Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

GURPS Prophetic Riddles IV

6 views
Skip to first unread message

John Simpson

unread,
Apr 28, 2001, 4:12:51 PM4/28/01
to
My wife plays a witch in "Lost In America," my 100-point fantasy
campaign set in North America ca. 10,000 AD. I wrote the following
more than two years ago, when I was considering requiring some sort of
moon-aspected magic for the witch character (it was also gonna be an
AD&D campaign, but that was before my dark pact with Mr. Jackson
fnord):

==========================================================
In your dreams, you were pursued by dark figures toward a sandy
beach, their horrid cries cutting through the warm night air. Every
night you ran farther and farther, and your assailants came closer and
closer, until the night of the last dream.
In the final dream, you saw an ordinary looking door standing at
the water's edge, small waves lapping at its frame. As you raced
toward it, your pursuers fall behind, and their screams of exultation
turned to howls of fear. You reached for the handle, noting a strange
inscription at the top of the frame, in characters you'd never seen
before.
Without stopping to ponder the meaning of the letters, you turned
the handle and whipped open the door, to find yourself faced with the
rising moon, glowing more brightly than you had ever seen Her do. As
the dream ended, you were suddenly aware that She appeared much larger
than normal.
===========================================================

Rael the Witch also met with the Elf-Queen in about the second
session of the campaign. Titania called for her last, in fact, and in
her tent said:

=====================================
"Nine-and-thirty marks the door
Which waits upon the eastern shore.
Where standard last for mate doth burn,
The eagle flew, and half return'd.

"That peaceful sea is never wet,
But hark you, there is danger yet.
Beyond the door is ice and fire,
So pause you not there to admire.

"'Twill steal your breath, witch. Ward you well!
And step you swiftly through that hell.
When standard last be then in hand,
Return you to familiar lands."
=====================================

Titania urged Rael from the tent, saying that time was short. Her
last command to the witch was, "Follow the path of the eagle."
Moments later, the goblins attacked, killing Titania, and nearly
Oberon, too, with arrows tipped with cold iron.
The Puck is still at large <eg>.

Yes, this prophecy is related to yesterday's post ("GURPS Prophetic
Riddles III"). Have at it, resident geniuses. What elements can you
identify? Where is Rael to go? What is she to do there?
Bonus question: what official GURPS spells or items would you
recommend that she acquire first (besides Solve Riddle)?
--
Peace,

John Simpson
Real username's in the URL
http://home.earthlink.net/~silverjohn
If someone asks if you're a god, say "Yes."
If someone asks if you're Sarah Conner, say "No."

Xiphias Gladius

unread,
Apr 28, 2001, 5:27:46 PM4/28/01
to
John Simpson <see...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> =====================================
> "Nine-and-thirty marks the door
> Which waits upon the eastern shore.

This is the one bit I can't figure out. I got the rest.

[ . . . ]

> Yes, this prophecy is related to yesterday's post ("GURPS Prophetic
> Riddles III"). Have at it, resident geniuses. What elements can you
> identify? Where is Rael to go? What is she to do there?
> Bonus question: what official GURPS spells or items would you
> recommend that she acquire first (besides Solve Riddle)?

Can I just answer this one?

Let's see. Howabout Body Of Stone and Resist Cold (at triple cost)? Or
maybe just Body Of Ice? And Teleport at better than 18 so it can be cast
without words. And lots and lots and lots of energy. And a scry spell to
find the *exact* location. Hmm. Teleport should cost lots of energy, but
not have much of a casting penalty, since you can *see* where you're
going.

- Ian
--
Marriage, n: The state or condition of a community consisting of a master,
a mistress, and two slaves, making, in all, two. -- Ambrose Bierce

John Simpson

unread,
Apr 28, 2001, 7:32:14 PM4/28/01
to
On Sat, 28 Apr 2001 21:27:46 GMT, Xiphias Gladius <i...@io.com> wrote:

>John Simpson <see...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> "Nine-and-thirty marks the door

>> Which waits upon the eastern shore..."


>
>This is the one bit I can't figure out. I got the rest.

One more clue, then. As I've posted before, the player characters
are dimly aware of their player alter egos. When the witch first had
her dream in the course of play, she was able to recognize the strange
characters over the door: XXXIXA.
Does that help?

Stephen Posey

unread,
Apr 28, 2001, 10:47:10 PM4/28/01
to
On Sat, 28 Apr 2001 21:27:46 GMT, Xiphias Gladius <i...@io.com> wrote:

>John Simpson <see...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> =====================================
>> "Nine-and-thirty marks the door
>> Which waits upon the eastern shore.
>
>This is the one bit I can't figure out. I got the rest.

Yeah I'm not getting that part either. The rest is pretty far out ;-)

>[ . . . ]
>
>> Yes, this prophecy is related to yesterday's post ("GURPS Prophetic
>> Riddles III"). Have at it, resident geniuses. What elements can you
>> identify? Where is Rael to go? What is she to do there?
>> Bonus question: what official GURPS spells or items would you
>> recommend that she acquire first (besides Solve Riddle)?
>
>Can I just answer this one?
>
>Let's see. Howabout Body Of Stone and Resist Cold (at triple cost)? Or
>maybe just Body Of Ice? And Teleport at better than 18 so it can be cast
>without words. And lots and lots and lots of energy. And a scry spell to
>find the *exact* location. Hmm. Teleport should cost lots of energy, but
>not have much of a casting penalty, since you can *see* where you're
>going.

Hmmm, that's kind of like saying from the top of Pike's Peak you can
"see" most of western Kansas (weather permitting), but I'd say not in
enough detail to get yourself much better than within several miles of
where you think it is you want to be.

Stephen Posey
slp...@concentric.net

Douglas Bailey

unread,
Apr 28, 2001, 11:01:24 PM4/28/01
to
see...@earthlink.net wrote:

> Have at it, resident geniuses. What elements can you
> identify? Where is Rael to go? What is she to do there?

Go to the Sea of Tranquility and retrieve the American flag that Neil
Armstrong planted there. I'm still not sure about the "nine-and-thirty"
part, though.

doug

--

--------------douglas bailey (trys...@ne.mediaone.net)--------------
this week dragged past me so slowly; the days fell on their knees...
--david bowie

Xiphias Gladius

unread,
Apr 29, 2001, 2:55:48 AM4/29/01
to
John Simpson <see...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> One more clue, then. As I've posted before, the player characters
> are dimly aware of their player alter egos. When the witch first had
> her dream in the course of play, she was able to recognize the strange
> characters over the door: XXXIXA.
> Does that help?

A brief Google search reveals that the Apollo mission launched from Launch
Pad 39-A. But I'm not sure how that info could help capture the flag. . .

Nate Morse

unread,
Apr 29, 2001, 5:29:04 AM4/29/01
to
In article <MPG.15554e1c...@nntp.ne.mediaone.net>, Douglas
Bailey <trys...@ne.mediaone.net> wrote:

}see...@earthlink.net wrote:
}
}> Have at it, resident geniuses. What elements can you
}> identify? Where is Rael to go? What is she to do there?
}
}Go to the Sea of Tranquility and retrieve the American flag that Neil
}Armstrong planted there. I'm still not sure about the "nine-and-thirty"
}part, though.

Coupled with the previous poster's info that Apollo missions launched
from 39-A, she either needs to head down to Canavral, where the pad
is aspected mana for this trip, or head into the Air-and-Space museum,
and do something with sympathetic magic in there.

As for stock spells for such a trip? Force Dome and Create/Purify
Air, and hamster-ball across the moonscape.

--
| /\_/\ | "There is no spoon." -Neo _The_Matrix_
|_( ^.^ )_| "There is only Zool." -Dana _Ghostbusters_
| >`-'< | Two great tastes that go great together!
+-Pounce!-+------Nate Morse at fur...@naxs.net---------

John Simpson

unread,
Apr 29, 2001, 9:11:42 AM4/29/01
to
On Sun, 29 Apr 2001 06:55:48 GMT, Xiphias Gladius <i...@io.com> wrote:

>John Simpson <see...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> One more clue, then. As I've posted before, the player characters
>> are dimly aware of their player alter egos. When the witch first had
>> her dream in the course of play, she was able to recognize the strange
>> characters over the door: XXXIXA.
>> Does that help?
>
>A brief Google search reveals that the Apollo mission launched from Launch
>Pad 39-A. But I'm not sure how that info could help capture the flag. . .

It's not intended to. I just put it in there because my own
searches (a few years back, when I was writing clues) had used 39A as
a keyword.
An amusing coincidence: turns out that Bruce Springsteen grew up in
a house whose street address was 39A. For a couple of minutes the
players suspected that they were headed for New Jersey :-)

Arne Jamtgaard

unread,
Apr 30, 2001, 12:31:48 PM4/30/01
to

Thanks to the google searcher who tied this to the Apollo missions.
The Eagle flew to the moon, and left the Lunar lander module behind.

> "That peaceful sea is never wet,
> But hark you, there is danger yet.
> Beyond the door is ice and fire,
> So pause you not there to admire.

So this must be the Sea of Tranquility.

> "'Twill steal your breath, witch. Ward you well!
> And step you swiftly through that hell.
> When standard last be then in hand,
> Return you to familiar lands."
> =====================================

And this must be the US flag left at the landing site.

> Yes, this prophecy is related to yesterday's post ("GURPS
> Prophetic Riddles III"). Have at it, resident geniuses. What
> elements can you identify? Where is Rael to go? What is she to do
> there?
> Bonus question: what official GURPS spells or items would
> you recommend that she acquire first (besides Solve Riddle)?

Anything that would help her survive on the moon, at least for a
short time. Force Dome to create a shelter there? Create Air (or
some method of surviving without air for a time.)

Arne
--
Arne Jamtgaard | Qui me amat, amat et canem meam.
Boulder DevTest |
1-720-562-6331 | Love me, love my dog.
ajam...@cisco.com |

0 new messages