My purpose for posting these logs is to help new players get up to speed with the story and to help current players remember what happened. Of course, that sort of violates one of my rules about players---don't expect players to read anything. Oh, well, maybe someone will find them interesting nonetheless. The following tract was taken from the memories of a tiny house gecko named Frei, the helper NPC in the Razvalitsya Redki series of adventures.
Day 1:
I was greatly disappointed to find myself back in Elysium, the Aon gaming capital of the universe. The name, Elysium, I think is some kind of cruel joke, because this sure isn't Heaven. The Aons decided to give me a handicap to make sure I die here; they turned me into a damn gecko! I really hope those guys Victor is supposed to send show up soon. If not, I expect the Aons will be getting their wish, because I'm not going to get very far if the only power at my disposal with the ability to stick to things.
The Aons and their Game:
When a person dies, that person's latent life energy goes to the Aons. They usually refine it into essentia, the raw material of magic, and use it to fuel their godlike power. However, a certain fraction of souls are infused with extra essentia and allowed to play the game, a 14 day battle of attrition. Winners are allowed to join the ranks of Aons' angelic host or return to the mortal world, complete with essentia-soul-infusion-granted super-powers. Survivors are allowed to reenter the game. Those who perish in the game get melted down with everyone else. The Aons put on the game once a month and it's been going on for who knows how long. In the past ten years, only two teams have won. I was fortunate enough to witness a win, but not fortunate enough to be on the winning team.
My life link started flickering as a band of people approached the bush I was using for cover. They (a priest, a knight, a crossbow sniper and a mystic) were all clad in some top notch equipment from Zerthadium. A sign of relief passed my lizard lips as I realized Victor must have been successful and there was a chance I wasn't going to die on the first day of the game. I just hoped they didn't turn out to be complete idiots! I gave them a cautious interrogation, to see if they really were the right people, but they acted like amnesiacs. I wasn't sure why they lost their memories, but I suspected Victor might have had some reason. Anyway, I lied and suggested that it might be a handicap from the Aons. That might not have been the right decision, now that I think about it.
About that time, Geralt, the game master appeared on the little floating island where we were standing and gave us our task, reach the top of Elysium's central tower before the day was out. He gave us plenty of time, but we didn't waste any. We were on an isolated mote of land, one of many, floating in the clouds and we could just barely see the central island. There wasn't anyway to get to it without teleportation, so we immediately searched the little farm for the glyphs. Immediately, the usual, ugly, ersatz creatures came pouring out of the farmhouses. Manath, an Aon that's four flavors of crazy, appeared and offered us rewards for destroying the ersatz creatures in nasty and creative ways. I honestly don't what purpose she serves or why the other Aons tolerate her, but it is fun to kill the ersatz creatures in nasty and creative ways.
Ersatz Creatures:
The Aons use some of their essentia to make these copies of creatures, but they're not fully real. Of course, the Aons promise to make them real, free beings if they kill us!
We marched through the teleport circle to the main island. Well, the adventurers marched, I had to ride on the priest's shoulder, but that's beside the point. On the other side, we were working on the typical need-a-key-to-enter-the-tower business when something decidedly odd happened. We met a hooded man who promised us a way out of the game if we helped him. He remarked on the inhumanity and injustice of the Aons' Game and handed us a piece to a board game, then vanished. I'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be in the game. I had seen the Aons' tricks before---he wasn't one of them.
We had to jump through a few hoops to get into the tower, and we had to bash the heads of tons of ersatz creatures to get to the top, but we made it there with plenty of time. Then, another strange thing happened. The game master personally challenged us. They usually don't to that on day 1. I have a feeling they just had it in for me, but to this day I'm still not sure. The really strange part was how Geralt acted like he was being forced to fight us. I felt a bit sorry for him, but it was him or us and my team slaughtered him and his minions before he had a chance to swing his sword a second time. Manath seemed disturbingly pleased.
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