%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% T H E M I G R A T I O N %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Location: Stormwatch Game Date: Any season, any year Real Date: 9/1/96 Author: dave cho, with vast assistance from Mark Rousculp %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% GM Notes %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% * At various intervals, faerie creatures migrate from regio to regio. Often this is not witnessed by mundanes, as faeries have the ability to travel directly from regio to regio without crossing through the mundane world. However, not all regio/regio transports are possible this way; nor do all creatures even possess the ability in the first place. The result: hordes of faerie creatures swarm an area for a brief moment of time. Usually by the time the shock wears off and a study/counterattack can be mounted, the migration is over. Nothing further queer occurs and the normal way of mundane life reasserts itself over the nightmare. * It is faerie nature itself that drives an individual creature to migrate. No faerie lord is responsible, etc. The individual creatures that migrate may not necessarily have anything in common, although the greater the Might of the faerie, the greater the chance that the faerie can resist such an internal drive of possibly great inconvenience. * The motivation of the faerie during a time of Migration is to migrate. Anything else is viewed in one of two ways: fight or ignore. However, what is considered an obstacle by one may not be all that apparent to anyone else and vice versa. There is a vector from the forest to the sea that contains the Stormwatch peninsula. * The starting point of the migration is an opening in the edge of the regio, about 100 feet into the forest. The regio of the forest changes, such that the edge of the forest is Faerie +1. 20 feet in, the aura is Faerie +2; 40 feet, +3; 60 feet, +4; 100 feet, +5. * Upon reaching the shore, they jump in -- a transient regio opens where the continental shelf plummets, so about 100 feet from the water's edge (the aura is the same as the starting point). Basically, the creatures sink to the bottom and pass through the regio and out of game. Anyone attempting to follow merely sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Intellego Aquam reveals that they sank to the bottom of the ocean and then disappeared after a few moments (the water has a very short transient memory of them). * There are 4 classes of faeries that are migrating: * Lesser: Very weak. +2/+1/+2/+1 attacks. These faeries are no larger than Size -2: rabbit-like creatures, etc. They consider anything organic immediately in front of them an obstacle, be it a blade of grass or a boot, etc. * Minor: From Size -2 to Size +0, these faeries are dog-sized creatures. Their attacks are +4/+4/+8/+4. They migrate in packs, although their pack boundaries are not clear, so it is possible for several packs to be intermingled. If any one member of the pack is blocked, all the others will be blocked as well -- a sort of group-mind malaise. * Major: These creatures are Size +0 to Size +2 -- tigers etc. Anything that moves near these creatures is an obstacle, so a terrified grog who freezes at the sight of one is quite safe. +6/+5/+11/+6. A building they may go around (simple 7+). * Greater: These creatures are Size +0 to Size +2 and fly. These are powerful faeries who have not been able to resist the call of the migration. While flying, they are +10/+8/+15/+8; when grounded, they are +6/+4/+11/+4. They are also magic-capable and will use it to remove any large and noteworthy obstacles to the migration. * Numbers: 5 greaters, 7 majors, 49 minors, 343 lessers. Swarm! * Vis. Each greater creature yields 1 pawn of Auram and Rego vis each; each major yields 1 pawn of Terram vis. 7 minors yields 1 pawn of Animal vis as does the combination of all the lessers. Theoretical ceiling: 5 pawns Auram 5 pawns Rego 7 pawns Terram 8 pawns Animal This ceiling would be granted if the village and fields were razed by the migration (massive problems with starvation and exposure) and somehow the covenant was clever enough to kill everything before it reached the water. * Lesser creatures: all lesser creatures can scale any obstacle before them, regardless of reasonable purchase they can get on it. * Rabbit with green glowing eyes. When closely examined when alive, it has very long teeth -- where they fit in the head is unclear. If killed, the teeth appear normal, although the eyes are still an unnerving color of green. The coloration of the rabbits vary, although most are a dark brown. At night, the hordes of rabbits gives off a faint green illumination from the combination of hundreds of eyes. * Squirrel with bright orange fur. Aside from the additional pair of eyes in the back of the head, these squirrels also give off a combination of odors: of roses and of fish. * Rat. Huge ears, walks bipedally. Can jump great distances. These rats speak to each other, constantly saying "forward!" and "this way!" etc (other variations include "move faster!", although there is never any real dialogue -- it seems they are all giving orders to one another without actually responding to each other). * Minor creatures: * Dog pack. Groups of seven Zero dogs. Incorporeal, glowing red noses. * Six-legged wolves. Red eyes of fire. They travel directly through stone, although not trees. * Major creatures: * Kird apes. +1/+2/+1/+2 when within the forest. * Generic saber-toothed tigers. Woo-woo! * Greater creatures: * %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SG Guide %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% I. Remove Thaddeus * Thaddeus decides to leave for Thessalanica for a few days. Reasons could include being immeasurably bored by draining vis and needing to get out to restore sanity; going for new clothes; etc. II. Portents appear * Three days before the first wave, Bitsy is approached by Leader, who says that "something is wrong; something is coming". He declines to be more specific. * Two days before the first wave, anyone with Premonitions gets a brief bad feeling. Those with strong premonitions get a direction -- northwest, towards the faerie forest. "Something bad is about to happen." Not the end of the world, but not a stubbed toe either. The bad feeling does not reappear, nor does it continue to manifest. * On the day before the first wave, all the returning fisherman find out after speaking to each other at duskfall that, to a man, they have all returned empty-handed from their day's fishing attempts. III. Day I -- the first wave * Imps fill the forest during the day, attacking/waylaying anyone they find. * A horse, lathered, replete with tack and saddle, appears at the Wayhouse in the late evening. No sign of rider is visible. (The rider was overrun on the Stormwatch turnpike, perhaps a few hundred yards from the Via Ignatia.) * In the middle of the night, Andreas shows up, having fought his way through packs of Zeroes. He will have some inclination of where the centre of the activity is. IV. Day II -- the forest fills