Christopher Adams's page

I just wanted to say that I love what the Pathfinder crew have done with the lamia. Adding a whole family of lamia-kin was an inspired stroke, and I really enjoy what you've done with them all.

I'm tagging this campaign with "Free Company" in order to distinguish it from everyone else's Rise of the Runelords games here. The name is a bit of an in-joke; all of my friends playing in this game are also members of a World of Warcraft guild of the same name, on the Oceanic server Nagrand.

The PCs

Nartana, played by my wife Lexa.

A human cleric of Desna, the goddess of dreams and travel. Nartana is a member of the Varisian people, who take their name from the region in which these adventures take place. Varisians are a travelling culture, fond of tattoos and fortunetelling, magic and performance. Nartana herself is a well-trained dancer, dance being one of the ways she honours her patron goddess.

Aaron Deverin, played by my friend Owen.

A human paladin of Erastil, the god of farming, hunting, and family. Aaron is a member of a lesser branch of the Deverins, one of the four founding families of Sandpoint; his mother is actually a blood relative of Kendra Deverin, the current mayor, but Aaron's father took her surname out of a desire to further associate himself with such well-regarded people. Aaron is a member of Sandpoint's town guard.

Tali "Nima Gorod" Relevon, played by my friend Sarah.

A human rogue. Tali was born and raised a member of the Gargoyles, an all-female criminal organisation in the nearby metropolis of Magnimar. Recently, she had an affair with a Varisian man named Meleris, who persuaded her to abandon her life of crime and start a new one with him. They arranged to meet in Sandpoint two weeks ago, but she hasn't seen hide nor hair of him. Tali is using the name "Nima Gorod" in an attempt to distance herself from the Gargoyles.

Tharl "the Stupendous", played by my friend Andrew.

A human conjurer. Like Tali, Tharl was born and raised in Magnimar, and apprenticed to the Stone of the Seers, a well-regarded wizards' academy in that city. Unfortunately, it was only his father's glib tongue and occasional luck in gambling dens that enabled Tharl's tuition to be paid (or temporarily forgiven), as the family was in truth quite poor . . . and when his father died recently, Tharl was forced to sell even their tumbledown home in order to pay for the remainder of the year's education. He began supporting himself - barely - by performing stage shows in sleazy dockside bars, but two weeks ago he finally decided to take up an old friend's offer and make a fresh start in Sandpoint.

Backstory

Aaron Deverin was that old friend who offered Tharl a place to stay. Aaron had been sent to Magnimar as a teenager as part of his father's grand plans for his future, and had met Tharl there. The two had become friends and maintained a correspondence over the years. As it happened, Tharl travelled to Sandpoint with the same merchant caravan as Tali.

Aaron also knows Nartana fairly well, since he often involved himself in easing tensions between the permanent residents of Sandpoint and Varisian travellers. When Tali couldn't find Meleris anywhere in Sandpoint, she decided the best way to find out what had happened to him was to get to know some of the Varisians in town. Nartana happened to be performing regularly in the Hagfish, a tavern known for its rough clientele but lively entertainment (and the place where Tali was staying), so they became casual friends as a result.

The final piece of backstory for these characters ties Aaron Deverin to the town's history a little more. One of Chopper's victims was a young man named Jared, Aaron's best friend growing up. When Aaron was sent to Magnimar, unfortunately, Jared and Aaron's fiancee Aya grew too close to each other and fell in love.

It's a great source of guilt for Aaron that the day he found out and confronted Jared (in a raging argument that left the two former friends angry rivals) was also the day that Jared was brutally murdered. Since then, Aaron and Aya have had to deal with not only their broken engagement but also their mutual sorrow over Jared's death. It's not exactly easy on either of them, let's just say.

. . . that I placed my first order for Planet Stories books today: Black God's Kiss and Elak of Atlantis.

Looking forward to them!

I see your name on the Dragon (Online) #360 "Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Graz'zt" article!

Interesting name for the world!

Any news? :)

Is there any chance Paizo will begin accepting American Express in the near future?

I'm prepared to pay a surcharge to cover the increased transaction fee, but I really don't want to continue using my wife's Visa card or my father's MasterCard to shop and subscribe.

Session Zero

Last night (Wednesday March 28) my Savage Tide group got together to create characters at a player's house in Surry Hills.

The characters are as follows:

• Mike (Michaela) Cannith, an artificer of House Cannith, originally from Metrol, who lost her family in the Day of Mourning.
  
• Alth, a gnome druid, formerly enslaved by a wealthy family of Sasserine and only recently set free.
  
• Amadeus Orien, a fighter of House Orien, originally from Sharn, who left his family name and former identity behind when he left his home.
  
• Lutagnan d'Orien, a dragonmarked sorcerer of House Orien, originally from Sharn, younger brother of Amadeus and the reason for his brother's self-imposed exile.
  
• Silk, a warforged rogue, an amnesiac cared for and employed by the parents of Amadeus and Lutagnan, accompanying the latter on his adventures to keep him safe.
  
• A nameless (by custom) tribal wizard from the Shadow Marches, very far from home, prone to giving the people he meets strange poetic names.

The various members of this party had been invited to dinner by Lady Lavinia Vanderboren of Sasserine, in order to hear her offer of employment in a difficult matter she could not personally resolve. Amadeus's obvious shock and discomfort at seeing his younger brother made the dinner a strained affair, though Lutagnan himself seemed oblivious.

In any case, Lady Vanderboren's generous offer of 200 gold pieces to each adventurer for the recovery of her ship, the Blue Nixie, from the clutches of the harbourmaster's shady lieutenant, Soller Vark, got everyone's attention. Once dinner was concluded they seemed resolved to make for the harbour immediately, to resolve her problem one way or another.

That's where we left it at the end of the night. Whenever we manage to schedule the next session, we'll see about getting Vark and his men off the Blue Nixie!