Ark of Fools Timeline
Note: Real life dates used for convenience. The locals count
time from the time they left the old world, about one year before
the game started.
- 1-March-2005
- Maria, Padriac, and Skrags, after talking to the rest of the Fools
aboard, convince the Change Engines to take them to a new plane:
a literal plain of fallen flying fortresses.
- 2-March-2005
- (NPC) Oskar the dwarf begins work on the Black Dragon Tavern.
- 5-March-2005
- Davian, Maria, Padriac, and Skrags venture out to the nearby village
to the east - Nix. They speak to the village council and set up trading
and hunting agreement (restricted to west of Nix/the river).
- 7-March-2005
- Maria, Padriac, Skrags, and a few warriors from the Ark attack the
closest fallen castle to the southeast as asked by the villagers of Nix:
the castle is a lair for a band of kobolds that had been raiding and killing
the villagers. After some difficulty, Maria's blasts prevail and she
persuades the kobolds to surrender and leave the area.
- March 2005
- The PCs explore one of the closest wrecks, a mysterious white dome.
- March 2005
- Trade and mutual defense agreement established with neighboring village
Nix. Native refugee priestess of Pelor, Hyan Luize, joins the Ark.
There is trouble with an agent from Minaxis-Nochti (the city of necromancers)
demanding that Hyan be turned over. The agent is captured, interrogated,
then secretly killed by Drayakir and Tharse.
- 27-March-2005
- The Black Dragon Tavern has its grand opening, with memorable
performances by Maria, accompanied by Padriac's music and Drayakir's
special effects.
- 1-Apr-2005
- A swarm of man-eating locusts descends upon the Ark, and is barely
driven away.
- 20-Apr-2005
- Bandits and horse thieves menace the local community. Apparently horses
are in demand down the river, in the coastal cities, where they are trying
to raise a force of cavalry.
- 12-July-2005
- Ark heros Maria and Dagoth slay a baby black dragon lairing on the
far side of Nix.
- 13-Sep-2005
- More rumors of war: Nix has joined the Churrash League. Fortifying
the village with wooden watchtowers and trenches. An influx of refugees
and recruiters. A number of small attacks continue. Rumors of vampires.
Dead bodies found. Ghouls, skeletons, etc.
- 25-Oct-2005
- The Churrash League marches to war, in an attempt to hold back the
enemy in one big battle. Nix is emptied, save for the oldest, youngest,
and sickest. These take refuge on the Ark. That night, the Ark's defenses
are tried yet again. This time, the walls are breached. The Ark is
moved to a new plane...
- 8-Nov-2005
- The Ark moves to a strange world where the laws of magic have been
weakened. They briefly investigate an abandoned Giant city, meet with
a local, then decide that the Ark is better off where magic is more
reliable.
- 15-Nov-2005
- The Ark is brought to a world of ice and shadow. No sun is visible,
no greenery, only miles of ice and a range of hills, where a huge castle,
glittering with thousands of lights, rises from the top of a mountain.
The ice is found to be haunted by shadow creatures, such as the monstrous
shadow mastiff that attacked the Ark's explorers.
- 22-Nov-2005
- A band of orcish natives, calling themselves the "Ice Raiders", drives
up to the ice under the Ark, in a big bone sleigh drawn by giant reindeer.
They claim the shadow-witches who live in the mountain/castle as their
enemies. Drayakir proposes an alliance to the Ice Raiders, and an intent
to raid the shadow-witch stronghold soon.
- 15-Dec-2005
- ICly a continuation of the above: Maria takes exception to Drayakir's
precipitous offer of alliance. Heated words follow, then a blast of
eldritch energy and a charm spell. Once the charm wears off, Maria
challenges Drayakir to a duel,
which Maria wins, killing the wizard.
- 17-Jan-2006, 23-Jan-2006
- Emissaries from the Ark finally reach the fortress of the Shadow Witches.
The encounter does not go well: they do not even get inside the gate.
They do learn that the Shadow Witches call themselves the Chosen, and possibly
will gain the attention of at least one of them.
- 30-Jan-2006
- Jehane of the Shadow Witches/Chosen visits the Ark, arriving on a
hippogriff. She ends up offering the Ark residents a job...something
about clearing out bandits based in anti-magic zones under the Fortress
of the Chosen.
- 13-Feb-2006
- After the second visit by Jehane (and her boss, Dirextor Sengi),
the PCs decide not to risk getting further entangled in local affairs. They
move the Ark to a new world - a place of woodlands, lots of dragons, and
(somewhere!) towering cities of magic.
- 15-Feb-2006
- First contact!
The PCs visit a local farmhouse, to find it inhabited
by one Oerdrik, a (literate!) ogre who raises cockatrices. Second contact
turns out to be a huge green dragon flying over the Ark a few times to
check it out.
- 20-Feb-2006 through 27-Feb-2006
- The PCs (Hayli, Jones, Rogdin, Sprite, Tylan) venture out to visit
the nearest town. See this log for
a view of the locals. They also meet the
baron.
- 27-Feb-2006
- The PCs return to the Ark to find almost half the residents of the Ark
dead, victims of a poisonous cloud. A mask left in the courtyard proclaims
this to be the work of the Chosen, presumably angry over the Ark's sudden
desertion.
- 6-Mar-2006 through 27-Mar-2006 (OOCly multiple sessions, ICly one day).
- The PCs look for a pair of the Ark's hunters gone missing. They find
the hunters (one alive, one dead) and an assortment of strange creatures
in a nearby cave.
- 21-Mar-2006
- The PCs find a one-armed fugitive pursued by bounty hunters. They kill
the bounty hunters and take the fugitive back to the Ark to be locked up,
as he didn't seem sane, and was possibly guilty of something bad.
- 1-Apr-2006
- An earthquake shakes the local area. A sinkhole opens up near the Ark,
revealing a next of giant centipedes. The PCs kill them handily.
- Mid-April 2006
- The Ark receives a gift of cattle from Baron Haldre for their work.
- Mid-April 2006
- The Ark adventurers recover an alchemy lab (ordered by the Ark's
resident alchemist, Wensel the Gnome, paid in part by the Ark's wizards)
that was stolen en route to the Ark. They find it in a secret underground
laboratory operated by a brain-in-a-jar and a barghest.
- May-2006
- Pursuing rumors of ghosts, the PCs hear the voices of the cloudkilled
dead buried in the cairn under the Ark. Mistrusting this, they dig further
and find a kobold lair, but the kobolds are possessed by some strange kind
of tentacled creature. Further investigations lead deeper into an extensive
underground complex, and a flooded shrine. The wizard Dal'Niy is slain.
- May 2006
- The Ark adventurers capture or kill the bandit Kuriki (an ex-Baron?)
and his gang and turn them in for the bounty. Later they kill the exiled
dragon-kin Sivris (and his gang) (similarly looking for territory).
- 5-June-2006
- The Ark is terrorized by dream creatures.
- 12-June-2006
- Ark adventurers rescue Oerdrik the cockatrice rancher and his prize hens
from a gang of rogue river rats.
- June 2006
- The Ark is visited by druids from Hawthorn Abbey, who are tracing the
provenance of a necromantic bowl once sold as loot by the Ark's adventurers.
It turns out that Chresh (the infamous artist-necromancer of a few centuries
back) was not dead after all. The druids somehow steal Chresh's phylactery,
but are killed in the process. The item ends up on the Ark. A group from the
Ark delivers the phylactery to Hawthorn Abbey, where they help the druid and
mage monks trap and destroy the lich Chresh. As a reward, two mages from the
Abbey come to the Ark to try to lift the Curse, or at least ameliorate it.
- 25-June-2006
- Ark adventurers go after some bandits that have been haunting the
border between dragon and ogre territory. In the process, they rescue a
local sorceress (a runaway serf) named Tiana. One of the bandits surrenders,
begging for mercy, and is taken prisoner. While he is unconscious and helpless,
the Deacon kills him. This results in Faiza and Kyliea complaining to the
Ark's governing council. The Deacon is
sentenced
to ten years of indentured servitude on the Ark.
- July 2006
- The mages of Hawthorn Abbey create magical amulets to delay the
need to return of Arkites travelling away from the Ark. A group of
adventurers (Hayli, Kyliea, Lana, Sviar, and Tylan) tests this out,
following a strange map they found on one of Chresh's minions.
- July-Aug 2006
- The Ark is haunted by a ghostly bard who arrived through the
Change Engines. She had a habit of disguising her and draining "lifeforce"
(CHA) from her victims, then vanishing into the wall or ground (this
was simple due to her incorporeal nature) before anyone could stop her.
Finally hunted down by the Pelorite cleric Chaza, who set up a trap
for her.
- July 2006
- A landslide near the cattle pens opens a fissure to caverns
spewing spiders. Lots and lots of spiders! An aranea (Skitter) ends up
joining the Ark.
- July-? 2006
- The Ark is also now home to at least one minor demon (a quasit), but
how big the problem may be is yet unknown (as it tends to be invisible.)
One mysterious death (of Ponza the sorcerer) may or may not be
related.
- 12-Sep-2006
- The locals at one of the farming settlements near Haldresburg are
strangely idle, according to a trader's report. A group of Arkites
investigates,
finding both ogres and humans under the influence of some odd green drug.
- 25-Sep-2006
- The local baron (Haldre) and various other ogre magi barons visit the Ark,
as part of Haldre's daughter's coming-of-age celebrations. The gift-giving
portion of the program is interupted as the gift from neighboring baron
Fitela turns out to be a swarm of hoard scarabs. At the same time, a dragon
swoops in and attacks Fitela. The Ark is left in a mess as everyone exits,
stage left.
- Oct-2006
- Wensel receives an anonymous message warning of "barnacles" under the Ark.
An expedition turns up first a local tree fey named Krmfferfeff, and then
after diplomacy improves relations between Ark and fey, the Arkites find a
cave on the bottom of the Ark overgrown with "Boccob's baneflowers", that
apparently eat magic. Also a quasit, which they kill.
- 30-Oct-2006, Nov-2006, Dec-2006
- Aoi is hired as a librarian/scribe/archivist for the Mage Guild. She finds
in the (deceased) wizard Dal'Niy's notes a map originating some 300 years ago,
showing the location of the crypt of Khrando the Bleak, priest of the Temple
of Despair. The Arkites send an expedition out, and after a few misadventures,
locate the ruined temple. They find at least one priest, the Okt sur Khrando,
holding the underground inner sanctum. After talking to the Okt, the Arkites
leave peacefully. A second trip has them asking his advice in unraveling the
Curse that besets the Ark.
- Nov-2006
- The pixie Grim is somehow attacked and pushed off the Ark, leaving only
a remnant of wing behind. The Arkites track down his slayers, a pack of
redcaps. This same wing fragment is given to the Okt for analysis (to learn
about the Ark.)
- Dec 2006
- Shortly after Jones installs a set of ballistae for the Ark's defense,
the Arkites rescue a woman from spider-eaters (and incidentally collect
a number of living eggs). The woman, Kaya, turns out to be a messenger from
neighboring Solfell. She has come to enlist the Ark's aid, or at least
non-interference, in their peasant rebellion. She says that Haldresburg will
soon be invaded by Granmar of Grindir (who is angry because Haldre married
his daughter to a rival baron), and wants the Ark to let the invaders march
past in secrecy (normally, barons attack each other from the river routes).
The humans/peasants intend to then take advantage of a weakened Haldresburg
to assert their power.
The Ark's Council decides the inform Baron Haldre. Haldre sends his cousin
Hogni to the Ark, who pressures the Arkites to fight for Haldre against
Grindir. A time of war ensues. Many of the Arkites fight bravely, and not a
few fall in battle, including Rathar the halfling warlock. The Ark itself is
attacked, but the invaders are repelled. Haldresburg wins in the end. The
Baron awards the Ark an heirloom lyre (Lyre of Building).
- 8-Jan-2007
- The Arkites visit the Temple of Despair
again, and the Okt relates the result of his research.
- 17-Jan-2007
- Elan, Faiza, and Lugh go to Haldresburg Port to talk to Sligh the animal
trainer, who turns out to be a Yrktheran wanderer. Lugh asks him about
the old legends.
- 22-Jan-2007
- A shopping trip into town ends up with the Arkites inadvertantly bringing
back a plague of boggles, and a strange transformation for Lina: she was
ambivalent in her oath to return, and the Curse took her...spitting out someone
that may or may not be the same Lina.
- 1-Feb-2007
- Tickanter uses the magic of the Ark's Lyre of Building to dig out more
space in the core of the Ark (Skrags wants an indoor space for the newborn
spider-eaters that she plans to train as mounts) and uncovers buried demons!
Two of them climb free of the enclosing rock and attack, but the Arkites manage
to kill them. Gems are found, with a lingering aura of magic. The new cave
is closed off by order of the Council. The Ark is found to have sunk about
four feet. The Council suspects a connection between demons, gems, and the
magic powering the Ark.
- 8-Feb-2007
- The Old Man sends a wave of confusion over the Ark, along with swarms of
elemental beings. Eleven Arkites die, and many more are injured. A new portal
opens at the bottom of the Empty Well (now truly empty), leading up into
a well on the other side.
- 12-Feb-2007
- The Arkites explore the other side of the new portal, finding a courtyard
strewn with mysteriously dead bodies, and then a town in the plains under
attack from dinosaurs. Ex-Guardsman Robert is slain.
- 15-Feb-2007
- Greedy and unscrupulous half-orcs Tovi and Taisa (locals who came to the
Ark) kill a guard and start digging for rubies next to the Change Engines.
Caught and executed (off-Ark.) New stricter policies enacted regarding
visitors. A trade center is built underneath the Ark.
- Feb 2007
- Those who went down the Well to the Greystone world
discover that they do not feel the usual compulsion to return to the Ark.
Later, it is discovered that those who go through that portal are not fried
by the Curse even if they do not swear to return.
An old underground shrine to Vecna is discovered near the small watering
hole just northwest of Greystone Village. Nothing there now but undead.
Aboveground, the Arkites make contact with a native tribe of catfolk
who live in the area. Diplomacy, an agreement on division of hunting grounds.
Arkites take charge of security in Greystone Village.
Elan orders fortications built.
- Mar 2007
- Wensel the gnome (NPC head of the Mage Guild) pursues (via the PCs) his
theory that there is some kind of "anchor" gem situated underground beneath
the Ark. Adventurers start mapping and exploring.
On the Greystone side, trouble with a wraith loosed from the Vecna shrine.
(through April)
- Apr 2007
- Loxo emissaries arrive at Greystone Village. Trade and friendly relations
established, after loxo, catfolk, and Arkites fend off a gnoll raid together.
Slash (an Ark gnoll!) killed by accident by the catfolk hunt leader (who
also died, but was later raised.)
- June 2007
- Standard reincarnation spell (of Miko) is interrupted by the Old Man.
Hyan Luize targeted, nearly destroyed by his Curse (which seemed to have
grown stronger lately due to deaths in the Change Engines).
- 15-Oct-2007
- Laylara holds a "press conference"
regarding the Ark anchor.
- 25-Jan-2008
- Hawthorn Abbey NPC Franz Yeluci leads a
"vision quest" to find out the source of the mysterious illness affecting
Wensel, Hyan, and the freed Formian slaves.
Revised 23-Jan-2008
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