Campaign Chronicles

THE BUS STOP Dusty pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward town. The tension in the air was thick. The only sounds were those of the tires on asphalt and the purr of the engine. Greta sat up front in the passenger seat, giving Dusty directions and in less than five minutes, the van pulled up to the bus stop and its shelter. He parked and killed the engine. Everyone sat quietly for a moment. Then Greta threw open her door and stepped out of the van. She grabbed the handle of the sliding door and pulled it open, allowing everyone else to get out. The streetlight buzzed overhead, casting a harsh yellow-white glare. The glass shelter reflected everyone's movements as they piled out. Professor Avery switched on his EMF scanner and was sweeping the area. Max placed the oscilloscope on the front passenger seat and got it started before digging out a rugged-looking camcorder and hitting the "RECORD" button. Greta pointed at the shelter. "That's where it was,...

05 Deepkolt 349 AC PARNITHA'S COMMAND CENTER Cedron steps into the role of administrator. He begins coordinating resources and responsibilities of units of healers, communications, field transport back into battle readiness. “There’s no time to waste. We must be prepared to stand strong!. Prepare the children and elders to be ready to take shelter!” He commands, having seen first hand the fury that can be unleashed by dragons. Romulus nods, "They know what we can do now. They won't commit their full strength against us. They will probe, draw us out, and then strike elsewhere, knowing we can't be everywhere at once." The archmage walks over to Commander Parnitha's war table and looks at the map, looking for vulnerable spots. "And they will send dragons to everywhere we are not." The elven warrior looks at the map as well, circles and dots show the locations of villages. Lines show the roads and trails that connect them. "Supply depots, farmst...

04 Deepkolt 349 AC Kysek, Ra'ziir, Cedron, and Shadow all fly over the battlefield, searching for survivors and any goblins who may be fleeing. Smoke rises from blasted craters and burned bodies. Romulus' conjured blizzard continues to rage throughout the remainder of the day and well into the night. Elven scouts, under the supervision of Commander Parnitha, Ornforithalas, and Raven comb the field, finishing off those few humanoids unfortunate enough to have the survived the overwhelming magical onslaught unleashed upon them by the party's wizards. Raven begins counting the fallen and while he is unable to entire the raging snowstorm, he is able to confirm a little over one-hundred slain enemies. Sifting through the pieces of bodies left behind after being ripped apart by blasting spells, he is able to comfortably estimate at least forty more, although he admits that this number is probably low - bringing the confirmed number of those slain in at around seventy percent of ...

SATURDAY MORNING Greta arrived at the television station early and went inside, still shaken be what she saw on her ride home. She found Dusty smoking in the breakroom, a cup of coffee sitting in front of him. Lionel stood by the counter, getting another pot started. Chet walked in behind her, his dog, Ralph at his side. The golden retriever slid his nose under Greta's hand, prompting her to pet him. She obliged, feeling slightly more normal. "Guys, I want to ask you something," she started. "Have you ever seen anything that wasn't really there?" Dusty blume out a long plume of smoke. "Kid, I toured with Pink Floyd in the 60s. I have seen lots of $^%@ that wasn't there." Chet huffed a laugh. Lionel cracked a smile. Greta rolled her eyes. "I'm serious." Dusty stopped and looked at Greta, studied her. His humor drained away but his tone was still warm, soft. “Yeah,” he says finally. “I’ve seen things that weren’t there.” Avery ...

PROFESSOR AVERY AND MADAME CELESTINE Early Friday evening. Lionel Avery was sitting in the station breakroom having a cup of coffee, having just finished setting up the experiment he was planning to tape for his show the next morning. Madame Celestine was seated across from him. The two, scientist and psychic, had been talking. "Correlation is not causation, Celestine. Humans are pattern-seeking creatures. We find meaning whether it exists or not." He passed her a mug filled with coffee that had been sitting for an unknowable amount of time. Celestine smiled faintly, reaching for a packet of creamer. "And scientists are certainty-seeking creatures, Lionel. You reject meaning if you can't see it under a microscope." The professor stirred his coffee. "Be that as it may, if psychic divination were valid, it would produce measurable, repeatable outcomes." "Not everything meaningful is mechanical, Professor." She drew her tarot deck from a poc...