David doing his DM thing, and Chris, who runs Aeryn Sun and Ronin Dex.  

The D&D table. I believe we were using a remote controler to represent a raft.  

I can't say much about this. It will only be funny (and sort of scary) to the actual players. 

Okay, this picture just makes me laugh. First of all, you MIGHT notice the cutting board with cheese on it. It was a very nice white cheddar from Ireland or somewhere. It sort of sat on the table, and eventually got in the way of our playing. But instead of moving it, we just made it part of the game. See a character lying by a piece of cheese? That's Ronin. I wish to the GODS I could remember what that block of cheese was representing at the time, but I can't. He was fighting something, and David decided the cheese would represent it as well as anything because it was big (compared to the miniatures, of course). And the last funny thing - that really isn't so funny to me - see that clear box with a couple of our characters in it? It means they were engulfed by something. We're probably being digested at that point. Like Boba Fett in the Pit of Saarlac (he didn't really die that way, in case you didn't know and were fooled by his last appearance in Return of the Jedi). Dare I say its a GELATINOUS CUBE? Those things are ALWAYS fucking me up!! 

The Wooly Bay and the Wild Coast. We spend a lot of time there. In fact - one of the characters I played in our last campaign is no a MAJOR figure in that part of the world. Our party now has to be leary of her, because she rules a part of this land. Why the hell couldn't that goodness happen when she was actually in my control?? By the way - the orange glowy thing is a tack holding the map to a broken piece of corkboard I got from the office. Yes. Geek out. I tacked the map to big piece of corkboard for reference. Hey - its intricate.  

This is just a cool picture. The four-sided in the foreground, which I'm sure I rolled and screwed something up, because you can see Morgan (in the blue) lying down in the background. And those are my dice. Once upon a time, in a different campaign, those were my God-killing dice. They don't like this campaign. Not at all. Oh, and please notice - Gabriel is down. Again. I'd like to tell you I took these pictures all at the same time, but I didn't. This is every battle we ever fight. But at least in this one Aeryn Sun is down. Don't worry - we all lived. 

Maybe one day I'll learn how to focus on these close-ups. But this is - shocker - Gabriel down, being swarmed by flesh-eating zombies. He almost didn't make it out of there alive.  

This picture is funny in a couple of different ways. First of all, my wizard Morgan is in front, and that should NEVER happen. Second, you can see John's chest in the background as he sits across from me always. Third - the thing in focus is that 6 sided dice - its one of the ones I picked up that looks sort of like it has blood spattered on it. We like that. 

At least this is a picture with my characters still standing. The little square things lying flat represent something that has just started attacking us - I don't remember now what they were. Guards? Zombies? Giant fucking garabage monsters? Who knows. We've seen (heard) it all. 

Some faces to the game. On the right we have David the Dungeon Master, and on the left is John, who runs the characters Vokuro and Elyse. I made that candle, by the way. 

This was Mojito night. When we ran out of club soda, we started pouring coke in to glasses with the leftover lime, sugar, mint, and Bacardi Limon Rum. It was a good idea at the time. We don't always drink when playing (in fact that seems to slow things down - imagine that), but sometimes the mood is right. 

After the battle. Notice my characters are the only two down. From left to right: Vokuro the Ranger, (back) Elyse the Priestess to Oldimarra, (middle - hard to see because he's down) Gabriel the Paladin of Pelor, (front) Aeryn Sun the Thief, Ronin Dex the Fighter/Mage, (and once again - down) Mogan the Wizard. Geek out. We actually use a grid. Geek out even more. We painted our miniatures. 

Okay, okay. Time to update - but I think I'm done with trying to write a story from character perspective. It's too time consuming, and if I don't update right after we play, it just isn't going to get done (obviously). So how about we delve more in to the game itself?
Where do I start? I should say that I've been disconnected from the characters I created this time around - I'm not sure why. Maybe its because the last campaign we played went on for so long and I became so attached to those characters I found it hard to start fresh. But it is finally sinking in. I have a KICK ASS Paladin, who I firmly believe has been helped out by the new dice I bought. I mean - the character is only as good as the roll of the dice, right? So what if he goes down in almost every battle. Our priestess should be healing me WHILE I'm fighting, not after I've already gone to the brink of death and am completely useless until the party has time to rest. And my Wizard? Sure. She's been brought back from the dead, brought back from other planes of existence, and often at great expense to the rest of the party. But hey - don't fucking leave the wizard's cheese out the wind, ok? A wizard should be protected by the party, from a place where she (or he) can safely cast spells to kick everyone's ass. She's quirky. She's a Transmuter - that means she specializes in the school of Alteration, which is essentially the art of turning stuff in to other stuff. But it includes such awesome things as Burning Hands - the capapility of producing an jet of searing flames from her hands in a 120 degree arc. Any creature in the area is incinerated. How cool is that??
I just needed a paragraph to get me started. Look for more soon (I'm only imagining less people read this than my geocaching blog - which means I'm the only one reading this). But no matter. Here are some pictures. I know that's what the kids want.

Planting 5, 583 CY

Many things have come to pass since I have last had time to gather my thoughts. Morgan's teacher and mentor, Jayden, has been murdered. We know not by whom, or why - but Aerynsun's dubious connections at the Thieve's Guild have revealed to us a bounty hunter by the name of Drago, who came in to town asking questions about the wizard there, and any apprentices he may have had. What we do know is that Morgan herself was accused of this heinous crime, an accusation that holds absolutely no merit and all of us know this. A new constable in town - I do not remember his name, nor if pressed would I even be able to describe him - confiscated the spellbook Jayden had given her. He indicated that he would certainly see her punished for this crime. Somehow, it seemed personal. However - Jayden was killed and left dead with a dagger still in his body, and Morgan herself bore dagger marks across her back, though she cannot remember how that might have happened - indeed, her memories are of us at the tavern the night before, and going home to bed. It is as if she has had her memories played upon, or she had been cast under the pall of an Evil spell.
This was only the beginning of our troubles. Zoloff - my adopted home of Zoloff - has been completely destroyed, the citizens slaughtered. While trying to figure out what to do after Morgan was accused, a strange man whom we believe was some type of Druid, passed Morgan an ominous note, which lead us to the orchard outside of town. There, we found a scroll of Detect Invisible and a note from Jayden addressed to Morgan, which means he must have foreseen this - how could that be? Why would he not save himself, and warn Morgan in advance? My friends were convinced that the only course of action was to retrieve her spellbook from the jail. I cannot abide by such lawless action, but the portent of Evil was strong in the air - to fight a great Evil, one must sometimes bend to the will of others who have less.. honorable intentions. Ronin cast 'Sleep' upon the guards, and we barely escaped through the window when the Constable returned. Upon further examination of the spellbook, we discovered clues that lead us to the lighthouse in the lake outside of town - referred to as 'Jayden's Folly', as Morgans mentor is the one who built it. Not long after, it toppled, leaving the bottom half submerged under the lake. There, we did battle with guards that were surely unworthy of whomever they serve, and found ourselves in the depths of the lighthouse that are hidden under the lake. Time and time again I have offered to teach Vokuro, Morgan, and Elise to swim. Morgan was always working out some problem or another or too busy learning the ways of magic to pay heed. Vokuro, being a creature of the forests and lands, seemed uninterested. And Elise - well, her devotion to her god meant that she was many times too encumbered by wine to swim. This presented a problem under the lake, to say the least. The horrors were unimaginable, and I care not to recount them in detail. Centipedes larger than men, leaches larger than that, and the very dead brought to life. By the grace and light of Pelor we made it out alive - but not before stumbling across the legacy of the Bal Magor.

The small town where our party began thier adventures is located in the country of Geoff. 

Standard tools. Paper, pencil, and dice. (those dice in the tube are my special God-killing dice...). 

Playing the game. The only thing missing from the picture is the giant bowl of Gardetto's. 

Coldeven 30, 583 CY

Oerik is falling to Evil. I can feel it in my very bones. I can sense an all-encompassing shadow creeping in from the North. The Shield Lands, my beloved home and all that I know and love, has all ready fallen to Iuz. That is how I found myself, penniless and starving, seeking succor with my distant relatives in a small town in the country of Geoff. I pray nightly to Pelor that his light might wipe the darkness from the Flanaess. That the very light of Pelor himself will shine from my sword, that I might drive it through the rotten heart of Iuz himself.
All cannot be lost when you find yourself surrounded by those that believe in the all-knowing Good. The companions I found in Zoloff, that small town that allowed me to continue on in the name of Pelor, are hardy and have proven again and again that they believe there is no greater cause than the Good for all peoples. Though I do not completely understand the ways of magics nor the wizards that command it, I found myself bound to one mage named Morgan. She is half-elf (on her father's side), and I have learned much about the race of elves through her. Though she was but a student, her natural talents and off-handed way of demonstrating her purity of heart intrigued me from the start. When I found myself in this foreign land, hers was the hand that reached for me, and took pity on me in my time of profound weakness. I have drawn strength from her struggle for knowledge and wisdom, and find myself once again a Knight, a Knight of all Oerik. Through her, I came to know 4 others to whom I am now bound. Ronin Dex she met through her ties to the magics. He is a mysterious one - his magical abilities and mastery of the sword are unique, to say the least. Never have I seen one demonstrate such a diverse knowledge of power. There is great strength in Ronin, strength from which I and everyone around him can draw. And there is his sister - Aerynsun. Of all of my companions, she unnerves me the most. You have never seen one with such smooth dexterity - which can be used for talents that are questionable, at best. I have seen her open an unlocked door with the flick of a wrist, and melt in to the shadows as if she were one of them. That is what unsettles me - she is as one with the shadows. Her intentions are good, but if she strays from the path of the Good, I will not hesitate to restrain her. I will protect her with my life, so long as she does not harm those that we should save. Next, there is Vokuro - an Elf. Unlike Morgan, he possesses all of the mystique of that ancient race - and there is no one I respect more. His abilities in the wilds are without equal. Vokuro has a sense of things - as if the very landscape itself whispers its secrets to him. The man could track a falcon on a cloudy day. I met Elise through him. A Priestess of Olidamarra, she tends toward the frivolous and wears clothing that makes me blush. But though she drinks and dances for her God, she is pure of heart. I feel as though I want to be stronger, so that she may never see darkness. In such a dainty woman lies such healing power as I have never seen. To be touched by her healing hands and feel the White overtake you, surround you, and heal you - it is without comparison. She risks her very life to save others from the brink of death. A more noble cause there could not be.
With these five as my companions, I know not what could harm us now, though the weight of the shadow seems to grow stronger each day.

Gabriel, Paladin of Pelor