The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe Willow & Tara Forever

by **Sassette** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 12:33 pm

Wrap-up

Upon completing this Episode, Cast Members should be awarded a base three-four experience points with bonuses as described above.

Drama Points can be given out according to the guidelines given in the BTVS RPG Core book, also with bonuses as described above.

In particular the players of Tara and Willow (and maybe Dawn) have the best chance of earning the most drama points. Giles, Xander, Spike and Buffy the most experience points. If Anya is a PC she should be kept to the guidelines above.

New Monster

Ophidians

Motivation: Eat humans

Critter Type: Demon

Attributes: Str 7 Dex 6 Con 6 Int 2 Per 2 Will 5

Ability Scores: Muscle 20 Combat 14 Brains 15

Life Points: 70

Drama Points: 1

Special Abilities: Armor Value 10 (scales)

Qualities: Hard to Kill 3,

Dodge: 14

Claw: 16 18 dam Str x 3

Bite: 15 21 dam (Str + 1) x3,

Poison

Tail slap: 15 14 dam

Ophidians are said to be a young race by demon standards, thought to exist only for the last 3 or 4 thousand years, since early Egyptian times.

They are an isolationistic race, known to spend time only with their own kind, and have little regard for other demons. While most demons are decidedly carnivorous, the Ophidians are one of a few whose diet is thought to

consist solely of the flesh of human beings. It is known that almost all Ophidians worship some sort of a serpent deity, but whether this is Set or Leviathan is unclear.

These Ophidians worship leviathan, but it can't be a coincidence that many also worship Set and the cast just dealt with Set.

New Spells

Magic Missile

Quick Cast: Yes

Power Level: 2

Requirements: Witches and Warlocks need only shout "dissolvo." Other magicians also need to meditate for one minute.

Effect: A ball of light shoots from the caster's hand and shoves the target one foot per Success Level rolled. This spell could knock someone down or push them free from someone who was holding them. It normally does no damage, but if the target is shoved into a wall or some other hard surface, she takes double the casting roll's Success Levels in Bash damage.

Note: This is the spell Tara used in "Bargaining". It is assumed that Kara has it as well.

Sleep

Quick Cast: Yes

Power Level: 1

Requirements: Command word calling on the gods of sleep (Hypnos, Morpheus, or 'the Sandman') and a bit of sand.

Effect: Target must make a Will check. If failed the target falls into a deep sleep for one hour per level of sorcery skill.

Note: This spell is know to both Tara and Kara.

Undo Spell

Quick Cast: Yes

Power Level: 5

Requirements: Witches and Warlocks need only to command that the spell be ended. Others need to concentrate on the spell for 1 minute per power

level of the original spell.

If the caster does not have the sorcery levels required she can bring in other casters.

Effect: Undoes one spell or magical effect. Since the magical effect in not natural, the magic is easy. But the witch needs to be able to overcome the level of the original spell as a resisted check.

Note: Willow used this spell in season 5 to return the two Xanders to their natural state.

Supporting Cast

Candy Heart

Character Type: Human

Motivation: Please Tatsu

Abilites and Attibutes: Candy superimposes herself on top of Tara. So here physical attributes are the same.

Tara does gain the following bonuses and minuses when she is in "Candy mode"

.

Dexterity: +2 to Tara's 2 (making it 4)

Sorcery: -3 to Tara's 3 (making it 0)

Acrobatics: +3 to Tara's 2 (making it 5)

Crime: +4 to Tara's 0 (making it 4)

Languages, Japanese: +4 to Tara's 0 (making it 4)

Occultism: -4 to Tara's 4 (making it 0)

Candy Heart was just another girl lured away from the light by the glitz of fast easy money and hanging with an "in" crowd. She had some decent acrobatic and dance ability, an insatiable sex drive and lewd behavior.

She found that these were excellent qualities for stripping in the night clubs of Vegas. Soon even this life lost it's luster for her. Her scumbag boss was pushing her into working in porn till Tatsu, a Japanese "business

man", came to see her dance.

He was impressed with her intelligence, good looks and her ability to speak Japanese. He quickly hired her out and began to use her a "mole" to spy on other gangs. She would go there, do her show and find out anything she could. It was exciting, dangerous, and it made her a lot of money. That is one day she found out the wrong thing (that these two small time hoods were

stealing from Tatsu) and was rewarded with a bullet.

Now Candy is dead and her soul has gone off to it's reward. Her personally, or rather aspects of it, now live on in her driver's license.

Playing Candy: At some point in the game Tara's player will play Candy, or rather the stereotypical personality patterns overlaid on the top of Tara's personality.

When the surge hits and Tara gets Candy's ID, she begins to take on some of Candy's more erotic personality traits. Namely, Candy's desire to please

Tatsu manifests it's self as Tara's desire to please Willow. Candy was an exhibitionist, a flirt and quite possibly an honest nymphomaniac. All of these in one form or another manifest themselves in Tara. Tara though is not just handing out lap dances to anyone, neither did Candy, but she is focused on Willow. Even when Tara can't remember anything else about her life she will not forget Willow.

Candy knows Japanese and has Tatsu's cell phone memorized. She was supposed to call him if she ever got into trouble.

Bonus Drama points should be awarded not only for the good role-playing of Candy, but good reactions to her as well.

Kara Maclay

Kara's character sheet is presented at the end of this adventure in BTVS-RPG format. Her personality is similar to that of Tara's, but she has a strong sense of protecting Tara. She likes Willow, but does not trust her.

Playing Kara: At some point in the game Tara's player will play Kara. Until the cast tells her otherwise, Kara will believe that she is Tara's older (by five minutes) sister. She does have quite a few holes in her

own memory and the cast will also only have vague recollections of her.

This changes as time goes by. The longer Kara is present the stronger her memories get and the stronger the memories of her become.

Kara loves her little sister, but she does not trust Willow at all. She thinks that Willow could be bad for Tara. She does like Willow and she sees the love the two have is a strong one, but she had promised her mother she

would protect Tara.

Kara's spell-casting ability is the same as Tara's during Season 5. She knows many of the same spells Willow and Tara do, but she did not (in her mind) practice with them.

History According to Kara: Kara came to Sunnydale on her and Tara's 20th birthday. When Tara stood up to their father, she remained behind. She

was taking classes and soon became the head of the campus Wicca group.

She only very occasionally worked with the Scoobies. When Tara was brain sucked by Glory, she blamed Willow. Up to that point they had been friends.

When Willow turned to darker magics she was going to convince Tara to leave her, but Tara had made that decision on her own. When Willow and Tara got back

together, Kara was furious. She went to the Summer's home and argued with Tara while Willow was showering. Tara stormed off to cool down (no one made her as mad as her sister did) while Kara went upstairs to argue some

more with Willow. Willow was dressed and Kara was about to say something to her when she was shot by the Warren fired, Set influenced, "magic" bullet.

Willow thought it was Tara and went on her rampage. Tara came back to apologize to Kara for loosing her cool only to find Dawn sitting with Kara's body. They arranged for the morgue and the police inquest unaware of what was going on. When Tara found out, she talked Willow out of destroying the world. When Willow was shipped off to England for detox, Tara had to remain

home to arrange for her sister's funeral and burial. Calls to her family went unanswered.

Bonus Drama points should be awarded not only for the good role-playing of Kara, but good reactions to her as well.

Dickweed and Dumbass

Motivation: To make money, get "made".

Critter Type: Human gansters

Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Constitution 2, Intelligence 2, Perception 2,

Willpower 3

Life Points: 30

Ability Scores: Muscle , Combat 5, Brains

Drama Points: 3

Drawbacks: Adversaries (law, Tatsu) 5

Skills: Crime 6, Driving 3, GunFu 5, KungFu 2

Maneuvers

Name Score Dmg Notes

Dodge 5 - Defense action

Grapple 7 - Dodge resists

Kick 4 8 Bash

Punch 5 6 Bash

Gun 8 18 Big Ass Gun

Dumass and Dickweed are two human gangsters. They are not the brightest lights on the Christmas tree, but they have stayed alive this long.

Right now they are playing a dangerous game with a Yakuzza boss, Tatsu. They are laundering money for him and skimming a little too much off of the top.

Murl, The Demon Forgery Expert

Motivation: To make an 'honest' living providing a much needed service.

Critter Type: Demon

Strength 6, Dexterity 5, Constitution 6, Intelligence 4, Perception 3,

Willpower 3

Life Points: 70

Ability Scores: Muscle 18, Combat 15, Brains 9

Drama Points: 5

Qualities: Contacts 7, Hard to Kill 8, Sorcery 4

Drawbacks: Demony form (unattractive -1)

Skills: Crime 7, Influence 5

Maneuvers

Name Score Dmg Notes

Dodge 15 - Defense action

Grapple 17 - Dodge resists

Kick 15 14 Bash

Punch 16 12 Bash

Murl is not a fighter. He just wants to do his thing. And that thing is crafting false IDs so demons can interact in the human world. He has many contacts in both the demon and human underworlds and he charges quite a

bit for his services (ask Clem how much his "Blockbuster" rental card cost him) but the demons pay because he is the only game in town.

Murl avoids combat whenever he can. Not because he is afraid or can't he just does not want to damage his hands or any of his eight fingers on either hand.

Murl can do magic, but it is limited to altering the IDs he makes.

Yoln, The Pillager, The Pit Fiend, The Hand of Leviathan, The

Shadowreaper

Yoln only appears briefly in this episode. He does not engage in any combat since his primary goal is to obtain the broken half of his sword, Pillager. Avoid having him come into any contact with the cast.

SPECIAL NOTE: Yoln, while corporeal, actually has no physical shape, all that is left of him is his pure will. He is physical as long as his will is in the armor. He is bound to it in the same way we are bound to our bodies. But if you were to open up his helmet for example, there would be nothing there.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and related characters are TM 20th Century Fox/Mutant Enemy. www.buffy.com/

"The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game" is Copyright C 2002 Eden Studios. www.btvsrpg.com/

Marks used without permission.

"Lipkandy" appears with permission. www.lipkandy.com/

by **WebWarlock** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 11:02 am

Thank you Sass.

This episode means quite a lot to me. For me, and I hope for you, this episode brought Tara back to life to me.

I am not sure why, but I know when and where. Sass had just sent me her first rough draft, so I printed it out and took it with me to get my car worked on. I sat there in the dealer and read this. She had the epilog more or less exactly like you see it above and I was floored.

More so than my own first episode this one made Tara live for me again. Because of that I was able to let go of the depression some. Who cares what was going on on the TV, Tara was alive! Here!

This simple little episode that started with Sass emailing me and saying "I want Tara to give Willow a lap dance" has brought her back.

So Sass, thank you.

Thank you for giving me Tara back.

That is not to say the previous episodes here weren't good, hell they are the official Buffy RPG adventures for the two biggest game Cons in the world, this one was special to me.

Ok Lisa, you are next.

Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"Tell me, what is my life without your love

Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
" - George Harrison "What Is Life"

by **Sassette** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 10:16 am

You're very welcome, Tim - I had a lot of fun doing this and getting all in touch with my geek-infested roots *G* It was a pleasure working with all of you.

-Sass

by **WebWarlock** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 10:24 am

EDITED

Got some new great news.

Episode 1: Will We Burn in Heaven, has been translated into German and published by the netzine Anduin.

Click here and check out „Der Drache und der Phönix“ EPISODE 1:WERDEN WIR IM HIMMEL SCHMOREN?

And it looks better than my version!

Great looking Willow and Tara picture and the Tara character sheet.

My goal. To have more roleplayers to consider Tara to be alive than people that actually watched the show.

Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

"So many different people to be." - Donovan - Season of the Witch

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 1/30/04 10:57 am

by **WebWarlock** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 8:26 am

Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

An Episode for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Role-playing Game

By Lisa Countryman

additional contributions and playtesting by Timothy S. Brannan and Garner Johnsosn.

Cover art by Div, interior art by Chris Cook.

For the Kittens

Coming this Imbolc

Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks. Available Now!

"I'm going to open a bag of freak on all of you..." - Dr. Drakken, from "A Very Possible Christmas"

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 1/31/04 11:49 am

by **Jennpurr** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 6:11 pm

Tim,

Help! :pray

As you can see, I need some help. Um, I'm a little confused about how to read these. Can these be read in .doc format and if so, how can I get a copy of the .doc episodes? I'd really like to check these out.

Do I have to have the RPG to understand these episodes?

Thanks in advance,

Jen

||My Fan Fiction and More!|| ||My Yahoo Group||
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Piper: The only Halliwell that likes earthquakes.
Prue: I don't like them, but I don't go running naked through the house screaming, "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" either.
Phoebe: Okay, that is such an exaggeration. I was wearing slippers.

by **WebWarlock** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 8:02 pm

Jen,

To start out with I LOVE your Charmed avatar! Charmed is my new favorite show. In fact be on the look out (in this thread) about a special Charmed crossover episode!

Ok now what you need to play.

The Episodes are posted in full in this thread, so that is not a problem. To view the PDF versions (with more art work) then of course you need Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Now to actually play.

Well you are going to need at least three people. One to run the game (The Director) and two to play (The Players). These Episodes have all been designed with Willow and Tara not just in mind, but as the primary focus.

You will also need a 10 sided die. If you don't have one you can use a deck of playing cards or even a deck of Tarot cards.

You are also going to need a set of rules. Eden Studios makes the Buffy RPG that these Episodes use. But you can also use the Angel RPG, the upcoming Army of Darkness RPG, the WitchCraft RPG (my personal fave) or even the just announced Ghosts of Albion RPG (no link yet).

If you can’t find these rule books, let me know. I can point you in the right direction.

Of course failing that you could use just about any paper and pencil role playing rules, such as D&D or even White Wolf.

Lisa’s Episode 5 will be posted on Monday.

Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"Does anybody remember laughter?" - Robert Plant, "The Song Remains the Same"

by **Jennpurr** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 8:54 pm

Tim,

Thank you very much, sweetie, for your fast reply! :kiss

And thank you for the compliments on my avatar. I love Charmed.

Ooooh... a Charmed cross-over??? Is it Lisa's episode?? Say it isn't so! I loved Pureheart.

Um... about the game. Do I have to play the game to read the episodes? Part of me would rather read first, then play. Can I do that, or do I have to play them?

Thanks again for your help and putting up with my dumbness.

Jen

||My Fan Fiction and More!|| ||My Yahoo Group||
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Piper: The only Halliwell that likes earthquakes.
Prue: I don't like them, but I don't go running naked through the house screaming, "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" either.
Phoebe: Okay, that is such an exaggeration. I was wearing slippers.
Edited by: Jennpurr at: 2/2/04 12:28 pm

by **Lisa of Nine** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 3:43 pm

Hi all!

Okay, this is my first try at the RPG world, and guess what? It ended up... long. ;-)

I will post it in 6 parts. (Thank Tim for formating it!)

This episode is as much Tim's as mine. He took my prose stuff and magically made it fit the RPG world. We also used stuff from other RPG episodes of DATP and had input from Garner and Sassette. Thanks to everyone! Let's keep Willow and Tara alive and happy!

Lisa

The Dragon and the Phoenix

Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of

in your philosophy."

Hamlet

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5

An Episode for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Role-playing Game

By Lisa Countryman

Additional contributions by Timothy S. Brannan, Garner Johnson and Sassette

Special thanks to Dekalog & Dykeleen

Cover art by Div.

Interior art by Chris Cook.

For the

Kittens

Teaser

Tara looked around the small restaurant. The clientele was completely

supernatural. The patrons were demons, some with scales, some with horns,

and some that looked human. Tara turned to Anya. "So . this is nice," she

said as she smiled politely at several patrons. The demons scowled and

looked away.

"You said that already," Anya pointed out. "Twice." She scanned the crowd.

"I thought you might like going some place where you wouldn't feel like a

freak," Anya said sweetly.

"You think I'm a freak?" Tara furrowed her brow. She wasn't offended, merely

curious.

"Well, you did come back from the dead." Anya spun in her seat and caught

their waitress' attention, which wasn't too difficult considering the server

had an extra eye on her forehead and two more on the back of her head. "Can

we get some more nachos?"

The waitress nodded and went into the kitchen.

"Um, well, dead, yes . but I am human now." Tara took a sip of her soda.

"But you were dead, before." Anya leaned closer so none of the other patrons

could hear her. "Before the whole, you know, angel deal, and now back with

the human gig."

"Okay, yeah, there is a certain freakishness about that," Tara agreed in a

conspiratory whisper. Her eyes sparkled playfully.

"I should know." Anya leaned back against the booth. "I've been human, then

a demon, back to human and well, now back to the vengeance thing." She had

chosen a table off in a corner to avoid attracting attention. Not many

humans came to this bistro, which was not surprising since it was in an

alternate dimension. "So, why are you here?" Anya asked with her typical

bluntness.

"You . um . invited me," Tara reminded Anya.

Anya rolled her eyes. "I mean, why are you here." Anya waved her hand in the

air. "Here here." She frowned. "Well, not here here, because here now is not

on Earth. Why are you back?"

Tara gave Anya a blank stare.

"Why are you back from the dead? Alive?" Anya asked slowly, as if Tara were

slightly brain damaged.

Tara leaned forward nervously. "I was exiled," she whispered. "You knew

that."

"Yeah, whatever." Anya sighed. "That's the cover story. No way They'd exile

you just for thinking 'up there' was hell without Willow." Her eyes narrowed

and she pressed her lips tightly together before speaking. "That was an

excuse, and believe me, since taking up this job again, I've gotten really

good at recognizing excuses." She pointed toward the ceiling. "They let you

come back." She raised one eyebrow and studied Tara. "Why?"

Across the room, another patron watched Tara with keen interest. She was an

ancient demon with grey scales. Her name was Sarabda, and as she studied

Tara, she smiled. She knew her employer would be pleased. A furry male demon

sat next to her.

"Thank you for being so prompt, Ninus." Sarabda said.

"Is that her?" Ninus asked. "With Anyanka?" He was eager to do well and earn

the favor of the one they served.

"Yes," Sarabda said. "and she'll never live to fulfill her prophecy." She

sipped a thick lager. "Remind me to thank Anyanka for delivering her."

"We can't touch her here," Ninus pointed out. "This place is enchanted. No

violence."

"We can't touch her here," Sarabda agreed with a dangerous smile. "But we

can follow her back to her dimension."

"And perhaps kill the others as well." Ninus nodded his approval.

"We can kill them all before they ever learn of the Augury." Sarabda stared

at Tara.

"He will be pleased." Ninus looked at Tara and tilted his furry head to one

side. "She doesn't look like much."

"She has the power to save the world," Sarabda warned. "Or destroy it," she

added with a smile.

"Too bad she'll never use it." Ninus smirked and leaned back into his chair.

Director's Notes

This adventure requires the use of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Role

Playing Game Core Rulebook by Eden Studios. In addition players and

directors can gain additional information and aid with Eden's The Magic

Box Sourcebook.

It is intended for the Original cast set during an alternate Season 7 in

which Tara has returned to Sunnydale. Characters supported are Buffy,

Xander, Willow, Tara, and Giles. It is suggested that Anya and Giles be an

NPC for the course of this episode. Spike and Dawn do not appear in this

episode for reasons that will be made clear in later episodes. If this is

a problem for some players have Spike reenter the game after Act 1 and up

the Combat scores of the various encounters. Alternatively if someone

normally plays Spike, and no one is playing Giles, have that player switch

to Giles for this adventure.

This Episode should take approximately two longer sessions to complete, but

may be enhanced by the Director to be longer or shorter. This adventure is

much longer than the previous ones, and this should be taken into account.

Players can also use their own characters or pre-generated ones provided in

the core rulebook. Alterations in character/cast content are expected and

welcome. Many options will be given to the players to customize the content

as they see fit.

Willow, Tara and Magic

The Magic Box gives some updates on magics and group casting. The Magic Box

rules say both role their normal Magic rolls, (Will+Occult) and add

the number of successes together. But anyone can do that, Willow and Tara

are something special. Also now that Willow is moving away from the dark

magics and embracing Wicca with Tara's help their magic is growing.

Directors can choose a mechanic for applying the effects of Willow and Tara

's enhanced magic. In any case to use their magic together Willow and Tara

must be able to grasp hands and concentrate. It is a simple matter of

rolling a normal 1d10 + Perception + Occult roll. If they both roll

a 9 or higher they are in synch. Keep track of the average success levels

this is their Synchronicity Score. This only needs to be rolled once

per magical situation. Basically lifting a rock together or one session of

combat.

1. When Willow and Tara cast they can add their Synchronicity Score to the

spell effect. This results in a little extra bookkeeping during game play.

2. They can multiply their Success Levels by 1.5, rounding down. This

results in some very large SLs (15+ in some cases!) but is of little use if

their rolls are low.

3. Alternately they can add three to the number of success levels they

generated by counting that as the effect of mind, body and soul being linked

together. This results in less math and a medium level of Success Levels.

Whatever mechanic you choose for your game try to keep it consistent.

The downside to all of this is that Willow and Tara's magic is so linked

adding a third caster to their group casting is much more difficult. A

normal 1d10 + Perception + Occult roll will have to be made by the

third (or more casters) the difference is the extra casters need to roll a

12 or higher (with adjustments) in order to get into synch with

Willow and Tara. The exceptions to this are casting with Bodhmal and Liath

(see below) and specific non-ritual spells that might involve the entire

cast.

Dark Magic: What is Dark magic?

In magical theory there really is nothing that is considered dark magic, or

white magic for that matter. Magic is a neutral force that is much like any

tool, it is how it is used that determines its good or evil content. Think

of a hammer. It can be used to build a house, cabinets, any number of

things, but it can also be used to club someone on the head and take their

money. Does this make all hammers evil tools? Obviously not, it depends on

the situation and use.

That being said, there are two criteria to apply to decide if a spell is

dark magic or not. If a spell damages a target's mind, body or soul, it is

dark magic. The second criteria is what source powered or bestowed the

spell? If a beneficent deity or source powered or taught a spell that

damages or harms others, it isn't considered dark magic, but, such a spell

is also only likely to work on clearly evil creatures like vampires and

demons, and would fail to have any affect on your mother for making meat

loaf for dinner once again. Such spells might not work on any human, no

matter what, while certain deities might let such a spell work against a

murderer or rapist.

Casters abusing a spell taught to them by a good source might also find that

they can no longer recall exactly how that spell works and will fail in any

attempt to use it. The Director is going to have to decide what the source

of the spell's inclination is when it is misused.

A spell can be considered dark magic if the source powering or bestowing it

is evil or maleficent. Someone casting a spell under a Power Boost (see The

Magic Box, p. 50) from an evil source is using dark magic, no matter what

spell they are using or how it is used.

After reading Darkest Magics in the episode Tough Love, Willow

had access to a temporary power boost at any time, effectively drawing on

the dark forces the book opened to her. She may at any time consider

herself under the influence of a +5 Power Boost (this represents her

Willpower at that time) with all the normal benefits and restrictions from

Power Boosting in The Magic Box. She can do this once each day.

Note that if she does she is using dark magic, is subject to possible Magic

Addiction (see The Magic Box, p. 51-53,) cannot cast such spells with

Tara's aid, nor use any spells from the Codex, which is good powered.

Sarabda, the Uttuki and Yoln

As the Director you need to understand the motivations of this episode's

various villains. Yoln (the armor dude from the previous episode) has hired

Sarabda and the Uttuki demons to take care of Tara and Willow. Yoln needs

the Uttuki to kidnap Tara and take her to Leviathan's home plane. Sarabda

has the other Uttuki, Idiptu and Sidana, guarding the caves outside of

Sunnydale. These cave contain the two books, "The Assyrian Book of Shadows"

and "The Augury of Hammurabi". These books have been in these caves since

about 190 AD and they have weakened the walls between the dimensions. This

is why Sunnydale has a Hellmouth, why Glory chose here to return her world

and why there is an extra large population of demons beyond just the

Hellmouth's influence. Unlike the Hellmouth, these caves (called the Nexus

by the demon population) are a means of moving between many worlds and

dimensions, not just hell-dimensions like a Hellmouth.

Yoln's plan is to have the Uttuki kidnap Tara (he is still gaining his

power), take her to Leviathan where he believes Leviathan will kill her to

drive Willow back to dark magic. Leviathan's true plans are unknown to

Yoln. Yoln will not be very active in this episode. In fact he doesn't

have to appear at all. Sarabda will only refer to him as "The Hand." The

cast will not even learn what his name is.

Sarabda has in turn hired Ninus. Sarabda is not stupid, Ninus is big,

strong and dumb, but he can handle the Slayer. She is only interested in

Tara. Sarabda wants Tara dead, but fears Yoln's retribution if she kills

her. There is one other thing that she will never admit. She fears Tara as

well.

Sarabda and the other Uttuki will taunt Willow, try to get her to use dark

magic, but they are under strict orders not to kill her. They don't know

why, but their fear of Yoln is enough.

Previously on Buffy: The Dragon and the Phoenix.

Luna, Seraphim of the Fifth Order: "Tara Maclay, Keribum of the Fifth Order.

You are hereby exiled from the Binah and all of the Heavenly realms. Your

powers are gone. You will live out your remaining days here on Earth and

stand before Judgment again on the merits of those days." The angel's eyes

glow brighter and a bright gold light surrounds both her and Tara. Tara

stiffens, cries out and the light fades from gold to silver to blue and it

is gone. Tara collapses onto the ground.

Walking home the cast sees a cat nearly get hit by a car. The cat levitates

from the street and deposits itself in front of a scared looking Dawn.

The cast is in a desert fighting scorpion men, jackal headed demons and

finally the God Set.

The Goddess Isis gives Willow an amulet to protect her from dark magic. "You

will never be entirely free of the hold of Dark Magic, but this will aid

you."

A magic surge rips through Sunnydale. Tara is imprinted with the

personality of a dead Yakuza stripper. A Tara-duplicate, her sister Kara, is

created at the same time.

Snake-demons run rampant through the downtown. A man in head to toe plate

armor materializes in an alley.

Kara, Tara and Willow stand over Tara's grave casting a spell. Kara closes

her eyes, says, "Mama, I kept my promise." and disappears.

Tara: "I need to know why I'm here, why I'm back. Nothing happens without a

reason, Willow, nothing this big. Why was I allowed to return? And to

stay? What's so important about me being here that my sister would die for

me?" she asked, her voice low.

Edited by: Lisa of Nine at: 2/2/04 3:09 pm

by **Lisa of Nine** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 3:47 pm

Oh, I forgot to add in the first post- we posted today in honor of Imbolc! Blessed be. Now, on with the show.

Lisa

Introduction: The Rage of

Angels

This episode begins in the Summer's home a few days after the last episode

ends. The characters present are Willow, Buffy and Xander. Dawn is at her

friend Christie's house studying for exams. Spike is not here and no one is

sure where he is. No one should really be concerned about this. If this is a

problem for your gaming group have Spike's player play Giles and have him

present here as well. Otherwise Giles is off being Giles, researching the

Enochian Tablets from Episode 1.

Allow the role-playing to be free at this point, but direct the cast to

discuss the events of the previous episode, in particular the growing

concern about why Tara is back and her actions with Kara.

Willow has been learning a new spell from Tara's codex, Protection of

the Goddess, but has not cast it yet. It is spell to shield from any

attacks, both physical and magical.

When the conversation appears to be winding down. Have Anya and Tara

teleport back. Anya should immediately go in to her "Tara is going to cause

the Apocalypse" routine. True, Tara does not think this, neither does Anya,

but in Anya-logic even if Tara is here to stop the end of the world it makes

her responsible. Use Anya to get across any information about how rare exile

is. It just doesn't happen, the Powers don't spend all this energy to ascend

a human to near-divine status to just release her on her first mission back

to Earth. Also have Anya mention the fact that nearly every demon in town

is scared to death of Tara, even Spike is still afraid of her (he is), and

that she heals by touching. "That is a divine power." Anya will say. "Humans

don't get that, not without a good reason."

Once Anya has everyone stirred up again have her stop mid-sentence and say,

"Damn it! It's D'Hoffyrn again." She touches Tara's arm and tells her they

will talk later, snaps her fingers and is gone.

Act 1: Better the Devil You

Know

As soon as Anya leaves give the cast a chance to start a discussion. Before

their conversation gets started in earnest they will be interrupted by the

phone ringing. It is Dawn calling from her friend's house, she is very

upset and demanding to speak to Tara. When Tara answers the phone Dawn will

ask her if she is ok or if anything is going on. Tara can assure her all

she wants but Dawn remains upset. Dawn will tell Tara that she had a

"feeling" that Tara was in danger and she needs to be careful. Once Tara

hangs up give her player a chance to relate this to the other players.

This is a big cue to the cast, or at least it should be. Dawn has seen the

future. In it Sarabda grabs Tara, tortures her and sends her to Yoln. Now

the cast has a chance to stop it before it happens.

As if on cue, two new demons show up. They are Sarabda and Ninus from the

Teaser. They were waiting till Anya had left.

Name: Sarabda, the Bailiff

Motivation: To serve "The Hand".

Critter Type: Uttuki Demon

Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 5, Constitution 5, Intelligence 6,

Perception 4, Willpower 3

Ability Scores: Muscle 18, Combat 17, Brains 15

Life Points: 72

Drama Points: 5

Qualities: Attractiveness +2, Hard to Kill 6, Armor Value 4 (mild

enchantment)

Drawbacks: Cruel, Mental Problems

Skills: Getting Medieval 6, Kung-fu 6

Initiative: 1d10 +6

Combat Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes

Knife 11 18 Slash/stab,

Throw 11 10 Thrown

Punch 10 12 Bash

Kick 9 14 Bash

Dodge 11 - Defense

Grapple12 - Resisted

by Dodge

Sarabda is a demonic bounty hunter. She is a gallu demon and can alter her

shape to take a human form, but she cannot mimic others. As a race, the

Gallu act as demonic police officers. Though it would appear that Sarabda

does a bit of freelance work

Sarabda is a tall, gray-skinned demon woman. She is covered in fine scales

and except for her demonic appearance is quite attractive. She is wearing

armor, breeches and boots all made of leather. On her wide belt is a huge

ring of keys. She is also carrying several knives and daggers stuffed in

various sheathes on her leather armor. Her plan here is to grab Tara and

teleport out.

Ninus is tall, at least 7', and covered with a fine fur that seems to shift

from blue to green to brown. He is also wearing Sumerian clothing, in his

case a papyrus wrap kilt and armbands. He wields a huge sword. Ninus is

only here to keep Buffy busy.

Name: Ninus, Son of Nimrod

Motivation: To serve other powerful demons

Critter Type: Demi-god

Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 4, Constitution 9, Intelligence 2,

Perception 2, Willpower 2

Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 18, Brains 10

Life Points: 95

Drama Points: 5

Qualities: Armor Value 8, Hard to Kill 7, Regenerate Life Points

Drawbacks: Attractiveness -1, Can be permanently killed with his own sword

Skills: Acrobatics 5, Getting Medieval 7, Kung-fu 7

Combat Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes

Sword 15 60 Slash/stab,

can use one-handed

Punch 15 20 Bash

Kick 14 22 Bash

Dodge 13 - Defense

action

Sarabda attacks Tara with a bolt of magic. Clay shackles appear on Tara's

hands. The shackles prevent Tara from casting any spells, or from her aiding

Willow's magic. Ninus attacks Buffy.

Sarabda needs to bind Tara before she can teleport her. This will take two

combat turns; one to bind Tara, the other to grab her and teleport out. Any

disruption in this process will cause Sarabda to have to start over.

Sarabda can't just teleport to Tara, grab her, and then teleport out. At

least not yet.

If Willow casts any magic then Sarabda is affected normally. However once

Tara is bound Willow will need to make a Willpower test to avoid

using dark magic. If Willow still has the Amulet of Isis (she should) then

her check is normal, if not then she is at a -4 for her check. If she makes

it with 3 or more Success levels she adds these success levels to her magic

roll on her first attack against Sarabda. This reflects the strengthening

of her soul due to Tara's instruction.

If Willow fails her checks and hits Sarabda with dark magic then Sarabda

gains three (3) life points for every level of magic and takes no damage

from any offensive spells. Willow will need to make another Will check, this

time at -2 (combined with any other penalties) to use light based magic.

See the section above on What is Dark Magic?

One exception to this is Willow and Tara's new spell, Protection of the

Goddess. Willow can cast this spell normally to protect herself and

Tara. Tara can lend her magic to aid Willow in this spell as per the

Willow, Tara and Magic rules above.

Ninus is all brute strength, but not very smart or fast. He focuses on Buffy

and completely ignores Xander. If Xander's player realizes this give him/her

a +2 to Xander's first attack on Ninus. The fight should progress quite a

bit, Ninus is after all a bad ass. Anytime he is dropped to zero life

points he will regenerate and be up to attack the next turn. If Buffy can

somehow get his sword from him she can kill him permanently with it.

Ninus is of course the distraction. Sarabda is only interested in kidnapping

Tara. Once Ninus is dead Sarabda will make some threats against Willow and

then flee. Sarabda should not be killed. If she reaches zero life points

she will "shimmer" out of existence with an "I'll be back, you can't guard

her 24 hours a day!"

Now there is the problem of the clay shackles on Tara's hands. They are

immune to magic (even the Remove Bonds spell from The Magic

Box) and too tough for Buffy to break. If anyone needs healing Tara can

try, but the bonds also stop her healing powers.

There are some markings on the shackles that either Willow or Tara could

recognize with a proper Int+Occultism roll. With 4 of more Success

Levels they will even recognize them as Sumerian, otherwise a proper

Int+Knowledge roll will. But in any case, there are no books that can

translate them. If Giles is present he can with Int+Occultism or

Int+ Knowledge roll. He will still need time to translate them. If

he is not there he needs to come over, but he will bring the books he needs.

Translation is a simple Int+Language, Int+Occultism, or

Int+ Knowledge roll for him, but all it uncovers is "God's Tears",

"Tears of the Goddess" or "Divine Tears". Allow the cast to ponder what

this means. If they seem stuck have Giles offer "Well, Tara was a divine

being for a while."

Getting Tara to cry, by talk of puppies dying or rubbing onions in her eyes,

is a great potential for gaining drama points, but it won't work in getting

the shackles off.

The only thing that will work is pouring Holy Water over them. One vial of

holy water will melt the shackles and free Tara's hands and magic.

If the cast can't figure out how to get the shackles off have Anya teleport

back in and give them the answer. She has dealt with Sarabda in the past.

Alternately one of the girls can summon Anya by saying her demonic name out

loud. Anya will teleport back in demonic form, and look at Buffy and say

"Finally, a chance to do some vengeance on Spike! I think castration is in

order." Let them struggle with it for a while as Anya can't solve all their

problems.

Once free Tara can heal again. Xander will most likely need this.

If asked to identify the dead demon, Anya's only response will be "Oh,

crap." She will then say grimly, "Not just a demon," glancing over to

Giles. "He was the son of a god."

Edited by: Lisa of Nine at: 2/2/04 2:52 pm

by **WebWarlock** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 3:54 pm

Ha! Now I feel bad that this one took so long.

Part of our goal was to make the episodes enjoyable by even the non-gamer. So yes you can read them and not play them as well. Of course you'll have gamespeak to deal with and the story is not linear like a fic.

But really, if you don't "get it" it is not because of "dumbness" but rather that this is a particular way of doing it. But I feel the Unisystem rule system is one that people can pick up on quickly.

Now the Charmed thing. Well I don't want to give away too many surprises now.

Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"Does anybody remember laughter?" - Robert Plant, "The Song Remains the Same"

by **Lisa of Nine** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 4:48 pm

Act 2: Never Judge a Demonic

Book by its Hideously Evil Cover

Anya tells everyone that the dead demon was Ninus and he was the son of

Nimrod. If Buffy comments on either name Anya will just comment back "This

is from someone called Buffy?"

Anya has some information about Ninus. He was a king for a while in

Sumerian times, but was disowned by his father. He has many contacts in the

demonic underworld and was something of a demonic bad boy, always getting

into the demonic tabloids.

If anyone asks about the demonic tabloids Anya will mention that they are

even in them, "Serial Killer Buffy Summers and her gang still at large.

Demon population not safe."

Anya will also mention that he couldn't have been after Tara, he was hired

muscle and he liked taking orders. While talking about him Anya will sort of

trail off. A successful Notice+Perception roll by Xander will reveal

that Anya had romantic relations with Ninus.

Once the subject of the other demon (Sarabda) comes up as "the scaled demon

that was after Tara" Anya will ask, "A scaled woman? Did she have keys

dangling from her waist and wear lots of leather?"

When the cast acknowledges this Anya will become very frightened. She will

move away from the cast, saying "Ya know what? I have to be going." Smiling

nervously. "Really great seeing you." She backs away. "Buffy, that offer of

vengeance still stands." She lifts her arms so she can wave them and

disappear in a flourish.

"Wait!" Giles will say harshly. "Who was she?"

"The bailiff," Anya will whisper "Sarabda," even more quietly. "And don't

tell anyone I helped you." She waves her arms and the air warps as she

disappears.

Research mode is next. They have two names: Sarabda and Ninus. Internet

and book searches will reveal very little, other than another name of a

demon cabal, the Uttuki. Sarabda is a member of the Uttuki. They are

members of a lower caste of powerful demons, but will only serve dark gods.

Giles has more texts on these demons at his place. He asks Xander and Buffy

to help him get the texts. Tara and Willow should remain and continue to

research. If either protest, Giles will say he doubts that Sarabda will

attack again so soon. They should leave.

During the research phase Tara will discover that she can still read

Japanese. If she tries to speak it she will discover she can still speak

Japanese as well. Give her a Language (Japanese) skill of level 3. This

should be enough prompting to see what other skills Tara has retained. She

also still knows striptease and lap-dancing from her time as 'Candy Heart'.

Giles' returns with Buffy, Xander and lot's of books. His books reveal that

there are many lower level but only seven upper level Uttuki, and only three

are known to frequent this Earthly realm. All of these are mentioned in

Assyrian/Akkadian mythology.

Findings:

Uttuki

The Uttuki are a very old cabal of demons. Although they are a lower caste

of demon, they only serve dark gods. Historically such gods as Nergal,

Ereskigal and Tiamat enjoyed the services of the Uttuki.

These are the three that are featured in this episode. There is no mention

on how any of these demons can be killed.

Sarabda, the Bailiff

Sarabda is a demonic bounty hunter. She is a Gallu demon and can alter her

shape to take a human form, but she cannot mimic others. As a race, the

Gallu act as demonic police officers. Though it would appear that Sarabda

does a bit of freelance work

Idiptu, the Harnessed Wind

Believed to be a type of storm demon. Very little is known of her history.

During an attack, any physical blows will pass through her. She might be

immune to magic. Records of previous encounters with her describe her

ignoring magical attacks, but one small coven was able to distract her long

enough with magic for others to make a physical attack. Given that another

section describes her as immune to physical attacks this might be two

different demons.

Sidana, the Beauty that Staggers

Her beauty is the mirror of Medusa. Her face is so lovely that she can turn

people to stone. Unlike Medusa, whose repulsive face also turned men to

stone permanently, Sidana's powers wear off.

When the cast runs out of researching options Anya teleports in. She hands

Giles Dalmon's Demonic Index of Apocalyptic Battles, Volume Seven. Giles

will then profess his undying love for her. This is obviously a very rare

book. In fact, Anya warns them all that she didn't bring it and she had

nothing to do with it. "I was never here. You never saw this, and I

certainly did not give this to you."

The book is large and heavy. It is leather bound with brass enclosures. It

has markings in Cuneiform, Hieroglyphs and Celtic Ogham.

Anya will warn that the book is very dangerous. She will point to one of

the runes on the book. "Unauthorized possession of this text may result in

your torture, maiming, indigestion, or may end in death." Standard demonic

disclaimer she calls it. "Unauthorized viewing of the text may result in

blindness, madness, indigestion, or may end in death. Now everyone happy?"

If anyone points out that all Anya's warnings end in death and asks if she

is trying to help them or kill them, Anya will only get really quiet and say

"that's what D'Hoffryn keeps asking me." She will then teleport out.

The cast can set up any protection magics they like, but there is no point

in doing so. Nothing will stop the magics of the book, nor will the cast

really want to. It doesn't matter who opens the book, Willow, Tara and

Buffy will collapse unconscious to the floor. They will not wake up

regardless of what happens to them.

by **Lisa of Nine** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 4:54 pm

Act 3: We're

History

Special consideration for Act 3

The cast will be divided for most of this act. As the Director it will be

your job to keep the action flowing. To do this you should read each

section below carefully and determine what will work best with your group of

players. Each section can be divided up so attention can be shifted from

player to player.

About Bodhmal and Liath

Bodhmal ("Bode-vul") and Liath ("Leah") might be familiar to some players.

Players that have played The Dark Druid by Timothy Brannan and

published by Games Unlimited will recognize these names as those of

the foster mothers of Fionn MacCumhail. More importantly they are Willow and

Tara (respectively) in one of their previous lives. The cast's interactions

with these two will be different this time. Bodhmal and Liath have not yet

fostered Fionn (Demme as they called him) so these women will not understand

any conversation about him. As for roleplaying them, imagine Willow and

Tara in their late 30's or early 40's. Bodhmal is a Ban-Drui, a

druid-witch of considerable power and great wisdom. She never would have

fallen under the sway of dark magic, but knows that she must still have much

to learn if it happened to her future self (Willow). Liath is a Celtic

warrior woman. Her mission was to be bodyguard to Bodhmal; the 'problem'

was that she fell in love with her. She is known as Liath the Grey, due not

only to her prematurely steel-grey hair, but also for her no nonsense

attitude.

Bodhmal is a mistress of magic and has access to all spells in the Magic

Box book save for the techo-magical ones. Liath is a spears-woman of

considerable power and skill. She actually is the third best warrior woman

in Celtic history behind Scáthach and Boudicea.

Their character sheets appear at the end of this episode.

Xander and Giles

Part 1

In Sunnydale, Xander and Giles are stuck with the book and three comatose

girls. Their main priority should be to protect Buffy, Willow and Tara and

find out what is in the book. Giles can begin working on the book. The

book is a history of near apocalyptic battles, this volume deals with a

battle against an army of demons, lead by a human against a castle (or Abby,

Giles will be unsure) in what will become France, circa 190 AD that housed

some very potent relics. Evil sorcerers and demons made some of these

relics. The religious order there was trying to determine the best way to

destroy them. It also mentioned a weapon, neither good nor evil, forged by

the hand of man that can (and did) kill a god.

If Giles or Xander can make a Perception+Notice roll with 3 Success

Levels then they will notice a fat greenish-brown grub crawl out of the book

and land on the floor. If they choose to kill it, no problem, it can be hit

easily and has one (1) Life Point. What they won't see are the others

leaving the book.

Giles will comment that it might have been a Bookworm, and it was good

thing that they got it early.

Part 2

The three unnoticed Bookworms will grow into their full sized versions.

They will attack Giles and Xander. Bookworms are unintelligent and just

attack anything that moves (they sense vibrations but they can't see). So,

while Buffy, Willow and Tara will be okay, there is no reason for Xander and

Giles to figure this out beforehand. They need to focus on killing the

Bookworms and keeping the girls safe.

Willow

Part 1

Willow will wake up in a library. She can see people moving around

hectically, taking various items, chanting and the items disappear in a

flash of light. She will notice that all the people are dressed like

members of a religious order and they look like ghosts to her. One woman

appears solid.

"You're in the sixteenth chapter," a feminine voice will say clearly.

Any question by Willow to the woman will seem like pre-programmed answers

("I am the Sixteenth chapter", "this is the sixteenth chapter"), because

they are. It should only take a simple Intelligence + Computers roll

on Willow's part to determine this, and for her to realize that she is stuck

inside the book.

Some questions do have pre-programmed responses.

Questions

Answers

"Where is this?"

"You are at the great battle."

"When is this?"

"The time of the ascension."

"What year?"

"It is 190 Anno Domni, as you reckon time."

"What's happened to me?"

"You're in no danger"

"What's happened to Buffy/Tara/Giles/Xander".

"There is no one by that name in this chapter."

"What am I doing here?"

"You are here to learn."

"Take me to

"You are safe, your mate has been sent to another chapter."

"Take me to Buffy."

"You are safe, your Slayer has been sent to another chapter."

"Tell me about the Uttuki."

The guide will show Willow a window; outside a great battle is raging.

Sarabda can be seen fighting humans with other demons. She is covered in

blood and completely reveling in the slaughter.

"Who is leading this battle?"

The guide will point to Yoln leading the demons.

"What about the other chapters"

"Your safety does not extend beyond my pages."

"Are the other chapters/Tara/Buffy safe?"

"So long as a seeker remains within their chapter, they are not in

danger. As long their soul retains it's birth anchor."

"What is a birth anchor?"

"All beings have a Birth Anchor. Your soul is tied to your physical body

at birth. It can only be broken if you have experienced death"

"What does that mean?"

"The chapters use the Birth Anchor to connect to those who seek

knowledge. Without the anchor, we neither find nor protect them. They could

die here for real."

"How do I leave a chapter/book?"

"Express your desire to do so. But your protection is only within my

pages."

Willow should become very concerned about Tara and Buffy at this point and

try to leave. If she asks to leave, the Chapter Guide will give stern

warnings but will do it. The guide will disappear and the other people in

the room will become solid. One woman, the one that seems to be in charge,

will look at Willow and say, "Ah Bodhmal what are- wait, who are you?"

Part 2

The woman asking the questions appears to be middle aged. She is still quite

attractive, her eyes are green and her blond hair is only just now showing

signs of gray.

The woman Willow is facing is Luna, the Angel from Episode 1. Only here she

is still human and of course does not know who Willow is. Don't let Willow'

s player know this right away. The woman will mention that there is no way

that Willow can be a demon since the room has the castle's strongest wards

against demons and only herself, Bodhmal or Liath could break them. She

will tell Willow to either help her or get out of the way. She is speaking

in perfect English. The fact is she is speaking Gaulish Gaelic, the magic

of the book translates spoken languages. The woman then places two books on

an altar, holds her hands above them and speaks a translocation spell in

Latin (Willow will have no trouble figuring it out) and the books disappear.

If asked what she is doing, the woman tells Willow to grab the last two

books and bring them to her. She is obviously getting weak. Willow will

notice the two books are Dark Magic books, but their draw to her seems very

muted. It should be uncomfortable for her, but she will have no problems.

The books are "The Assyrian Book of Shadows" and "The Augury of Hammurabi".

Willow can quickly scan the book. She already knows most of the information,

but one bit is new. 'The wind can blow in but one direction. She must face

light or dark and that will seal the fate of all.'

Willow can ask about the books, and Luna will tell her "they are tomes of

dark magic and that is what has drawn this demon army here." These books and

the "other" artifact they are guarding. Luna will not say what the other

artifact is. Drop enough subtle clues that these two books in particular

are on their way to what will become Sunnydale. Of course Luna knows

nothing of America's west coast. She only knows they are going to a "far

away land where the sun sets in a peaceful sea."

Luna will place them on the altar and say the spell again. She will say that

she sent them to the "farthest corners of the Earth". They had to be safer

there than here though calamity always follows wherever the books go. She

will grab Willow and tell her they have to go and that now "their fate is in

the hands of one girl."

Luna will lead Willow out of the room. Once Willow steps out of the room

she will then be transported to Tara.

Tara

Part 1

There is no gentle awakenings or no subtle shifts to consciousness for

Tara. There is no Chapter Guide either, but Tara does not know there should

be one here either. She falls to the ground and lands hard. She is greeted

to rough hands shaking her shoulders and the putrid smell of blood

overwhelming her.

"Awaken, witch!" an angry, but female voice bellows.

Tara will be yanked into a sitting position by the angry woman. She will

notice she has a sharp pain in the middle of her back and the area is wet.

She might suspect it's blood, but it is only water.

"You've ruined everything," the woman says angrily. The woman points to a

broken urn on the ground next to Tara. "My people will all die and it's your

fault, witch." Suddenly, the woman spins as a demon in chain mail breaks

through the line of warriors a few yards away. "Stay down,"

"We should strike you down,' another woman harshly states, and then she

moves closer to Tara to stand guard. Whether this is to protect Tara, or to

confine her isn't clear. "Evil will rein this day because of your

interference."

Tara will discover she is standing in the middle of a small group of women.

By their clothes, it appears they are witches, but they are now in the

process of removing ceremonial robes to reveal that they are well-armored

(leather and chain-mail) and armed warriors.

The first witch is Bodhmal. The Director should tell Tara's player that

there is something about this woman that reminds you of Willow. The warrior

is older than Willow, perhaps in her late thirties, but she has the same

fiery red hair and sparkling eyes, even in the midst of battle, but that is

not what reminds Tara of Willow. There is something deeper, more primal, and

that primal tie will pull Tara to her feet as the red haired warrior begins

fighting the demon.

There are a total of four witches in Bodhmal's group. Tara makes the total

five. They are fighting a small group (3) of Bone Devils (see New

Monsters, below). Once Tara stands to make an attack the Bone Devils must

make a Fear Test as per Tara's Otherworldliness Quality. Even if

they flee the other witches will try to kill them.

Bodhmal attempts to keep Tara safe (she feels the same draw) but it is

doubtful that Tara will remain inactive. Once the demons are dealt with,

Bodhmal will pull back the witches to a more defensive position behind a

broken outer wall.

The field Tara finds herself in might have been beautiful, with the green

grass, the blue skies, and the scattered trees in the distance. It would

have been beautiful except that the landscape is covered with bloody bodies,

and the pieces of bodies of both humans and demons. Most of the barely

visible grass is no longer green. The ground is stained by sickening black

of puddles of blood that has been exposed to the air for several hours.

Off in the distance a huge army of demons can be seen. Behind Tara is a

castle keep that looks large to her, but is in fact only medium sized for

the time. The castle looks beaten and broken. It will not take long for

Tara to figure out that the humans are losing this war.

Bodhmal will introduce herself to Tara and say she suspects that Tara is

"from beyond" and she knows that Tara is not evil. "Not that it matters,

you have damned us all the same." Bodhmal looks defeated. The other

witches begin to cast, erecting magical barriers to keep the onslaught of

demons back.

One thing sticks out of the throng of demons, a woman warrior on a large

black horse. The woman looks like some sort of avenging angel. Her long

gray-blonde hair flies about her head as a halo. Her horse moves through the

demons while she wields her great Celtic spear with both hands, mowing down

demons as she races past. The woman on the horse will gallop straight for

one of the magical barriers. The horse will snort and dip its head, but it

won't hesitate. The blonde rider edges the huge, muscular animal on and

leaps through the barrier. As soon as they clear the mystic barrier, they

will turn and gallop recklessly toward the main camp. The horse will stop a

few yards from Tara and the rider seems to use the momentum of the animal to

leap from its back. There is something about this woman (Liath) that

unsettles Tara.

She will regard Tara with a somewhat confused look, but turn to Bodhmal.

"What are you doing?" she'll demand. "You were supposed to wait for me."

"It doesn't matter. We can't cast now. The urn was broken, the water was

lost." Bodhmal will say.

The new arrival will run her hand along Bodhmal's face. The touch is loving,

and intimate, and asking for an explanation without any words.

"How? We had it protected." She will say, her anger building.

"Liath. Clam down. It was an accident."

"Accident?" Liath will say. "How could it happen? I cast that circle and no

one but me should have been able to enter or leave it."

"We had a visitor." Bodhmal will say, looking at Tara. "She fell from the

sky. She went right through the circle and landed on the vessel."

Liath will turn to look at Tara and will say, "Well then. You have killed us

all."

Part 2

Allow Tara to explain anyway she wants. Liath still wants to run her spear

through her. Bodhmal defends Tara claiming it was not her fault. In the

process of arguing, someone should notice that Liath is injured. In fact

she is bleeding rather profusely. Tara would be drawn to heal her under

normal circumstances, but this time the draw to heal is even stronger. Tara

will completely heal Liath, but that is not all.

The Director tells Tara that "the magic you called seems stronger, more

powerful. You are certain that any other time you would not have been able

to heal her wounds, but this time your magic seems doubled." Also once Tara

touches Liath they share a connection deeper than magic. Tara is Liath.

Refer to the Awaking the Old Soul below, as Liath is a previous

incarnation of Tara. Tara will also learn that Bodhmal is Willow in a

previous life.

Once this information is learned the dynamic between the three women should

change. Liath and Bodhmal will want to know why Tara is here and where her

anamchara ("on-um-kor-ah") or soul mate is. Tara will certainly want to

know the details of this battle.

Liath and Bodhmal do not know the Christian date, but they will say it has

been over seven score years since Bodicea nearly drove the Romans from

Londinium. They are in Gaul (France) and this is the keep of a religious

order of the Christian God. They came here to help the order protect

various artifacts of power. In the keep is a weapon of such power that

Christians fear it, but they fear it falling into the hands of the demons

even more. They will point out another witch, wearing different robes,

saying she is a witch of another order, the Temple of Astartë, and these

three orders have put aside their own differences to stop this apocalypse.

However now without the sacred Imbolc water from Brigit's well, they cannot

finish their incantation.

This should ring a bell to Tara. Unknown to Liath and Bodhmal this spell of

theirs, Brigit's Waves of Flame, has survived till Tara's time. If

Tara makes a successful Intelligence + Occult check with 2 Success

Levels she can remember the spell. If she can make it with 3 Success Levels

she can recall that the spell has an alternate version. When worship of the

Pagan Goddess Brigit was augmented with the honoring of the Catholic Saint

Bridget, the spell was altered to the more "christianized" version using the

"blood of the saint". Since holy water was used the spell would not work.

Tara can explain this change to them or keep it to herself (not advisable).

Bodhmal will point out that either using the Imbolc water or Saint's blood

is moot, they have neither.

"Unless of course you know of someone that has died and come back with

divine power?" Liath will ask.

Sometimes life hands exactly what you need when you need it.

Par

At this point Willow will join Tara. She will appear in a shimmering play of

lights inside the barrier. The other witches will move to attack Willow,

so Tara had better act fast. Relate all the information to Willow, including

who Bodhmal and Liath are and who they will become. Willow might note the

lack of a Chapter Guide here as well.

At this point the four should be planning to use Tara's blood as a

replacement for the Imbolc water. This might take some convincing on the

part of Willow and Tara to Bodhmal and Liath. There could also be some

complaints (use Dawn's blood parallels) about using Tara's blood. Bodhmal

will say that it should not take more than few drops, IF they decide to do

this. Bodhmal feels defeated and Liath is unconvinced that it will work.

However, since there is no danger to Tara, who can heal herself, they decide

to proceed. Liath will produce a dagger and offer it to Tara to draw her

own blood. Tara needs to draw it herself and they need at least one Life

Point worth. If Tara balks for any reason, Liath will take out a second

dagger and cut Tara's hand for her. She will comment it was still "her"

that drew the blood and time is critical.

As if on cue the barriers will begin to falter. When the first one falls

the Astartan Witch controlling it is over run by demons. One demon in

particular stands out - Sarabda. When she sees Willow and Tara. she

screams, and directs the demons to attack them. Yoln is nowhere in sight.

Liath and Bodhmal obviously know the spell, and they will ask Willow and

Tara to assist them. Liath and Bodhmal gain the exact same benefits of

casting together as Willow and Tara do, and all four together double these

effects. Refer to the spell Brigit's Waves of Flame below.

The four witches will cast the spell. Roll as per normal for Success Levels.

Regardless of exactly how much damage is done, the spell is roughly four

times more powerful than Bodhmal and Liath anticipated. Life point damage

calculated for this spell is now 3d10 times 4. An additional 7 + their

Synchronicity Score (as above) times 4 LPs of damaged will be inflicted

every turn. The spell will also cover at the minimum over 200' radius from

the witches.

Demons not killed out right by this spell will attempt to flee. Sarabda

escapes for certain.

There will be much celebration once the demons flee. The other witches will

pursue the retreating demons, and Liath and Bodhmal will thank Willow and

Tara. Once they say what they need to say to each other, Willow and Tara

will fade out from their view. To Willow and Tara's point of view everyone

becomes ghostlike again. The Chapter Guide will appear next to them. She

looks older and her robes are of a lighter color. She will say she is the

Guide of the 23rd Chapter.

Willow and Tara can of course ask her questions or have her take them to

Buffy. If they ask about Yoln or Buffy she will take them to Buffy. If

they ask about Liath and Bodhmal the guide will say "Their part of this tale

is done, but their story is far from over." In case they ask, the Guide

will tell them that yes Liath and Bodhmal live a long life together. One

filled with trials to be sure, but ultimately a happy one.

Buffy

Part 1

Buffy lands on the castle wall with a thud. No gentle awakening or Chapter

Guide for her either. Before she is even accustomed to her surroundings she

will be attacked by a demon. This snarling thing is 7 feet tall and looks

like human with a cone head and a spiked tail; use Barbed Devil stats. Buffy

should be able to dispatch this demon with no, or only minor problems.

Buffy is on a 20 foot tall high wall (the other Slayer is on another).

Between them is an open courtyard 40 foot long at it's longest and 5 feet at

the shortest (it's shaped like a pie slice). The courtyard is full of

humans and demons fighting each other. It should not take her long to

figure out the humans are getting beat.

Buffy should notice the woman on the other castle wall across from her.

The other woman is small, blond, surrounded by demons and whose asses she is

kicking. She is wielding two long swords and is going after the demons like

a whirling dervish. No less that two dozen demons lay dead at her feet and

the others look like they will soon join them. Buffy should be impressed

with the girl's fighting ability.

However the scene will soon change. A warrior in full plate armor arrives.

Buffy should recognize him as Yoln from the previous episode. Only this time

he has both arms. He wields a wicked looking black sword (the one that is

broken in two in Buffy's time). He waits until the girl has killed the last

demon. Her swords are thick with demon blood. Buffy can not make out all of

what is being said between the two, but one thing is very clear. Yoln saying

to blond girl "This ends now, Slayer!" The two begin their attack. Yoln's

larger sword is slower than the girl's two swords, but it causes more

damage. Both deal the other wounds and parry each others blows. The battle

seems evenly matched despite the fact that the man in plate armor stands a

full two feet taller than his opponent.

Yoln manages to knock one sword from her hands and taunts her. "My seers

have seen your death, Champion." He slashes at her but she flips backwards

to safety. "My victory is at hand."

"I have a seer, too." She attacks using both hands wielding her one blade

with skill and strength. "You should know as well as I, prophets speak in

riddles and half truths." She actually backs Yoln away from the area she

seemed to be protecting.

"Riddles?" Yoln slams her sword aside and reaches out with one hand, quickly

spinning the young Slayer around. "A riddle is enough to end your life,"

Yoln says as he slides his sword into her back.

The Slayer laughs, coughing up blood, as Yoln's blade erupts from her chest.

She drops to her knees as her sword slides from her grip and clatters as it

falls off the wall. She continues to smile, even as blood pools between her

hands, pressed flat against the top of the wall. "My death doesn't assure

your victory."

Yoln pauses, as if thinking the shock of the sword has driven her mad. "It

was your seer who told you lies." He turns and marches towards a door and

goes into the castle.

There is nothing Buffy can do to stop this. If she tries to go to the

other Slayer while she is attacking Yoln then another demon will attack

Buffy. Even if Buffy figures out she is inside the book, she should realize

that the demons can injure her. Once Yoln is gone Buffy can try to reach

the other Slayer.

Part 2

Buffy can jump across the courtyard where the walls are closest and land

with no problem with a successful Dexterity + Acrobatics roll. Once

there she needs to go to Morgan (the other Slayer). If she tries to go after

Yoln first have Morgan call out to her for help.

In either case, Morgan will get up and lean against the castle wall. It

looks like she might be doing it to rest, but she isn't - she is bracing

herself. Morgan presses her face and chest against the castle wall and

forces the sword out of her body with a muffled scream. The sword clatters

to the ground as Morgan drops to her knees.

Morgan will tell Buffy that she must stop "The Pitfiend" now. They are of

the same blood and it is up to Buffy, now, and only the fiend's own sword

can stop him. With this, Morgan shakily lifts the sword and presses it into

Buffy's hands. Morgan will not say the name "Yoln" at any point. Once

Morgan has given Buffy this message, Yoln will exit the castle holding a

spear. He will see Buffy and say, "That is my sword, little girl."

Yoln attacks Buffy with the spear. Buffy uses his sword, which enrages him.

(Use the Yoln as a human stats in back). The fight should be dramatic and

tense. Buffy has no backup and no one knows she is here. At some point

(Director's choice) Yoln will knock Buffy back. He will speak some words in

Latin while motioning with the Spear. A portal will open up, and Buffy will

see a wall of living flame. No doubt, this is a portal to Hell. Morgan will

tell Buffy she has to stop him, now! If Buffy's player wants to use a drama

point, then let her, it can be added to any roll made here. Here is what

will happen.

Buffy should recognize that Morgan is a Slayer, and obviously dying. Buffy

attacks Yoln, throwing all caution to the wind. Her sister Slayer sacrificed

herself to stop the warrior, and Buffy should be willing to do the same.

Yoln fights dirty, kicking debris from the top of the wall into Buffy's

face. He uses her seeming disadvantage to lunge forward with the spear. Even

if fighting blind, Buffy anticipates the move and slashes the blade in a

deadly arc with enough force to lop off Yoln's head.

Yoln panics and moves to duck the blow, but as he crouches, he holds the

spear over his head in one hand. His arm takes the full brunt of Buffy's

swing. The blade slices through the muscle and bone with ease and continues

until it strikes the spear. Buffy staggers back as the sword shatters on

impact with the spear.

Yoln's severed arm flops to the ground twitching inside the armor bracer as

the Spear is sent bouncing along the wall and into the portal. Yoln screams

something about his prize, while completely ignoring his severed limb. He

staggers toward Buffy. If she attacks again, Yoln will be knocked backwards

into the portal screaming, "no!" as the portal disappears.

The armies of Hell will begin to flee. Buffy should go to the dying

Morgan. She will cough up some blood and tell Buffy "You did it. You

fulfilled our destiny."

Part 3

Willow and Tara will arrive as Willow did earlier. If Tara attempts to

heal Morgan, it will not work. Morgan has too much damage, but allow Tara

to try. Morgan will hold Tara's hand, leaving her blood, and tell Tara it

is ok.

Morgan will hold up her arm and a large raven will land on it. She speaks

to it. "Lucifer, tell my Watcher what has happened here. Go." The bird will

fly off. She will then turn and look at all three girls "Fulfill the

promise of your lives." Then, to Tara specifically, "tell my family, I am

sorry, this is not their fault." Morgan then dies. She is covered in blood,

yet her youthful face seems relaxed. Allow the cast to react. Extra drama

points if the cast mentions that all Slayers end their careers by dying.

The guide will return, looking positively ancient, and wearing white. She

announces that she is the Guide of the Last Chapter and that it is time for

them to leave. They fade out as they watch several armed soldiers and robed

witches run up to Morgan from the castle. There is blackness, and then

nothing.

Back in the Summers' Home

Buffy, Tara, and Willow wake up. Giles and Xander should have finished up

with the bookworms. Allow them to start talking, then Anya will teleport

back into the room. Anya looks around, sees the bookworm parts, and ask,

"what the hell is going on here?" She sees the blood on Tara's hand and

then ask, "what did you do?" Anya grabs the book and starts to teleport

out. If anyone asks if she will help she will say, "no" and disappear.

Giles should ask the girls what happened. They should relate their tale.

Giles becomes very nervous. He tells them that they've changed history. He

knows about Morgan; she was known as "The Raven" in the Watcher diaries. It

is recorded that she stopped "The Pitfiend". Bonus drama points to Buffy if

she remarks about "not being very good in history." Bonus drama points to

Willow if she also gets all worried about changing history.

Willow should also mention the two books, "The Assyrian Book of Shadows" and

"The Augury of Hammurabi." Giles knows about these books. He has also heard

a theory that these books can destabilize the local continuity of the

dimensions- maybe even cause something like a Hellmouth or a dimensional

nexus.

Before the cast can move on, Sarabda will teleport into the room. She has a

cloak of animal skins around her shoulders and as soon as she materializes,

the cast is unable to move (no rolls, this is divine magic). Sarabda extends

her hand to Tara, who goes to the demon's side willingly. Sarabda smiles

cruelly and whispers, "Stupid monkeys," and teleports out with Tara.

by **Lisa of Nine** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 5:01 pm

Act 4: The Once and Future

Witch

Sarabda and Tara

Sarabda has decided to change her plans. The earlier forceful entry, her

normal mode of operations, had obviously failed, but she doesn't know why.

Having no knowledge about Dawn, Sarabda assumes Anyanka tipped off the cast

and plans to kill her after she is done with Tara and Willow. Sarabda is

resourceful and smart. Since her first attack failed she took precautions

this time by getting a bit of divine intervention. She has acquired the Coat

of Animal Skins from Nimrod. This ancient artifact was used by Adam after

he was exiled from the Garden of Eden and Noah used it to command animals in

the Ark. It then fell into Nimrod's protection. He has loaned it to

Sarabda so that she may avenge his son.

Sarabda teleports to some caves outside Sunnydale. These caves are known as

the Nexus. As soon as she materializes with Tara in tow, they are met by two

humans in full Sumerian regalia. Both men are shirtless, and wear linen

skirts the reach down to their knees. Each wears an amulet of Assyrian

design and both men are quite handsome except for the fact that their eyes

have been removed, leaving empty holes. They carry an intricately decorated

clay box with wooden handles. The box has stylized images of animals

intertwined on every surface of the box, and even the wooden handles have

carvings of creatures.

As soon as Sarabda returns, these two men hear her, and approach quietly,

placing the clay box on the ground. They move without hesitation guided past

obstacles by their amulets. Sarabda binds Tara's hands in the same clay

shackles she used earlier, and only then addresses the two men.

"Tell Lord Nimrod his son has been avenged," Sarabda says.

"He will be told," the two men say in unison. They flank Sarabda and

lovingly remove the coat of skins.

"And thank him for the use of his coat." Sarabda smiles at Tara when she

says this.

"It was done for his son," the two servants say as they fold the coat and

place it in the box. They each take the handles and then shimmer out of

view.

Tara watches this but should also be looking around the cave. The cavern is

set up for some sort of ritual. Tara can see two books on raised platforms

facing each other. There are braziers of brass with incense and hot coals

burning. Light is limited provided only by torches.

The other Uttuki demons are standing guard while Sarabda prepares the portal

for Tara. Sarabda tells the other Uttuki to take their posts.

Tara can't use magic because of the clay shackles. During this time Sarabda

will taunt Tara. She will tell her that it is her destiny to destroy the

world. Her girlfriend almost did it for her, but it's her destiny. She can'

t avoid it, so she should embrace it. If Tara talks back, Sarabda will get

angry. She will wave her hand in front of her face and the illusion of her

beauty will disappear. She is still the same gray skinned demon, but she

has been horribly burned. Any exposed skin is a mass of scars. She will

scream at Tara.

"You did this to me! You and that little bitch of yours! I should kill you

here and wear your skin as my own, but The Hand demands you alive. So alive

he will get you." She then picks up a dagger that had been sitting in one of

the braziers, it is red hot. "But he never said anything about you not being

maimed."

Tara can't use magic, and can't really fight this demon. She has nowhere to

run. Her only option to prevent getting tortured by this demon is to use

her wits. Tara can use her Empathy or Sight qualities to make

a check on Sarabda's motives. Any successful Perception+Notice roll

will reveal to Tara that Sarabda is afraid of "The Hand" but her interests

in Tara herself are personal. Other findings will depend on the success

levels.

SL Findings

At least 1: Sarabda is performing a time consuming ritual to take

Tara to Leviathan's plane where Yoln "The Hand" is waiting for her. Sarabda

is just the delivery girl and she hates it.

1: Despite her fear of "The Hand", she hates being left out of the

loop. She wants to know what Tara's fate is going to be.

2: Sarabda is very vain. It is not the pain of the burning that has

enraged her, but the loss of her own beauty.

3: Sarabda doesn't trust the other Uttuki, but works with them out

of millennia old obligations. Comparing her to Sidana will certainly get

her angry.

4: Sarabda is worried that the ritual to create the portal will take

longer than her little delay bought her. She is also worried that she might

have underestimated Buffy and Willow.

5: Sarabda fears Tara. It's not just her divine status, but the

fact that the Hand wants her. Seeing her in 190 AD and now in 2003 is also

not something she is ready to explain.

Every success level buys Tara more time (an additional turn per). For every

piece of knowledge learned that Tara acts on have her make a

Charisma+Influence check vs. Sarabda's Willpower. Every

success buys Tara an additional turn.

Of course no rolls should need to be made if the player is doing a

convincing job of role-playing this encounter. This would not only buy more

time but is a good means of getting more Drama Points.

Sarabda is torn on where exactly to start on Tara, her hands (which provide

her healing power) or her face. In the case that Sarabda actually manages

to hurt Tara, she can heal herself with only a very faint white scar

remaining.

Sarabda can start on Tara's face, which is an option that will likely send

Willow into a dark magic influenced rage. Sarabda knows this and expects it.

If Sarabda goes for the hands (the option she is most likely to choose since

it would attract less attention from the Hand) Tara's blood will melt the

shackles like the holy water did. If Sarabda sees this, then she must make

another Fear check; Sarabda was not expecting this at all, and she should be

shaken by this new development.

Once the shackles are gone, Tara can open up a bag of Wiccan freak on this

demon.

Tara is not likely to be able to defeat Sarabda or any of the other Uttuki

on her own. The caves are large enough and varied enough that she could hide

for a while and wait for reinforcements. The caves though are patrolled by

Umu demons (see below).

If Tara's player wants to take a crack at fighting Sarabda, let her.

Sarabda will damage Tara, but not kill her. If somehow Sarabda re-captures

Tara, she will rebind her and then concentrate on the ritual for opening the

portal.

Back at the Two Story Ranch-Style

Willow should be in full-blown panic now. The cast should be getting ready

for battle. Willow should be able to detect where Tara is. She can cast

the "Tinkerbell" lights spell, or Willow can just "sense" where she is. The

caves of the Nexus do block some magical detection, but Willow should be

able know Tara's general location. They have some options.

One of course is to summon Anya for vengeance. Anya will teleport back.

She is not her normal self. There are no quick comebacks, no quips, in fact

she seems downright taciturn. She is also guarding her left side.

She has been "punished" by D'Hoffryn. If asked she will not talk about it.

She will mention that D'Hoffryn has censured her. She can't use her magic

anymore for teleporting. If asked if she can help she will say "No" and

then "Let's go."

Another option is of course magic, but the teleport spell that Willow

knows still causes nosebleeds and might be (Director's option) a Dark Magic

spell. Plus Willow is not familiar with the area she would be teleporting

to.

Part of Sarabda's plan is that she wants Willow to go on another Dark Magic

based killing spree. Willow's Transvection (flying) spell is not only too

powerful for even her to use, as she only knows the Dark Magic version.

Sure she could drain some Dark Magic books and then fly out there, but that

story is passé. Besides, she couldn't carry Buffy, Giles, Xander and Anya.

That leaves Xander's or Giles' cars. It is slower than magic, but less

hazardous to Willow's health. The sooner the cast figures this out the

better.

Director's Note: Anya

Anya is in big trouble. The alteration of the timeline has not gone

unnoticed. Most importantly, D'Hoffryn has noticed. She is on "probation"

now, and can only use her magic, and other demonic powers for vengeance. She

is also supposed to stop "fraternizing with the enemy". Though she will

keep it hidden, Anya has a deep stomach wound. It won't kill her, but it is

very painful. Any successful attack against Anya that does more than 10

points of Life Point damage in one attack turn will drop her to the ground

in pain. She is also at -2 on all her attacks and damage for the rest of

this episode.

Once the books are discovered Anya will look panicked, and say she can't

help them anymore and she will teleport out. Let the cast know that they

are sure that Anya didn't mean the caves, she meant she cannot help the

Scoobies anymore.

To the Caves

Getting to the caves should not be a problem. Getting into the caves should

be. Anya will comment that these caves, called the Nexus by the demon

population, contain areas of warped dimensional folds. The good thing is

these caves make it easy to move between the dimensions. The bad thing is it

makes it demon Grand Central station. She says think of it as hundreds of

small Hellmouths. The Hellmouth in town is directly in line with

these caves and are one of the dimensional vortexes gone really, really bad.

If asked why this is the first time Anya has mentioned these caves to them

she will say (as if they are stupid) that they never asked, and they never

listen to her anyway.

Standing guard outside are four Umu demons. Umu demons are guard dogs,

literally and figuratively. Each one is over 6' tall, muscular and covered

with short black hair. They each carry a huge sword of obviously demonic

design. But that is not what gets you. It is the four Doberman heads that

each demon has that reveals their true nature. Each head is busy looking in

every direction. There is no way to surprise these things and a full

frontal attack is going to hurt. A ranged attack might be the best bet but

once that is done, the Umu will attack.

Umu will attack and fight to the death. Their only desire is to guard the

entrance to the caves. Sarabda of course does not expect the Umu demons to

succeed; she is using them to slow the cast down and hopefully to get Willow

mad enough to use Dark Magic. Stats for the Umu appear below.

If the attack is going too quickly, (Buffy should be able to handle these

guard dogs with no problems) then throw in a couple more inside the caves.

Their purpose though is to slow down the cast, but not kill them (Sarabda

wants that pleasure herself).

Once the Umu are defeated The cast will be able to find Tara just inside

the caves. Sarabda will "shimmer" out, but only to another cave to get the

other Uttuki to attack. The Uttuki know that Yoln, "The Hand", wants Tara

alive, so they are not going to try to kill her, but they are not going to

feel too bad if she gets a little roughed up in combat.

Sarabda will then spend her time getting the ritual completed to open the

portal to Leviathan's plane.

The Uttuki

Once the cast recovers Tara there is the matter of the two books, "The

Assyrian Book of Shadows" and "The Augury of Hammurabi", on the stands.

Willow should be able to recognize them on sight as the books she helped

send away in the past; Giles should know them by reputation only. He will

of course want the books, though he may not get much time to consider it

before Idiptu attacks. (The demons have learned years ago to leave the books

where they lie).

Once the books are removed from their stands, the ground should shake a

little. They have been eroding the local dimensional barriers for

centuries, and now that they are being relocated the spatial disruptions are

shifting with them. This is causing the spatial fabric within the caves to

become unstable. The tremors will only become more and more violent.

Everyone will need to make a Dexterity + Acrobatics check in order to

keep standing. As the tremors get worse there will be an additional -1 to

the check. The tremors are roughly ten minutes apart. Once the check

reaches -8 (9 total tremors) the cast will be in a full blown earthquake,

within th cave. Not the best place to be, however there are other problems.

Name: Idiptu, the Harnessed Wind

Motivation: To serve "The Hand".

Critter Type: Uttuki Demon

Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 5, Constitution 4, Intelligence 4,

Perception 5, Willpower 5

Ability Scores: Muscle 12, Combat 16, Brains 14

Life Points: 42

Drama Points: 5

Qualities: Hard to Kill 2, Non-Corporal state, Sorcery 7

Magic: Air Become Fist spell (Magic Box, p. 77), Hold Person (Magic Box, p.

76)

Skills: Getting Medieval 4, Kung-fu 6

Combat Maneuvers*

(all attacks are "wind" based)

Name Score Damage Notes

Punch 11 10 Bash

Kick 9 10 Bash

Dodge 10 - Defense

action

Very little is known of her history. During an attack, any physical blows

will pass through her. She might be immune to magic, but magic cast in

concert with a physical assault might have an effect on her. This will make

her solid and possibly vulnerable to a physical attack.

Idiptu attacks by forcing wind at her targets, thus she "punches" and

"kicks" via the Air Become Fist spell. She can also immobilize a

person with her winds in the same effect of the Hold Person spell.

Typically she will immobilize a person or small group of people and then

attack the remaining members.

She only appears as a semi-invisible form in the wind. Often only her cruel

eyes can be seen. If made physical she appears to be a human female made of

smoke and mist.

Idiptu and Sidana are often teamed up but they can not actually attack the

same group at the same time because Idiptu is not immune to Sidana's gaze.

Idiptu will choose this time to attack. Idiptu has no physical form, she is

made up of wind. Her attacks involve her manipulation of wind and air. The

Solidfy Spirit spell from The Magic Box will have some effect,

but only if cast by two or more witches. Other magic cast in concert will

have no effect on Idiptu, but it will slow her down long enough to be hit by

physical means. Normally she appears as a blur of wind in a vaguely human

shape. When made solid she appears as a female human, albeit an evil one,

made entirely out of smoky air. Her tactic is to use her whirlwind to hold

part of the cast, as the Hold Person spell, and attack the others.

This is "wind can only blow one way" from the book. Idiptu can only focus on

a small group at one time. Her goal is to get Tara back to the ceremony

area so Sarabda can finish the incantation to open the portal to Leviathan's

plane.

Sidana will not attack during this time since her magic can actually effect

Idiptu (turning her solid) and that won't work now will it? Sidana waits

till Idiptu is defeated or is no longer around. Once that happens, Sidana

will use her preferred mode of attack. Sidana will sulk out of the shadows

pretending to be a sacrifice that Sarabda acquired in order to prepare Tara'

s transport to Leviathan's plane. She will attempt to seduce Giles and

Xander, and then remembering what Sarabda had told her, Tara and Willow. Of

course that is the problem, Sidana knows and says too much to be just a

victim. Allow the cast the make to Perception+Notice rolls unless

they figure this out on their own.

Name: Sidana, the Beauty that Staggers

Motivation: To serve "The Hand".

Critter Type: Uttuki Demon

Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Constitution 3, Intelligence 6,

Perception 5, Willpower 4

Ability Scores: Muscle 12, Combat 14, Brains 16

Life Points: 40

Drama Points: 5

Qualities: Hard to Kill 2,

Drawbacks: Attractiveness +7

Skills: Getting Medieval 5, Kung-fu 3, Seduction 7

Combat Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes

Punch 7 6 Bash

Kick 6 8 Bash

Dodge 8 - Defense

Grapple9 - Resisted

by Dodge

Her beauty is the mirror of Medusa. Her face is so lovely that she can turn

people to stone. Unlike Medusa, whose repulsive face also turned men to

stone, Sidana's powers wear off. Sidana is not a great fighter, but she will

use her Seduction skill to lure people close to her so she can gaze into

their eyes. Once the victims are turned to stone she gets the other Uttuki

demons to take them. The paralysis will wear off in 6 to 8 hours.

Sidana is not a very powerful demon, but all she needs is to meet the eyes

of her victims. She will use her Seduction skills, with her

supernatural Attractiveness, to lure the cast. A contested

Will check vs. Sidana's Seduction + Attractiveness will need

to made by the cast.

As it turns out, Xander has the best chance of survival. Since he left Anya

at the alter this has affected how he sees beauty and love resulting in a

minor curse. Xander gains a +3 to his Will score for resisting seduction.

Sidana "feeds" on pure emotions, Xander was untrue to his heart and this has

made him less-palatable to Sidana.

Tara, who has never known false or broken love, is especially susceptible to

this attack. She gave her heart only to Willow, and has never experienced an

untrue heart. Willow may have faltered during their relationship, but their

hearts were never untrue, so Tara will be less able to ignore Sidana's call,

or rather the demon knows exactly how to target Tara; through her love.

Buffy, who is used to fighting in darkness, can choose to avoid eye contact

while attacking. She can avoid the Will check this way, but will attack at

a -2.

Once Sidana is defeated, Sarabda will reappear and the portal to Leviathan's

plane will open behind her. She has been casting the incantation this whole

time. The portal is not a burning portal to Hell, but rather a circle of

gray swirling clouds. Sarabda's goal is to get Tara into this portal. She

can't teleport her in, Tara has to move through it physically. Of course

Sarabda plans to pick her up and throw her in to the portal, but she has to

get through the cast first. She could teleport to Tara, grab her, teleport

to the portal and then throw her in, but each of these actions take time.

Teleporting takes a bit of concentration and interrupting that concentration

(say with a sword or crossbow bolt) prevents the teleporting from happening.

Buffy should be an even match for Sarabda combat-wise. Sarabda is done

taunting, she is pissed off, and wants Tara in that portal. Of course if she

can kill a few people in the mean time, then she gets a few more notches on

her belt, which is always good for a free round of drinks at any demon bar.

As before, if Sarabda's life points get to 5 or lower she will attempt to

escape. She will try to run through the open portal. If the cast is taking

the beating then the last earthquake will occur knocking Sarabda back to the

portal and the cast closer to the entrance of the caves.

In either case, the last earthquake should convince the cast that they need

to get out of the caves. Sarabda will not follow.

They may have killed off the Uttuki, but they can't call it a victory yet.

The cast should head home.

by **Lisa of Nine** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 5:06 pm

Epilogue

It has been a few days and there have been no new attacks. No one has

heard from Anya since she left the caves. Summoning her has also been

without success. Giles should have the books and be going through them

comparing passages to the Enochian Tablets (from Episode 1). The books are

very difficult to decipher but he has made some disturbing discoveries.

First, under no circumstance will he allow Willow access to the books.

They are Dark Magic and he will not let her near them. He is doing this out

of his love for her as he doesn't want her tempted. This could boil into an

issue between the two because after all Willow did touch the books in the

past with no ill effects.

Second, some of the secrets of the books are deciphered. Most important,

the Hammurabi text reveals: "Darkness lurks and the ground trembles as once

dead begins to awaken. Only a sacred love can face the evil with many names.

The blood of the returned will free him." BUT- the other text contradicts

that. "The Assyrian Book of Shadows" says, "The Returned's heart must beat

with the sound of two drums. Only the two can exile the darkness."

Giles has crossed referenced the Watcher's Diaries to these books and to

"The Hand". There was a Watcher and a Slayer (Morgan) at the battle that

Willow, Tara and Buffy witnessed in the past. The diaries relate the

history of a blond slayer and two soul-bound witches. Giles always felt

these passages referred to Morgan and Liath and Bodhmal respectively, now he

is not so sure. He is certain that their destiny is now a shared one.

One thing Giles is hesitant to reveal is that the texts also state that the

dark one can be released if a sacrifice of the returned one is made. He is

not making any interpretations yet, but it seems obvious to him that this is

Tara.

Of course anyone could mention that this could mean Buffy herself or even

Angel.

A couple of nights later while patrolling, Buffy discovers why they have not

heard from Sarabda. In the graveyard Buffy finds Sarabda's corpse. She is

ripped open and pinned up seven feet high with her own knives. Written in

Sarabda's own blood is "Fear not the monsters, but that which the monsters

fear."

Wrap-up

Upon completing this Episode, Cast Members should be awarded a base

three-four experience points with bonuses as described above.

Drama Points can be given out according to the guidelines given in the BTVS

RPG Core book, also with bonuses as described above.

In particular the players of Tara and Willow (and maybe Xander) have the

best chance of earning the most drama points. Giles, Xander, and Buffy the

most experience points.

Directors should award Willow and Tara four (4) less experience points than

the rest of the cast and instead award them with the new quality, Old

Soul, described below. The characters should gain about 5 total levels

of this quality throughout the course of the entire season. Directors

should reward the players for actively seeking out these past lives with a

new level per 4 experience points. This is different than what is dictated

by the rules, but is dramatically pleasing. Additional levels must be

bought per normal methods before the end of the season.

Directors are urged to make this "soul searching" only a very minor part of

the season. The characters may not even have the time.

New Skill

Seduction

The ability to make oneself sexually attractive to other people by saying

the right things and putting on the right act. Intelligence is used,

modified by any Charisma or Attractiveness bonuses or penalties the

character might have. Other skills may give bonuses to Seduction attempts.

For example, previous Tasks using Influence or some magics (like Glamour)

add their Success Levels to the Seduction attempt.

Note: For crossovers with other Unisystem games this can be

interchanged with the Social skill "Seduction", on which this is based.

New Quality

Old Soul

4 points/level Quality

These characters have been reborn many times. As a result, their souls have

become stronger. Old Souls tend to be very mature and precocious for their

age. It would be nice to believe that age invariably provides wisdom, but

Old Souls are equally likely to be depraved or insightful, cruel or kind.

Whatever their orientation, it is usually more extreme having been refined

over several lifetimes.

This Quality can be acquired for multiple levels during character creation,

but it cannot be acquired afterwards (with some exceptions, see below). Each

"level" represents some 3-5 previous lives lived before the character's

current incarnation. Every level gives one "magical" past life and 2-4

"mundane" ones. The player can determine who these former selves were,

where they lived, and what they know, or they can leave such information in

the hands of the Director. From a roleplaying point of view, creating a

"past lives tree" can be interesting.

Successive lives tend to increase the character's overall insights and

understanding-for good or ill. Every level of Old Soul adds 1 point to

Mental Attributes. These can go beyond the human maximums. For example, if a

witch has 5 levels of the Old Soul Quality. This gives her 5 more points to

put into her Mental Attributes, and 30 more Essence Points if your game uses

Essence.

Anyone with this quality can call upon the magic of their past lives to aid

in casting spells. They can add 1 sorcery level for every magical past life

they have. So every level of Old Soul adds one level to the player's

Sorcery level.

To call on the power of the old soul costs 1 Drama point, or one Essence

Point for games that use Essence.

An Old Soul is sometimes able to tap into the knowledge of their previous

lives. These attempts require the character to pass a single Test using both

Willpower and Intelligence as modifiers, and each attempt drains the

character of 1 Drama Point, which is regained normally (via play). When

attempting to perform an unskilled Task, the character may receive a flash

of knowledge from one of her previous lives. If the player took the time to

decide what her character's previous lives knew, then the character gains,

for that one Task, a skill level equivalent to the character's past life's

level but never higher than their current Old Soul level. Only the skills

that the character knew in her previous lives are available. If the previous

lives are not known, the character uses only one half of the Old Soul level

(rounded down), but virtually any skill might be known. The only exception

would be high-tech Skills that a previous life would be unlikely to know.

Asking one's ancestral memories how to hack into a computer system is not

likely to work very well .

For example, a witch with 5 levels of Old Soul, has about 20 past

incarnations, five of which were witches/magic users. The player in this

example has figured out that at least half (10) were peasants. Others

include five "magic" using lives.

During an adventure the character needs to play a game of fidchell against a

demon to rescue her friends. Fidchell is an ancient Celtic game similar to

chess and the character does not know how to play, but one of her past lives

was an expert (her level was 6). If she passes the Willpower and

Intelligence Test, she can play with an effective skill (Wild Card:

Fidchell) of 5, at the cost of 1 Drama point. The skill lasts as long as

the game lasts. If later in the day she needs to play it again a new Test

and an expenditure of Drama Points are required. If the player had not

fleshed out the past incarnations, she would have been able to play

fidchell, but with a skill of only 2.

Generally, only human beings can have Old Souls. Long-lived supernatural

beings rarely reincarnate, or do so only over spans of millennia.

This quality is not accessible to vampires, demons, zombies, robots (all of

whom have no souls), werewolves in werewolf form, or one can argue Slayers.

Slayers by their very nature have a bit of the Old Soul quality in the

Slayer quality.

Directors could also further limit it to White Hats if they so desired.

Awakening the Old Soul

Not every character will or should have access to this at character

creation. Some characters are new souls and do not have any previous lives

to call upon. There are some circumstances in which the character's Old

Soul can be re-awakened.

When this quality is first added to the game the Director will need to have

a good in game or storyline reason for allowing the character access to

this. These reasons could also be used for characters that wish to acquire

this Quality later, but directors are strongly urged to only limit this to

characters during the character creation process.

1. Meeting a past life. The karmic and dharmic energies released when a

soul meets a previous or future life is usually enough to jar that soul

awake.

2. Exposure to a psychically tainted object related to that old soul.

Example if a person picks up a dagger that was used to kill one of their

past lives.

3. Psychic regression. No not the type done in less reputable psychiatric

offices or even calling Shirley McClain or Ms. Cleo. A real psychic, such

as a member of the Cabal of the Psyche, must help with the past life

regression.

After this point, Old Soul should be limited to character creation only.

Note: For crossovers with other Unisystem games this can be

interchanged with the Supernatural Quality "Old Soul", on which it is based.

New Spells

Brigit's Hands of Flame

Quick Cast: Yes

Power Level: 5

Requirements: A command word in Gaelic, "Adhain"

Effect: Upon utterance of the command word flames erupt from the

hands of the witch causing 4 x caster's Will + Success Levels of Life Point

damage, and double to vampires and other undead.

The flame leaves the hands in a fan like pattern. The length of the fan is

in yards equal to the caster's Will plus the Success Levels.

Brigit's Waves of Flame

Quick Cast: No

Power Level: 6 or 7

Requirements: Level 6: Blessed water drawn from Brigit's well and

dung from her fields. Level 7: The blood of a saint or other quasi-divine

being replacing the water.

Command words: Latin "Incindar" or Gaelic "Adhain"

Effects: Brigit is the Celtic goddess of fire, water and life. To

her there can be no greater insult than the undead. This spell is actually

a purifying one designed to burn out the offensive creatures. By using her

blessed water and dung her witches perform the same ritual they perform to

ready the land for growth every Imbolc (Feb. 2). This spell adds the extra

kick of turning her sacred water into a wave of flame that will race out 50

feet + 10 feet per SL from the caster. The flames are soundless, and

produce no heat unless the affected victim is undead (Vampire, Zombie,

Skeletons) then they take fire damage of 2d10 (12) initial damage and

additional damage at the rate of 6 +SL life points every turn in the flames.

Demons take only the initial damage.

Level 7: The first version of this spell was discovered when Ireland

was still Celtic and Pagan. Once the Goddess Brigit was transformed to the

Catholic Saint Bridget her followers discovered that using her blood not

only increased the casting level, but also increased the effectiveness of

this incantation. In addition to the undead taking lasting damage now so

did demons. Damage is increased to 3d10 (16) and recurring damage at the

rate of 7 + SL LPs every turn.

Protection of the Goddess

Quick Cast: No

Power Level: 7

Requirements: A chant repeated by two or more witches. Not available

to non-witches.

Command words: "Goddess above, ruler of all, protect your humble

servant, as love becomes wall."

Effect: A defensive ritual with an offensive bite, this magic shows

that the Goddess protects what is Hers. This ritual once cast and activated

will not allow any aggressive action taken upon those within its confines.

Melee attacks turn back on the attacker, spells backfire or effect the

hostile caster instead. Beneficial spells and magic will continue to work

and others, ones not protected nor involved in the casting of the ritual,

can effect each other as they please.

Witches and those they choose to protect may not attack others, but they can

force out attackers. Anytime during the duration of the ritual the lead

witch can say a command word or phrase and all those of hostile intent are

removed from the area of effect.

The effects will remain dormant until the first act of violence is

committed or until one of the witches present at the original ritual

activates it. Often the coven chooses to activate it once the ritual is

cast. After that time the effects persist a number of hours equal to the

effective Sorcery Level + the total Success Levels.

The effects of the spell appear to be a dome of magical energy large enough

to hold all the casters in close quarters, typically 5' radius per caster.

Note: This spell is presented as an alternate to the Energy Barrier

spell from The Magic Box sourcebook, which is now considered to be a Dark

Magic spell.

New Monsters

Name: Barbazu (Barbed Devil)

Motivation: To guard and protect the populace of Hell

Critter Type: Demon (Devil)

Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 3, Constitution 4, Intelligence 6,

Perception 4, Willpower 7

Ability Scores: Muscle 16, Combat 16, Brains 12

Life Points: 50

Drama Points: 3

Qualities: Hard to Kill 4, Armor Value 8, Sorcery 4

Drawbacks: Attractiveness -2

Skills: Getting Medieval 3, Kung-fu 4

Combat Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes

Claw (2) 7 10 Slash/stab

Bite (beard) 7 15 Stab

Punch 7 10 Bash

Dodge 6 - Defense action

Devils, unlike demons, are ordered and fit into a strict hierarchy of Hell.

Barbed Devils are monsters in the truest sense. Vicious, armed and armored,

these devils chief duties are to attack as guards or protectors of other

devils. They have two massive claws ending in viscous dagger-like claws.

They are covered in terrible spikes, have two large sharp horns, a long tail

covered in barbs and a thick leathery hide.

Barbed Devils attack with a claw/claw/bite routine. Any successful hit the

Barbazu can cause their victim to experience fear (a Fear Check will be

required). Typically they will use this on their first attack to terrify

their victims and make them easier targets.

Barabazu can also cast Hold Person and Jet of Flame (from

The Magic Box Sourcebook p. 76 and p. 79).

Name: Bookworms

Motivation: Eat!

Critter Type: Demonic worm

Attributes: Strength 4 (1), Dexterity 4 (1), Constitution 5 (1),

Intelligence 0 (0), Perception 2 (2)*, Willpower 1 (1)

Ability Scores: Muscle 14 (1), Combat , Brains 8 (8)

Life Points: (1)

Drama Points: 1 (0)

Qualities: Hard to Kill 1 (0)

Drawbacks: Attractiveness -5, Impaired senses (no eyes)

Skills: Kung-fu 4 (0)

Combat Maneuvers (Grub has no combat abilities)

Name Score Damage Notes

Bite 7 15 Stab

Bash 7 10 Bash

Dodge 6 - Defense action

Grub state statistics in parentheses.

Bookworms are a prized possession among demonic occultists. The worms feed

on the dark magic energies from the libraries where Dark Magic books are

usually kept. As long as the supply of dark magic is constant the worms are

kept feed and are harmless. Once the supply is lessened, say once a book is

stolen and the worm infested book is no longer surrounded by other dark

magic books, then the worms grow from a three inch long grub to a seventeen

foot long monster that is as wide as a human. This growth takes no more than

half-hour, and the worm becomes large enough to threaten a human within ten

minutes.

Larger bookworms now must find a new source of food, fresh meat. The worms

are blind but they can "see" by detecting motions and vibrations. Once they

approach something edible, which is just about everything, human, animal,

demon, they will attempt to swallow it whole. Their main attacks are a bash

attack with it's head or tail, and a bite attack.

Once full-grown, bookworms look like overgrown dark green caterpillars.

Grubs are dark brown in color to better hide among leather bound tomes.

Name: Osyuth (Bone Devil)

Motivation: Fight for the greater glory of Hell

Critter Type: Demon (Devil)

Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 5, Constitution 7, Intelligence 3,

Perception 3, Willpower 4

Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 17, Brains 12

Life Points: 71

Drama Points: 3

Qualities: Hard to Kill 4, Armor Value 9, Sorcery 5

Drawbacks: Attractiveness -3

Skills: Getting Medieval 4, Kung-fu 3

Combat Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes

Claw 8 14 Slash/stab

Kick 7 16 Bash

Bone Hook 9 18 Slash/stab

- Grapple 10 - Capture

Tail 16 21 Poison (Str loss)

Dodge 15 - Defensive

Devils, unlike demons, are ordered and fit into a strict hierarchy of Hell.

Bone Devils, also known as Osyuth, are a lesser devil employed by the armies

of Hell. They look like skeletons with dry leathery skin stretched over

their thin frames. What sets them apart from a skeleton is their height, 9'

tall and a large scorpion like tail.

They typically attack with their large bone hooks which they wield with

deadly effectiveness. If a hit roll has 3 or more Success Levels the victim

becomes trapped by the hook. Trapped victims are subject to a tail or kick

attack.

The tail of the Bone Devil has a poison that reduces the victim's Strength

score. In addition to damage the victim temporary looses 1 point of

Strength.

Bone Devils are also capable of the following magics (from The Magic Box

Sourcebook) Glamour, Magical Disguise, Quick Illusion (used to

make Invisible) and can cause Fear (victims must make a Fear Check).

Name: Umu Demons

Motivation: Guard dogs

Critter Type: Demon (Guardian)

Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Constitution 4, Intelligence 3,

Perception 7, Willpower 4

Ability Scores: Muscle 14, Combat 15, Brains 16

Life Points: 48

Drama Points: 3

Qualities: Hard to Kill 2, Armor Value 2, Acute Senses

Drawbacks: Attractiveness -4, Honorable (Rigid)

Skills: Getting Medieval 4, Kung-fu 3

Combat Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes

Big Sword 9 25 Slash/stab, can use one-handed

Bite (2) 8 17 Must Grapple first

Punch 8 8 Bash

Kick 6 10 Bash

Dodge 9 - Defense action

Grapple 8 - Resisted by Dodge

Lower level demons employed by the Uttuki, Umu demons act as guard dogs- a

job they are perfectly suited for. Each Umu demon stands 6' to 7' in

height. Their skin is covered with a fine dark fur, often black or dark

brown. They are very muscular and often dress in ancient Babylonian or

Sumerian garb; open toe sandals, papyrus kilts and bare chested. What sets

these demons apart are their four heads. The heads most often resemble that

of a Doberman, but some have been reported with jackal heads as well. All

faces feature prominent snouts with dozens of needle like teeth. Each head

faces a different direction, thus the Umu is never surprised. Their senses

are as acute of that of a dog's (sharper sight, hearing and smell) only four

times over. They are loyal to their demon employers and thus very much in

demand by those that have things they want guarded. Each head is independent

of the other. So heads can eat, carry on conversations and even sleep

separately of the others.

Umu typically kill and eat anyone that comes too close to the thing they are

guarding, making no distinction between friend and foe. Only their

employer, the demon or witch that bound them are immune to their attacks.

There is also a rumor that there are three-headed varieties that serve the

Goddess Hecate.

Name: Yoln, The Pit Fiend, The Hand of Leviathan, The Shadowreaper

Character Type: Human Big Bad

Attributes: Strength 9, Dexterity 8, Constitution 10, Intelligence 4

Perception 4, Willpower 12

Ability Scores: Muscle 24, Combat 21, Brains 20

Life Points: 104

Drama Points: 10

Qualities: Armor Value 12 (6), Fast Reaction Time, Half-Demon, Hard to Kill

6, Nerves of Steel

Drawbacks: Adversary (just about everyone) 6, Honorable (Rigid)

Skills: Getting Medieval 7, Kung-fu 6

Combat Maneuvers

Name Score Damage Notes

Big Ass Sword 15 50 Stab/slash; two-handed

Punch 14 18 Bash

Kick 13 20 Bash

Dodge 15 - Defense action

Grapple 17 - Resisted by Dodge

Yoln's story begins about 2,000 years ago when he was just another ruthless

general attempting to destroy everything in his path. It was on a

particularly bloody day of battle when Yoln swore on the very souls of his

own men that he would even "lead the armies of Dis" if he could be insured

victory. He was given his wish. He was granted a special sword,

Pillager, that allows him to command infernal armies. He was also

given long life, and over time he became a type of demon himself- a Pit

Fiend.

Yoln was successful in his conquests, and he led Hell's army to countless

victories. Whether he was working with the Romans, the Mongols, or any of

history's bloodiest battles, Yoln was there. It was however by his defeat

that history remembers him.

In 190 AD Yoln was leading a charge against a castle in what would become

France. The castle and its occupants were nothing special to him, but he

wanted what they protected. It was an artifact of great power, the Spear

of Destiny. With this weapon in the hands of Yoln, no one could stop

the forces of Evil.

Nothing that is, except one girl. Her name is recorded as Morgan. She was a

Slayer.

Morgan and Yoln fought, man to girl, sword to sword. A girl was beating him

and he was enraged. Finally having enough of the fight Yoln saw his

opening. He grabbed Morgan, spun her around, and slammed Pillager

deep into her back.

Satisfied, he left the scene to retrieve his prize, but the battle was not

over yet. Morgan struggled to her feet, worked the sword from her body and

with it she moved towards Yoln. He had opened up a portal so he could

return to Hell with the Spear. It was then that Morgan attacked.

She beat the warrior back with his own blade. In one fell stoke she cut off

his right arm, sending it to the ground. The Spear of Destiny fell

into the portal to drift in the Astral Plane, and smashed Pillager

the process. Yoln could not believe this girl, a girl he left for dead, had

defeated him. However, there was still insult to come. Using the last of

her will and strength, Morgan struck Yoln sending him back to Hell.

Morgan, assured that Yoln was gone and the Spear was not in the hands of

evil, died.

Yoln was not so lucky.

Once in Hell, Yoln had to answer for his defeat. Not only had he lost the

Spear of Destiny but Pillager as well. His armies defeated

and his own honor in ruins, the Lords of Hell unanimously decreed that he

was to be destroyed and unraveled, that is death of body and soul. The

Lords of Hell carried out their sentence and tossed what was left of him,

his armor, to the Astral Winds.

For untold centuries the ruin of Yoln floated. Then, gradually he became

aware. He found out that he was not unraveled, or if he had been, he had

found a way back. He also realized that someone or something was

whispering to him. It was the dead god Leviathan, who was also afloat in the

Astral graveyard. Together the two plotted revenge and the end of all

creation.

by **WebWarlock** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 9:19 am

Wow! Lisa thank you so much!

Don't sell yourself short.

Lisa sent me this huge plot "outline" that was enough for two episodes.

A couple of updates.

The PDF file of Episode 5 is now up.

Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds, PDF.

Please check it out for the wonderful art by Chris Cook and Div and the full character sheets for Liath and Bodhmal.

UPDATE: In other Dragon news, Anduin has published the German language version of Episdoe 2: Dead of Night.

Anduin, Issue 86.

Lisa. Thank you so much.

Up next, Garner and Kirk give us a few old enemies, and some odd allies.

ETA2: UPDATE: In other Dragon news, Anduin has published the German language version of Episdoe 3: Serpent of Destiny.

Anduin, Issue 87.

Man. I gotta get back to work on this...

ETA3: UPDATE: Anduin has published the German language version of Episdoe 4: Identity Crisis and Episode 5: Heven Bleeds.

Anduin, Issue 88 for Episode 4 and Anduin, Issue 89 for Episode 5.

Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"Does anybody remember laughter?" - Robert Plant, "The Song Remains the Same"

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 9/23/04 8:12 pm

The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe Willow & Tara Forever

Buffy RPG: The Dragon and the Phoenix Episode 5 (2/2/04) NEW

Wrap-up

Episode 4: Identity Crisis

Re: Episode 4: Identity Crisis

German translations

Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

Re: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

Re: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

Re: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

(part 1 of 6) Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

2: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds, Introduction and Act 1

Re: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

3: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds, Act 2

4: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds, Act 3

5: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds, Act 4

(part 6 of 6) Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds, Epilogue and Wrap-up

Re: Episode 5: Heaven Bleeds

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