Art Trades Round Up: Stuff Folk have done for Me

As Promised, here are the completed trades I got in return. I'm still awaiting drawings of Damon, Nero and Carnack, hopefully I will be able to update this with them fairly soon. Artists pages are linked, and Images link to full work on deviantart unless otherwise stated.

Jocasta by Jackcrowder and Chibi-con





Trust by Neko1098



Azreal by General-ebonrose



Kara by Saone



Sakari by Deliawliet



Original is now in storage, so unable to link direct.

Katie by Klerric



A bit of a deviation from the original design, but I quite like it. I've also now taken the striped top for Katie's current design.

Lerissa by Something-Dead and Kilala909





Sofia by KungfooKelly



KungfooKelly is sadly no longer on deviantart, so I no longer have any contact details for her, or a link the original image. Shame.

Megi by Cipire



Zantir by Ladybugxlove



A big thank you to all the artists involved, and especially for getting back to me when others didn't. It seems likely I'll be going back to doing trades at some point in the future after looking at the quality of the work on display here.

Right then, off to America for two and a half weeks. See You!

Art Trades Round Up: The Highs and Lows of 2011 Thus Far

Ok, its a real downer to say this but I've been doing these trades for quite a while, and while its up's were great its downs have made me say I'm through with it.

It was with an eager heart and a prepared mind that I set forth earlier this year to have a crack at doing art trades. I had a great time doing requests last year, and decided that this year I'd be able to create some exciting new work, learn a few things and get a few interesting takes on me and my friends own characters. I wanted to give the trades some purpose, so I had the idea to ask the other artists contributions to be used as profile pictures of each of our Dnd characters and NPC's.

Unfortunately my experience doing these art trades wasn't entirely the experience I'd hoped it would be. What I thought would take two to three months ended up taking more like six, and the entire project was marred with difficulties getting people interested, hearing back from others, and particularly painful was completing my end of the agreement only to never hear back from the other artist again.

I'm not suggesting that said individuals didn't have a good reason, but by and large I was never given an explanation. I'd be perfectly fine with just a quick messages saying 'sorry I've been too busy' or something, and if anyone out there wants to get in touch to let me know, well and good.

It wasn't all bad though, it was an absolute thrill seeing these characters brought to life by other talents, and I loved every minute of having a bash at their requests. We'll be taking a look at the great stuff the other artists came up with next week, but right now I'm going to showcase what I'd done for my half of the trades. You can really see how I picked things up along the way.

For full, high res images, as well as links to the creators pages, visit the Requests and Trades part of my gallery. All characters belong to the requester, unless otherwise stated.

General-EbonRose, Devil and Sark



Kicking things off, I decided to advertise my trades on the Deviantart Dnd group. General-EbonRose was the only one to take up the offer. In gratitude I did not one, but two of her dnd characters. It was early days yet, so I was content to wait for a few more responses.

deliawliet, Trouble



After a while of no interest, the mountain was going to have to come to Mohammed, as the proverb goes. Scanning the projects section of the forum, I found others interested in doing trades and requests. Some responded, others didn't, some would abandon the discussion with little to no explanation. Deliawliet wasn't one of those though, and in return I did one of her characters from her 'Trouble' piece. I was watching a lot of Trailer Park Boys at the time, hence the rum and coke.

Saone, Allicra



It was about this point that the high point of the trades kicked off. I'd picked up a lot of interest and was working with a lot of great artists. I wanted to do something different for Saone, who gave a choice of several of her characters. It'd been a while since I'd done some sci-fi, so Allicra was the perfect antidote. I really like how this one came out.

ButteredEggs, Wolves Flying Spitfires



ButteredEggs requested something involving Wolves, so I came up with this bonkers idea. I really loved doing this and got a great response, so its a shame I didn't hear back from ButteredEggs, other than an early mention that her tablet got eaten by a friends dog. When querying this later I got no response.

Klerrik, Kloe



Klerrik was a great artist to work with, thats all you need to know. In return I chose to have a go at his characer Kloe.

something-dead, Dezonia



something-dead's request of her character Dezonia really drove me to work hard on drawing wings, and ever since I've been glad of the practice it gave me.

KungFooKelly, 100 Acre Militia



The ever patient KungFooKelly asked only for something involving Winnie the Pooh. After knocking about a few attempts, she gave me this idea of a fantasy version of Piglet. Piglet and Winnie the Pooh were created by A A Milne and the version I based it on, from Disney, of course.

neko1098, Hetalia Japan America



America and Japan from Hidekaz Himaruya's Axis Powers Hetalia. Neko1098 was great to work with, so again, I was feeling generous and did both of them.

jackcrowder, Cool Spot



Jackcrowder wasn't sure of exactly what he wanted in return, so just asked me to do something of the video game character that taxed my time as a kid. Step in Cool Spot of 7-Up fame, who's game by Virgin interactive had me chewing walls for years.

Chibi-Con, Mr Jenkins



Casual super powers this time, as well as a bash at doing an older character, of Chibi-Con's Mr Jenkins.

ladybugxlove, Magic



Unnamed character from a piece by ladybugxlove called Magic. I had free reign on the colours, and was chuffed that she liked how it came out.

DhamaNow, Rorschach



This piece for DhamaNow really got me thinking about light and shadow, and changed the way I now colour and shade artwork. It was a really progressive piece for me. DhamaNow, sadly, I never heard back from.

monstermo44, Nadine



Nadine, monstermo44's character, who was still only in the concept phase. I wasn't sure if I got the hair colours right as a result. Monstermo44 said he'd be out of town for a while, and I never heard back.

Cipire, Link



Cipire wasn't sure what he wanted for a trade either, but eventually decided he wanted me to have a go at Link from Nintendo's Legend of Zelda. I had a bit of fun messing with the Trifoce iconography.

Saone, Zen



Another one for Saone this time, and looking at Zen, you can really see how far I'd come. Saone didn't finish her side of this one, but has mentioned this, so I'll let her off with if because I liked doing this one so much.

el-guero, Lina



Lina, el-guero's character. He's still working on his side of the trade.

kilala909, Syrina



It seems I have to do at least one catgirl during my request period, here's kilala909's character Syrina in human(ish) form.

General-EbonRose, The Inevitable



And finally, going full circle, we have another trade with General-EbonRose. This time its of her prominent Dnd NPC The Inevitable. She's still working on her side of this trade. I have every confidence she'll come through with it.

One final note goes to lespapillions, who's doing a request for me but wasn't sure what she wanted in return. I'll maybe come up with something for her when she's done, so watch this space.

Next week we run through the trades I got back, which are a real treat, just you wait and see.

An Unofficial Soundtrack to Ian Flemming's James Bond

You know, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think its time I told you that I do have other semi-professional interests other than writing and drawing guff about Dungeons and Dragons, which I have been doing a hell of a lot recently. Writing and drawing are good, but I also have profound interest in music, be it its history or theory. I sort-of-used-to-be-able-to play the piano, currently teaching myself the guitar, and I've been a DJ on hospital radio for probably more than three years now.

The thing I like most about music though, it applying it to non musical mediums. In most cases, books and comics. Today I am going to write about applying music to a series of books you may have heard of. This series is the 'James Bond' series by Sir Ian Fleming. To complement this, I have attempted to produce a poster that combines many of the elements of the series. Click the image to see a description of what you're looking at if you can't guess.

The interesting thing about the series was how massively different they were to their (arguably) more popular cinematic counterparts. I remember reading Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, which featured a character based on Bond (but never mentioned by name). This character 'Jimmy' was an antagonist. He was misogynist to the point of sexual aggression, he was bloodthirsty, overconfident, sociopathic and borderline psychopathic at times. Having only the experience of the film Bonds at the time, I didn't see the connection. Having now read Flemings series I now see that this is almost exactly what the original character was like. On that note I'll mention I deliberately read the books visualizing the charters differently than who portrayed them in the films (most were described differently anyway) and pictured Bond himself as the original illustration from the Daily Express.

The series itself has some highs and lows. My particular favorites would be From Russia with Love, Dr. No, Thunderball and On Her Majesties Secret Service. Downers in particular would be Goldfinger, which I found pretty boring in places and leaves a pretty bad taste in the mouth after some pointless commentary on homosexuality, and then theres The Spy Who Loved Me, which is so bad it doesn't bare mentioning. Other than that, the series overall was a pleasurable experience, though much of the social commentary is dated, or just plain wrong, by modern standards, but Bond grows on you to the point where you love him and hate him in equal measure. He'd probably beat all the other Bonds hands down, but only by fighting dirty.

And so enough waffle, I give you my own personal soundtrack to Ian Flemming's James Bond series. I tired to keep music 'of the era' but did cheat a bit in places.

Casino Royale: Luck Be a Lady – Frank Sinatra

Bond plays cards, has a bad experience in the bedroom department. Twice.



Live and Let Die: I Put a Spell on You – Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Bond proves he is not quite racist, Felix gets disfigured by sharks.



Moonraker: Sky Pilot – Eric Burden and The Animals

Bond Plays cards, eats food and trips out on Benzedrine. Also something about a rocket and mustaches being evil.



Diamonds are Forever: It's a Man's Man's Man's World – James Brown

Bond fights gangsters, homosexuals, and homosexual gangsters.



From Russia With Love: Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley

"What do you propose?" "It's simple: We, uh, kill James Bond."



Dr. No: Cold Cold Heart – Hank Williams

Bond fights a tractor, a giant squid and a metal clawed Chinaman. Also we find out what 'chigros' are.



Goldfinger: A Satisfied Mind – Johnny Cash

Bond plays golf for a bit. Then manages to put an end to the robbery of Fort Knox and Lesbianism in one foul swoop.



For You're Eyes Only: Let's Hang On (To What We've Got) – Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

Bond find communists and villains hiding everywhere. He also finds out that marriage isn't all its cracked up to be.



Thunderball: I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire – The Ink Spots

Jimmy and Felix's grand day out.



The Spy Who Loved Me: Two Sleepy People – Hoagy Carmichael

The sexual adventures of an English socialite. Also James Bond is in there somewhere I think.



On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Riding Along In my Automobile – Chuck Berry

Oh man where to begin? It's literally the best week of you're life. A day at the beach, followed by The Don telling you he's now you're best friend. Then you get pissed with this guy who's just like you. Then you get sent to a ski resort full of undersexed young women. Then you get more pissed, have a go with the bob sled, meet the girl of you're dreams, take a helicopter ride and battle you're way through a mountain complex, stop the bad guys and get married. Ruined forever when you're new wife gets shot.



You Only Live Twice: I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive – Hank Williams

Jimmy and Tiger's night on the town. Ruined by a clingy Japanese Girl (understatement).



The Man With the Golden Gun: Anything Goes – Cole Porter/Frank Sinatra

Brainwashed Bond tries to kill M. M sends back to Jamaica to get drunk and kill Scaramanga. A woman has sex with a giant hand. Bond turns down a knighthood.





Octopussy and The Living Daylights: In My Life – The Beatles

Bond's swan song. He ties up some loose ends, and teaches you, the reader, how to make the perfect breakfast.



All music © they're respective owners. James Bond is © Fleming and EON, whichever applicable.

It's been nice knowing you Jimmy. You fucking lunatic.

Divine Intention: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gods - Part 4

Chapter 9 Part 2
Cool for Cats

“What attracted Lerissa to Carnack is mostly unknown. If there was a sexual or emotional element to it this was almost certainly unseen. There have been many debates over Carnack Cousland's sexuality and lack thereof, but there is not a single documented case that indicates he was ever interested in any sexual fulfillment. As a result then we can say with good confidence that the two's relationship was platonic at best. A practical man like Carnack found Lerissa's abilities to be of great use, and likewise Lerissa found Carnack's stone free lifestyle to be a more desirable future than the stuffy politics of Farrelite society she was intended for.”
- Simon Niel – Strange Acquaintances

Meanwhile, Carnack and Lerissa decide to leave Megi and Damon to their own plan and to take care of the other Generals themselves. Naturally without the DM's character around to shoehorn (or indeed abuse) us into following a specific route, Carnack and Lerissa were free to deal with the situation in their favorite manner. By setting things on fire. It wasn't all easy though, the DM decided that we weren't going to get away with it, and had the camp attacked by driders, giving us the choice of either aiding the soldiers or using the attack to finish them off. The general took a fireball to the face, and Lerissa used her teleportation to get her and Carnack out of there before they got a nommed' by spiders.

The group finally reunites with a frosty atmosphere between them. One of the targets remained before the Varassian forces could be united. This last general was specifically an extremist when it came to the Varassian fear of magic, which made it really easy to capitalise upon. The plan this time was unanimously agreed. Damon would use his divine costume changing powers to make himself a high priest and the general a secret member of the Black Hand. The rest of our characters would create the desired illusion that he was casting magic. Damon's player, who himself was very adept in dramatics, relished this part, verbally crucifying the general in front of the Varssian troops, who was executed shortly afterwards.

Chapter 10
Diplomatic Inconsistencies

“So then, came the siege of Memmnon City. Defending were the conspiring Black Hand, the bulk of who's force was made up of the members of the populace that had bought into the preachings of their puppet dictator, Revenant. On the attacking side were the united forces of the Farrelite invaders and the remaining free forces of Varassia not under Black Hand rule. The battle was almost certainly one sided, and once the walls were breeched, the defending forces were almost instantaneously routed. Many fought on however, to what would be the bitterest of ends.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

The endgame was finally in sight. I confess that the first half of this session was all a little bit of a muddle to me. Deciding to be a bit of an arsehole (as Carnack would be anyway) my character found himself excluded from most of the diplomatic talks between the two sides. From what I do remember though, is that Damon did most of the talking, and the best he got from the xenophobic commander of the loyalists was that as soon as the city was taken they would turn against the Farrelites. This didn't really sit well with Megi but beggars can't be choosers eh?
The next half of the session involved breaching the city gates to allow the army to enter. This involved using Megi and Lerissa's teleportation abilities to bypass the walls. Lerissa and Carnack decided to sit out Damon's confrontation with the guards by climbing a drainpipe and hiding on a roof. Finally though the group split up to secure the area, and Carnack was the one nominated to tackle the gatehouse. Fortunately he passed his stealth check, sneaked in, dispatched the guards and allowed the army to enter the city.

Chapter 11
And May Your God Go With You

“What remained of the cleric known as Tom was a creature of high emotion and lack of empathy. Revenant was known to sway between theatrical feats of benevolence and fits of pure rage. The power he had been granted was far beyond his control, and the more he tried to harness it the more it railed against him. By the time of his final battle he was nothing more than a shell holding back divine and infernal fire and fury. A force nothing in the realms could reasonably harness. Those who choose to remember Tom, do so only thinking of the simple man that wanted to change the world”
Denton Romulus - Bound for Glory: Those who dared to change the Realms

And finally, the payoff. The group of four practically ran into battle against Revenant's divine forces, eager for combat. There had been enough talk and negotiation, now was the time for action. Revenant was almost unstoppable, and a helluva lot of healing surges had to be used to keep our guys on their feet. I'm pretty sure that Damon was knocked down at least once, Carnack and Lerissa came close. Fortunately with each drop in Revenant's health, he would harness more of his power from within, showing cracks in his visage and lowering his AC, Reflex and Fortitude, as well as the power of his attacks.
After steamrolling the divine lord it all became too much for him, and trying to harness the last of his reserves he ended up almost imploding and melting himself. Leaving nothing but a charred corpse welded in his final stance. The city was now liberated, but it wasn't over yet, there was one more score to settle...

“Unbeknown to many, the former head mage of Farrel had been scheming for longer than many had anticipated. He had attained litchood many centuries ago, and used his guile and cunning to draw attention away from his agelessness and dabbling in the infernal powers. He had planned to use the chaos in Verassia to help himself to divine magesty. The mage had planned to use these powers to further harness the Palantír, one of the legendary spherical artifacts that contain vast arcania and knowledge. With the death of Revenant, and the fall of the Black Hand, he had nothing left but to try and consolidate it now, his last chance being the power held within the cleric Damon.
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

The head mage symbolized that last and most important goal for our characters. To Carnack it was through the mage's death that he might finally obtain the ancient texts that would give further clues involving the ancient map. To Megi, he was the key to her finally graduating to rank within Farrellite society. To Damon, he was an affront to everything he stood for, he had been the cause of Damon losing the grace of Ioun. To Lerissa, who knows.

The battle was equally as hard at Revenant, if not more so, but being the final battle it gave our characters the chance to roll out everything they had. In desperation, the mage harnessed the power of his magic orb, which would obliterate everything. Damon finally grasped the abilities of his divine power he had obtained from the sleeper, and thew himself at the orb in order to contain it. This led to a battle of wills between Damon and the mage, as the two fought against each other in fierce mental combat.

Damon won out, just. It had been agreed between his player and the DM, that Damon would be given a heroic sacrifice to bridge this campaign for to the next. The session ended with Damon's funeral. What a downer.

Conclusion

“...and so the period of malcontent had begun. With Revenant's death, Memmon city had returned to the crippled visage caused by the great fire, and the lycantrhopic plague returned to the fringes. The driders were still pressing the mountainous regions, seeking resources and slaves. Farrel now controlled the country, though loosely at that, as after the siege many of the loyalists broke lose again to continue a war of attrition against the invaders. Revenant's charred remains persisted, forever a reminder of how they got there.
To the bordering nations, Farrel was now looked upon with suspicion. Once a trusted trade ally, kingdoms like Wardovia, Andavia and Florantine begun to ask themselves if they would soon become the next target of Farrelite ambitions. Diplomatic relations between the states, soon became strained.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

“Despite being awarded respectable titles and land, Lerissa had no interest in returning to Farrel. Instead, she and Carnack disappeared for a time, likely involved somehow in Carnack's continuing quest into the mystery of the Bahamut shield he encountered in Wardovia. The question remains if this was still a mystery to Carnack, as since obtaining the Farrelite texts, he seemed to have a smug air of knowing exactly what he was doing from this point on.”
- Ella Howe – Not Now, Not Ever: Existences most Wanted

“Megi was granted a more than modest reward for her services. She was given substantial land within Farrel and a position of Mage Minister within the governmental organisation. She chose to defer her seat however, instead to see more of the realms. As to whether there were noble or devious intentions to this choice, remains to be seen.”
- Crispin Lennon – I Don't Want to Spoil the Party: Famous Farrelites

“On the day of his remembrance, Damon's values shone through. It was presided by a prestigious high priest of Ioun. It was attended by many who had fought alongside him, those from the Wardovia Job, the affairs in Verassia, and even old ship hands from his sailing days. Nothing would show his importance more, however, than the arrival of an old acquaintance, seeking the Cleric's aid in a time of dire need. Without Damon, he would have to rely on those who knew him best, and hope his values would shine through them also...”
- 'Tripshot' Murphy - Anthem: The Adventures of Damon Volume 2

Divine Intention: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gods - Part 3

Chapter 6
Not That Type of Fencing

“The hidden city was an unusual blind spot in Varassian society. Its inhabitants lived relatively normal lives despite living in an underground city guarded by a secret entrance. The cities inhabitants were mostly miners who made their fortunes by selling their boons to the rest of the kingdom. To other Varassians, the city was a complete unknown. Few questioned where the minerals came from, and even the cities leaders were in blissful ignorance. This made the city the perfect headquarters for the cult of the sleepers, but unfortunately backfired when the Drider Queen led her invasion force into the city. When the city asked for aid by anyone and everyone, they were simply wrote off as being mad or delusional. Not that it would have made much of a difference, as what was left of Varassian society at this point had bigger problems.”
- Gabriella Burke – Mapping the Realms Underdark

Using the information gleaned by the groups less than scrupulous methods, they headed north to find and unusual cave system with what seemed like some kind of magic puzzle lock. A pressure plate opened a hidden door, which meant somebody would have to stay behind. This was averted though as Lerissa could merely teleport through. This was double averted when we found a switch on the inside that could open and close the door at will anyway.

Carrying on we were presented with a fabulous underground city. The city was not, as I anticipated it would be, populated by drow. It did however house the members of the secret cult, which meant Megi could not be far. After a bit of sneaking it turns out that the city is under siege by the driders. The group steals some uniforms to try and fit in, but get caught off guard, and get roped in to building some barricades. At this point myself and Damon's player decided to play it cool, setting up the barricades and waiting for the opportunity to slip away. Lerissa's player got impatient though, and wandered off. Said opportunity never came either, as the driders set upon the barricade and Carnack and Damon had to dispose of both the defenders and the attackers.

Chapter 7
Harder, Faster, Better, Madder

“Spiders man. They freak me out.”
- Popular Saying

“Boobs”
- Azreal of the order of Bahamut, on driders.

Reuniting with Lerissa, the group sneak around behind the drider lines to locate the prison that Megi had been taken to. Fortunately they locate it without any major difficulty. Once inside however, things end up a bit chaotic, especially when the accidentally explode a group of fleeing convicts. Megi is located, being not much the wiser of what the hell is going on. Everything seems hunky dory though. Until we arrive at the prison courtyard.

Its only the bloody Drider queen isn't it? She's none to happy about the group not taking her up on the offer of capturing her some slaves, and decides it would be better just to off us all. Carnack gets webbed right at the start, leaving me rolling for saves for most of the battle. Damon goes to town with everything in his arsenal, with little effect, ditto for Lerissa, who's player at this point has a bit of a crisis feeling redundant. Megi dishes out the damage, but given that she's the DM's character its hard to tell how much of this was automatic.

Finally I roll a save, Carnack frees himself to make up for lost time, and the whole group rallies and manages to pull the battle back into favor. The Queen goes down unexpectedly easily. The remainder of the session revolves around us locating another one of the sleepers. This involves us finding a teleportation room, then taking the characters each to an individual white room. Carnack's helm of true site comes in handy here, locating the method of exiting the room. Damon just batters everything till he can escape. This seems to work equally as well. With the final sleepers located, the DM has us roll a will check, and its Damon that wins out to get his hands on the divine power.

Chapter 8
Pure Gibbing Clensa

“The Farrelite invasion was not only unexpected by Varassia itself but also the many factions who where capitalising on the chaos created by the great fire. With the ascension of Revenant, many of the Variassian forces seceded from the governing body, preferring to side with the invaders than defend a regime that they hardly knew. Not all felt this way however. In particular the aggressive and devoutly patriotic Lord “General Scream” Scrathe and his associates preferred to fight outnumbered and under supplied against all comers, even their fellow Varassians, than side with the invaders.
Scrathe was a problem that prevented the Farrelites from attempting a peaceful transition of power, as well as directing an overwhelming force against Memmnon City. It is widely believed that they chose to employ some independent assassins to take care of Scrathe's vocal supporters in order to force him to rejoin the remaining free forces.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Damon's god-like powers had yet to manifest fully, only currently giving him the ability to change peoples clothes in an instant. Not very useful but he did like putting Carnack into a dress. Hooking up with the invading forces they are told that they're best course of action would be to try and create an alliance with forces not affiliated with Revenant. In return Megi and Lerissa were offered their final graduation, Damon himself had an oath to Ioun to free the country from false godhood, and Carnack just wanted the arcane texts from Farrel's former head mage.
The group head off to seal an alliance. The first Varassian rebels seem quite enthusiastic about the idea, but advise that the other rebels would not be so agreeable. In that case the lieutenants of the others would have to be silenced in order to make the general even consider the idea. The first lieutenant to be eliminated didn't exactly go according to plan. Damon had used his powers to conjure disguises for the group, giving them perfect cover. The idea was to have Megi and Carnack wait just outside the camp, while Damon and Lerissa would signal when the target was alone using Megi's familiar. When this happened, Megi would open an arcane gate and Carnack would silently dispose of him. Instead Damon decided to let the rebel encampment and rather randy leader know that Lerissa was female, to which he decided he would take some liberties with her.

Suffice to say the plan went quite tits up, Lerissa tried to fight off the target, Carnacks shot went wide and instead Lerissa ended up burning the entire camp down before escaping with her dignity, just. Carnack displayed uncharacteristic chivalry after seeing what Damon had intended to do (or maybe it was just that he was pissed off that his well laid plan didn't work out) and the two ended up in a fight.

The second lieutenant was easier to dispose of. He was taking on challengers in a fighting ring, and if bested would pass on command of the camp. Carnack put on his best mock noble appearance and fought for the title. He won, thankfully, and ordered the camp to join up with the free Varassian forces.

Chapter 9 Part 1
Two's Company

“Despite the fact that the invasion force had the distinct advantage of employing magic on the field of battle, something the Varassian armies would never dare, they were still only backed by a small island nation. The Varrassian forces however, clearly had the numbers, though now fractured and disorganized. The deciding factor would always depend on leadership, and what held the Farrelite line back time and time again was always down to the fear that radiated from the loyalist generals. Without these generals, the command structure would all come crashing down.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Three generals remained and this session began with the group making its way towards an impending clash of armies. There was a big disagreement in the group on how to deal with this general, but the consensus was that the best way would be to off him during battle. Damon had used his newfound powers to disguise everyone as soldiers. However Carnack had disagreed with Damon and Megi on how to deal with this, and Lerissa had decided to sit this one out in a tree after being nagged one too many times. Carnack ended up being restrained by Damon and kicked about by Megi after trying to convince the generals that Megi was pregnant as cover, culminating with him being tied up and dumped in the medical tent to calm down. No word of a lie, at this point I was ready to walk out, since the DM had given us no indication of the best way to complete this task, and then having my player character humiliated for trying to find a solution.

I calmed down however. Lerissa had arrived and decided that if Megi and Damon wanted to handle the situation on its own, then they were welcome to, and untied Carnack. The two then left to deal with the remaining generals. As for Megi and Damon, they rather ham fistedly awaited the battle and tampered with the siege engines to fire on their own ranks. In the chaos, they managed to locate the general and do away with him before escaping into the woods. Damon's player was worried that there were driders in the woods, but the DM stated that there were not. There were however, driads in the wood, and that they particularly wanted to sleep with Damon.

This also turned out to be unture.

Divine Intention: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gods - Part 2

Chapter 2
Out of the Frying Pan

“The holy fire of Memmnon city was one of the great disasters to the nation of Varassia prior to its time of turmoil. How the fire came about few people know, though many theorize that it was an act of sabotage or arson by the thieves guild against one of their supposed enemies. What few people were told however, is that the investigation shortly after discovered that the fire itself had a magical origin. This was of great concern to the city officials, who had kept the nation free of the blasphemous magic for decades. Ironic then, that it was the cities inexperience of magic that prevented them from combating it with any great effectiveness.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Damon's player couldn't make this session so we had his character take the long way round to meet us next time. Starting off, our characters are summoned by the head mage of Farrel and offered a job to steal a holy book from the vault of a rival city, Memmnon, in the anti-magical nation of Varassia. Arriving in the city, our characters poke around a bit till they are contacted by members of the local thieves guild who have an offer of mutual gain. Also rearing her head however, is Trust, the DM's original character, who has ambitions of her own.

“Taking what she had learned from her earlier adventures, Trust had worked up the ranks of the Varassian thieves guild astoundingly quickly. The top position was tantalizingly out of her reach though, as the magic fearing Varassians dared not consider leadership by a planes touched tiefling. It was providence then, it seemed, that sent Carnack Cousland to her, seeking favor to enter the Varassian vault. A seemingly unsolvable situation, coupled with a man with no morals, could tip the balance of the Varassian underworld in her favor.”
Ezio de Sirenze – Here We Stand: The Teifling Peoples Road to Acceptance

So, Trust offers our group a different option: Assassinate the leader of the thieves guild. The DM had set this up so that, upon investigation we would find that there was tension between the guild leader and his house servant, allowing our characters to redirect suspicion. This didn't work too well though, as for the first of many times Carnack and Lerissa agreed that a house fire gone out of control would work much better.
The DM made sure this wasn't without consequence however. The group get spotted, to which Carnack jumps on Lerissa's back as she teleports away, landing them in a noble's garden. As the fire rages, it takes a quarter of the city with it. Killing thousands, ruining trusts plans, and leaving the city on alert from suspicious foreigners. Only Trust and Megi were bothered by this , mirroring the DM's disdain for us bypassing his setup, Lerissa was as indifferent as her players predecessor character Azreal. Carnack himself doesn't care how many die as long as it gets the job done.

“The cleric known only as Tom, from parts unknown, was a gentle soul. He had not a bad bone in his body, and was willing to do what it would take to set right the world's wrongs. In his travels, he had heard the legends of the sleepers, and saw a way to use these legends to re-shape the injustices of our world”
Denton Romulus - Bound for Glory: Those who dared to change the Realms

Busting into the vault was easy money, nabbing Carnack a Helmet of True Sight and the others a few other magical items. Things were soon to go downhill though, as the aforementioned magical tome was nabbed by an enigmatic and seemingly indestructible cleric called Tom. This put the group in an uncomfortable position, leaving us to pander to the cleric to try and obtain the tome.

Chapter 3
That Old Corker about Stepping into my Parlor

“The drider infestation of northern Varassia is not nearly as old as people think. The nations ancient stories of horrific monsters stealing people away at night are often attributed to actual encounters with the driders, but this actually comes from good old fashioned Varassian paranoia.. The driders arrival in the region only occurred not fifteen years ago.
Running out of resources in what was the great mines of Lolth's providence, many groups splintered from the Drow empire in search of carving out their own fortune. The crust under Varassia was a natural target, since the nations aversion to magic meant that is was practically untapped for resources that would have normally been taken for rituals. Digging their way north, the drow failed to anticipate that they would garner the attention of the driders, and upon arrival were set upon. Without the protection from the empire, it was the Drider Queen who exerted command over this new settlement, but her ambitions would soon lead her beyond the cavernous depths.”
- Gabriella Burke – Mapping the Realms Underdark

Damon rejoins us this session, oblivious to the chaos that Carnack had unleashed on the unsuspecting city dwellers. Taking shelter at a convenient inn, the group is then faced by a bunch of mysterious cultists, who take a particular interest in the cleric Tom. Carnack and Damon play dumb, but this backfires when the cultists decide to take the others hostage. Carnack and Damon continue to play dumb, and the others are taken away. Begrudgingly, the two decide a rescue is in order, as Tom still has the items they require.
Damon and Carnack track the cultists to a nearby village, and discover a secret hide out under a temple. Much to the surprise of the priest. Unfortunately, only Megi and Lerissa are within, and Tom has mysteriously vanished. Great. Ancient stone murals direct the group to the mountains in the north, which they head to, being their only lead at the moment.
When they get to the mountains they discover them to be inhabited by the spider-like Driders. Carnack surmises that they might be reasonable and for once takes the diplomatic option. They are not reasonable, and the group suffers another tough beat down before finally overcoming them.

It's about this point that my comic Nobody's Heroes takes place.

Chapter 4
Running on Empty

“Our Goal – To never allow the tyranny of divinity and magic sully this nation again. To never allow those to posses the power of Gods. To never allow the breaking of the ancient codes. The sleepers must not awaken. To this we will give our lives, and take the lives of others if necessary. We choose to discard our morality to this end. Choose the possibility of damnation. Choose to make choices that others would not make. For the good of our country. The sleepers must not awaken.
- Creed of the Cult

After battling through the caves against driders and a particularly nasty Beholder, the Drider Queen decides to give our characters the grace of an audience. She happens to know where Tom may be heading, and offers part of the solution in return for raiding a nearby village for slaves. Normally not fazed by such actions, Carnack does reason that potentially an escaped slave could make the entire group a target for the authorities, but on the other hand the usually pious Damon has no problem with this plan. They agree temporarily, then decide they may have a better option.
Heading north they investigate the spreading plague of werewolves. In what ultimately turns into a confused muddle, Damon and Carnack contract the curse, but find that Tom has been somewhere near and conveyed the cure to the locals. Along the way they discover that the cult has been spreading out and streaking its muscles. In turn, so have returning conspirators the Black Hand.
It gets worse, they then find a mystical grove, shielded against all but Carnack, who's atheism is not affected by it. In the grove an ancient tomb houses two mysterious angels and an empty container that appears to have been tampered with. By Tom. With recent lycanthropy resolved, Megi, the only character that seems to have been dishing out any damage in combat encounters, is then kidnapped. Great.

Chapter 5
You should have Specified

“Discredited and exposed in Wardovia, the Black Hand needed to consolidate their efforts in order to make up for the loss of their stomping ground. Varassia was a natural choice, since their rampant anti-magic paranoia was an ideal environment to manipulate. Fortuitous it was then, or so it seemed at the time, that the emergence of Revenant, a seemingly benign messiah, occurred almost immediately. For all his miraculous power, Revenant was exceedingly trusting of anyone he came into contact with, making him the perfect puppet dictator.
One small problem still remained however, the power that Revenant has obtained had come from an ancient sleeping God.. Should another individual access similar power, they would be able to rival Revenant. Fortunately for them, their newest member, former Head of the Farrelite Mages Academy, had advised them of all this. He also brought news of another issue. Invasion.
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Returning to the magically restored city, our group are granted an audience with Tom. It doesn't go well. Tom is now the god-dictator of the nation, a puppet of the Black Hand and as mild mannered as usual. He doesn't take well to intimidation either, and throws Carnack out on his ass. Trouble finds the group wherever they go, and Damon's player decides its all too much and voluntarily dies. I'm having none of this silliness though, and Carnack passes a skill check to pull Damon back out of the afterlife.
As it turns out Farrel have decided to be a bit ambitious and take advantage of the chaos by invading. The group have a word with their original quest giver, who it turns out has the book, won't pay them and is now working for the Black Hand. Bugger. With no other option then, the group offers its services to the invading forces, who help them out a bit in locating Megi. Heading back to the secret hideout under the temple. Carnack and Lerissa do a spot of torture. Carnack's choice of putting one poor individual out of his misery involves him sticking his thumbs through his eye sockets into his brain. Horrible, but damn it was fitting for the character.

Divine Intention: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gods - Part 1

“The period of malcontent is often cited to have begun with the resolution of the Wandering War, or in some circles a direct consequence of the events of the Wardovia Job. Undeniably the first true acts of the period of malcontent are the events that took place in Varassia during this time. The kingdoms east of the Wardovia/Andavia channel had long existed in a steady peace, surviving with their strange and radical customs. The island nation of Farrel however had grown ambitious over time, and decided that now was the moment to expand its sphere of influence.
Mercenaries coming in from the east would often find interesting work there. Work that was not in the strictest sense, diplomatically sound.”
- John Barlywood – Conspiracy and War in the North

Clunk. The group rotates once again to change roles, moving me back to a player character and a new DM stepping in. I must admit that I'd enjoyed my period as DM, so it was a bit odd going back to a situation so out of my hands. The character of Carnack had really grown on me and its not often I play evil characters, so statting him up to a Fighter/Wizard, he set sail to the island nation of Farrel. Unbeknown to him however, plucky cleric Damon was also on his way there, and the two end up reluctantly teaming up. Finally joining them are two new characters, Azreal had been swapped out for tiefling warlock Lerissa and the DM had his own guest PC, Half-Elf Wizard Megi.

“After his rather enigmatic actions during the Wardovia Job, Carnack Cousland headed east, via sea, following the route engraved on the back of the shield of Bahamut he spirited from the Wardovian relicry. To what this route was leading to, is still a point of contention, as is whether or not Cousland knew what was awaiting him. All we can speculate is that he knew to some degree that arcane powers would somehow be involved.”
- Roma Drangasti – Beyond the Wandering War

So, Carnack returns as a full blown character this time round. I wanted him to essentially be a bruiser with a few tricks up his sleeve, so I multi-classed him with some wizard powers, and this worked out quite well. Character wise, Carnack got several moments to capitalize on his self serving nature, and his reputation of being somewhat like a walking atomic bomb sometimes was backed up in one particular occurrence. More on that later though.

“And so our hero headed east, knowing not what adventure and peril would await him. Damon had defeated the dread Black Hand and the vile conspirators in Wardovia. What other evils would he banish in the name of Ioun? Standing aboard the rocking ship, striding over the waves, Damon stroked his beard in contemplation, thinking back to his days as a ship hand. Had this proud man of faith known the chaos that was to come, he may well have returned to this simple lifestyle. Free from the burden of responsibility. Life, however, rarely allows such simple choices.”
- 'Tripshot' Murphy - Anthem: The Adventures of Damon Volume 2

Cleric of Ioun Damon returns also, ready to overkill with white searing light all over again. As you will see later, Damon worked as a brilliant foil for Carnack, often seeking the diplomatic (though not always ethically sound) solution over the violent. The two would bang heads on several occasions and infighting between them was rife, this however, just made the campaign all the more interesting.

“Like many young Farrelite women of her age, Megi had been inducted into the Arcane academy to be trained in the mystical arts and eventually rise to a position within the island's government. Megi was as ambitious as her calling suggested, and when her graduation grew close, sought after a far reaching assignment for her final initiation. It was this assignment that she was paired together with the warlock Lerissa and two mercenaries from west of the continent. It is unknown how much of what was to transpire was part of Megi's schemes, blind luck, or a combination of the two.”
- Crispin Lennon – I Don't Want to Spoil the Party: Famous Farrelites

Guest character from the DM, Megi was an enigmatic half-elf that the DM had acting constantly suspicious. How much of what she was up to within the plot we still don't know, but she was often used as a driving force to keep the group moving along when we ran out of ideas, which happened quite frequently. Not a lot of her character was brought out due to the DM constantly juggling between her and the game, however she did seem to favor Damon over Carnack, possibly due to her and Carnack both being equals in ambition.

“Nothing much was expected of Lerissa. While demon blood was not looked down on in Farrel in the way it was in the western kingdoms, her rather comical feline features had few people taking her seriously. As most tieflings drew demonic features from whatever demon sired their bloodline, Lerissa had her features drew from some of the less aggressive forms of demon that drifted on the edge of the nine hells, leaving her with feline ears and tail.
Like most young Farrelites of an arcane nature, Lerissa was inducted into the academy to train as a warlock and later inherit a position of government. Lerissa wasn't really interested in politics, had no particular love for her profession or homeland and longed for escape. When her final initiation came calling, an opportunity finally presented itself.”
Ezio de Sirenze – Here We Stand: The Teifling Peoples Road to Acceptance

Cat girl Lerissa was the final member of our fab four. Her player, a pretty big fan of anime, wanted to feature a catgirl as his next character. Initially I was a bit skeptical, but we allowed it by invoking the original explanation of Tieflings having different demonic features depending on what demon they descended from and how strong the bloodline. I have to say Lerissa really grew on both me and, weirdly enough, Carnack too, and somehow a catgirl wandering around out psudo-medieval inspired land worked just fine.

Chapter 1
To the Manor Born

“First of the modern mageocracies, the small island nation of Farrel was never seen as much of a prominent force in the realms. After all it was practically just one city on a small island without even much fertile farmland or room for expansion. However, the populace had gradually built themselves a prominent trade empire, and was seen by many as an accessible trade associate. Safe ground in seas swarming with pirate brigands such as the notorious Clodhopper”
- Deltiod Brennan – The Early Realms Renaissance

And so our campaign kicks off . Carnack and Damon both run into each other by the docks and begrudgingly decide to stick together, which would be the beginning of a not very peaceful partnership. The two wander the city looking for information and checking out shops for magical items. Differing from my way of doing things, our new DM was a lot more sparing of environments, and I confess found it a bit difficult to navigate the city without a more detailed map.

Not that this mattered too much, this campaign was in many ways a lot more focused than mine was, so exploration wasn't exactly on top priority. Carrying on, Carnack insists on heading to the library to find out as much information as he can about the island, but finds it hiding many possible deadly secrets. As the campaign went along, we never found out what these deadly secrets were. Oh well.

“After Farrel's legendary uprising of days gone by, much knowledge of the previous regime was lost... or destroyed. Very little is known of life on Farrel prior to the uprising, even down to bare details like whether it had previously been a mageocracy or the mages had only come to power afterwards. What is known however is that after the uprising the island was, and still is, scattered with artifacts of arcane power left over from previous ages. It is therefore common practice in Farrel to find mercenaries hired to locate such artifacts in the darker corners of the city.”
- Deltiod Brennan – The Early Realms Renaissance

It isn't long before the two fellas find adventure. Carnack and Damon find themselves hired by a wealthy noble to locate an artifact in a derelict and monster infested manor home. The catch however, is they have to take two magic apprentices with them, peeving Carnack off even more. So that introduced Megi and Lerissa. Heading to the manor house, our DM decided that since we were of a higher lever now, it'd be a good idea to level up the monsters as a matter of course. This led to us getting an almighty beat down from the first group of humble kobolts we ran into.
The rest of the session continued in similar fashion. Lerissa had to fight through a trap of whirling blades till she was on her last legs, and Megi would constantly go around acting like she knew more than the rest of us (given the fact that she was the DM's character, this isn't exactly unexpected). Finally the game finishes with a battle with a cave troll, whose miniature unfortunately ended up getting decapitated just like its counterpart in game.