Friday, June 28, 2019

End-of-Week Rallis (6/28/19): Liliana the Dreadhorde General

So, I'm thinking about getting back into Magic: The Gathering.

The art above is from Chris Rallis, and it portrays a character named Liliana from MTG lore. This is from the card set called War of the Spark.

I don't want to get deeply immersed in the CCG arena again, but I'm intrigued. I wasn't a huge collector or player of MTG back in the day, and somewhere along the way I got rid of my cards. But in light of the fact that WotC just released a D&D 5th edition guide to one of the MTG planes of existence (Ravnica), my interest was piqued.

I might buy some cards, check things out as they now stand with the game. Anyone out there reading this a current player? Any advice for a former player returning after, oh, two decades?

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Salton Seekers - Session 4: Killing Cosmic Horrors


We picked right back up from the end of session three, with the party fighting a horrific creature that looks something like this:


They finally succeeded in killing the thing, then carried the remains back to the adventurer's guild house. Guildmaster Agnar was unable to identify the thing, and suggested the group consult one of the scholars at the Academy. Since the disappearance of the Archmage Lasseras and his apprentices almost a decade before, the scholars are the only remaining seat of knowledge in the town.

The party was also told by Agnar that Guildmaster Sonya and her two retainers still had not returned. He suggested they investigate the chandler's shop in the Market next. The party decided to rest a bit before heading to Chandler Binke's house.

In the meantime, Nikolaus went back to the One True God's temple and tried to get someone to listen to his news, but fellow cleric Byron was gone, his chamber cleared out. The rest of the clergy gave Nikolaus a chilly reception. It seemed as if Prime Deacon Teos was expanding his influence on the temple! 

The group went to Chandler Binke's shop. There, they encountered the chandler himself, who seemed to be a bit...off. His skin was pale, his eyes unblinking, and his speech stilted. When they continued to question the man, he attacked them. During the fight, they discovered that one of the bizarre creatures was attached to the man's back. The thing eventually ripped away from the chandler's body (of course, taking the man's skull with it) before escaping down a large drain into the sewers. The party found the body of the chandler's wife as well. She was also missing her skull.

Next, the party went to consult the scholar Goran at the Academy, and he identified the creatures as "star-things" using an old tome of arcane knowledge. These creatures had appeared periodically in the time of the ancients, who for some reason sealed the "seeds" of the dormant creatures in the crypt that was found under the chandler's house.

Onward to session five!