addition to his own, increased his standing) not realizing, until too late, that Azrael had come upon him too early. One final knowledge, the skill to craft fine longswords, had been left behind. Bugbears, then, from that time on, retained that knowledge and the world has been a warlike place ever since.

[Quotes] Q is for a Quote from Tupac Shakur

"Wars come and go, but my soldier stay eternal." - Tupac Shakur

[D20] P is for Paladins of the Ashford Valley

Holy warriors are not unknown in the Ashford Valley, but they are rare, with few (less than a dozen) wandering the Valley at any one time. Few valesmen have seen one in their lifetime and even fewer still have seen two. There are rumors that there is a small priory that trains the Paladins but so far no-one has ever been there or knows it's location - and the Paladins themselves aren't saying.

Some believe Paladins are born, not made. But whether that is true or not, there are some steps in order to become one. First, there has to be a monastic (or at least a spiritual) calling. Second, a dedication to the people of the Ashford Valley. Both are usually present in Clerics and Monks. This final requirement, however, is an event in their past either where they witness an act of utter depravity that impells them to right it OR a religious experience that imbues the candidate with a zeal unfelt by most of the ecclesiastic orders. Only when called in this manner will an individual reach the level of commitment necessary.

Since the church forbid clerics from using any but blunt weapons, they reached a legalistic solution for Paladins: As the noviate Paladin is immersed for baptism, he draws his sword and holds it high so that all is baptized except the sword arm! Whether the Paladin spends eternity after death without the offending limb is still being considered by theologians.

The Paladin is considered a subset of Fighter, with the same level progression and hit dice. They gain the spell-powers of a cleric, including the turn ability, at two levels lower (minimum 1), plus the ability to cast Cure Light Wounds at a number of times every day equal to their level.

Paladins must be Lawful and must retain their Lawful status or lose all Paladin abilities. They take vows of poverty - Paladins are able to use all weapons and armor as a Fighter but are limited by their possessions - they may only have one horse, one suit of armor, two swords (one is spare), a small amount of personal possessions, and little money, subsisting mostly on the benevolence of the faithful and local churches. They also take vows of obedience but not chastity, so they may marry but only with the blessings of the Church.

A Paladin that fails to keep faith and remain Lawful, or one who commits a known evil act, must atone to regain their abilities. The head of the Paladin order himself orders the quest that he must perform to fully atone and few (if any) companions are allowed to assist in the quest.

The rumor of an anti-Paladin, a fallen Paladin that has willingly embraced unholy forces, is surely a rumor, isn't it?

[D20] O is for Old Manuscripts

In the Ashford Valley, there are many illuminated manuscripts and holy books to each of the gods, and each of the manuscripts is typical of most holy books - they tell the same story different ways or tell completely different stories that mix elements from the all sorts of stories together.

One such holy book of St. Nobian is the Book of Erimoor. This holy book holds the rare epistle, supposedly written by St. Nobian himself and was amended by the the monks of the lost abbey of Erimoor. While part of the epistle is known, the majority of the holy works and the amended story hasn't been heard in the Ashford Valley for over 200 years. By popular legend, it contains the location of the bones of the saint, hidden somewhere in the Deep Forest, in the ruins of the lost abbey of Erimoor.

What do you suppose would happen if the Book of Erimoor showed up sometime? There are many people, both good and bad, in the valley who'd want that information. What are a saint's bones worth on the open market?