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The second mission for the Torchwood online game begins with you (the "freelance operative") being informed that Conrad Fischer's date, Natalie Blacke, was actually a private investigator and has just been found burned to death. She was last seen leaving New Eden, and the way to progress to the next mission is to identify who the last person was to contact her by hacking into her voicemail. The following docs are provided:
* A singed business card belonging to Natalie, with a phone number: 180137.
* Natalie's police service record, which shows she was a promising officer before being dismissed for having a congential heart defect (or as I like to say, "a bum ticker").
* Owen's autopsy report, which confirms that the body is Natalie's because the heart defect is recognized.
* The police incident report filed when Natalie's body was found. An important detail here, which is easy to miss, is that her next of kin is listed as Naomi Blacke, Sister.
* A sheet listing dialing codes for UK (Cardiff: 02920)
* A brief clip of Tosh saying she thinks Natalie was originally from London before moving to Cardiff.
* Another clip from the Dark Talk radio show, which is apparently taking place around the time of the Season Two episode Sleeper, as a caller reports explosions, phones out, and seeing a guy with a "sword for an arm." Another caller thinks his wife is a vampire and there's an ad for the Venus Clinic. The actress who plays the radio host does a nice job of sounding bemused but not dismissed of the calls.
To solve the mystery, you simply go to the phone hacking tool and put in the city code for Cardiff and the number found on the burnt business card. This gets you Natalie's voicemail, which has the following messages:
* PC Andy calling to say he found Natalie's cat, Argyle.
* John Winters of New Eden asking for an update, since it's "been two weeks since we've heard from you."
* Conrad Fischer calling to say that he has to see Natalie, because Winters "has been lying to you" (apparently Winters told Natalie she was investigating a case of industrial espionage) and that Fischer knows about a whistleblower inside New Eden.
* Natalie's sister calling about "our" birthday (I'm thinking they might be twins and share the congenital heart defect, so the body found may not actually be Natalie). Anyway, from the police report we know Natalie's sister is named Naomi, and that's the clue to get to the next mission.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Clone Wars Campaign: Recap # 33
This was one of the most momentous sessions of the entire campaign, and the decisions made here by the players had (and continue to have) a major impact on subsequent story-arcs. A few examples:
* Daal's decision to simply charge in and attack the Plaguewomb resulted in his being hit by the Plague Kiss (a special attack with an extraordinarily gross description) that gave him an incurable form of esophegeal cancer and a slow march to death (in current sessions, he's growing weaker but insists "he has a plan"). I had prepared a range of options for how the PCs might try to deal with the Plaguewomb (both combat-wise and non-combat wise), but Daal's attack made everything very simple.
* A'tel's decision to, first, take up the strange lightsaber and then, in a shocking move, give it to Jocasta. This mysterious artifact has been the driving force behind the actions of a lot of NPCs, and it ending up being given to a major campaign antagonist was (from a director's perspective) a beautiful moment that could not have been scripted better. (it almost didn't happen, as the rock fall in the cavern knocked A'tel to -9 hit points, in a system where death occurs at -10).
* The group's decision to go along with the Sun Runners and Stefan Cassadine instead of fighting. Daal was originally the hold-out here, and to spare the player's feelings the recap glosses over his confrontation with Jocasta. Basically, Daal was alone aboard a freighter, staring out the cockpit canopy as Jocasta stood on the ground, insisting that Daal owed her a debt that could only be paid through service in her employ. Daal came out with a great sounding line: "What's to keep me from blowing you away right now?" Jocasta's reply made everyone snicker and Daal's player so embarassed he gave in without further resistance: "Because that freighter only has turret-mounted weapons, and you're standing in the cockpit."
The timeline jump was done for a couple of reasons: (1) It made for some really interesting story possibilities, as a lot had happened in the galaxy while very little time had passed for the PCs and (2) It allows Order 66 and other major developments in the Clone Wars to happen on the correct canonical dates (that's why I keep close track of what day it is and how long everything takes). A few short stories tell some of what happened during the "gap."
The name "Necromonger" was stolen (I think) from a villain in the Chronicles of Riddick, while the name "Plaguewomb" I came up myself, after a great deal of pondering. I always imagine her a little like the character Pestilence from the Fall of the Mutants storyline.
I was both quite proud of the fact that Jocasta's agent, Ailsa, succeeded in her mission (as my players have grown extraordinarily cautious) but in a somewhat bittersweet way, as it's hard enough to get them to care about NPCs they meet in the course of the campaign and one of the few times they do she turns out to be a turncoat, which only increases their paranoia.
Update (July 24, 2012): Added some previously secret information about A'tel's communication with the spirit of Veris Saak, which is actually some fairly important backstory to the strange lightsaber and the anomaly.
SESSION # 33
Shortly after the Clone Wars began, a young student in the Jedi Order, one repeatedly dismissed as being too weak in the force to deserve an apprenticeship, mysteriously received his first assignment off-world. Tarn Tamarand’s life has never been the same since that fateful day, but now, just months after finally achieving his dream of becoming a Padawan learner, he has mysteriously abandoned the Order and travelled across the galaxy into an ancient and crumbling temple. Ahead of him lies the cosmic vessel known as the anomaly. Behind him are companions from days of adventure past. But next to him stands the Plaguewomb – powerful and unholy member of the Forgotten Sith. A crossroads has been reached, one that may reveal the final fate of Tarn Tamarand, for once and for all.
With the fall of the massive Necromonger still echoing through the temple, Daal bursts through the bronze doors to see the horrific Plaguewomb standing over the kneeling Padawan Tarn Tamarand. Behind them, the open-faced room (carved into the cliff-side) looks out over the massive trench the group had seen while flying over the ruins; but now, the gigantic silver cylinder known as the anomaly fills the sky as it slowly approaches, a small blinking light on its outer rim beginning to line up with the chamber.
Seizing on the momentum of Doxen's success against the Necromonger, Daal immediately opens fire on the Plaguewomb. Like a snake, she writhes her way around the blasts, her eyes full of fury and fixated on the interloper. "This warrior has come of his own will to return what he took, to redeem himself by weakening the barrier. In exchange for my protection through the Waiting Place, he has pledged himself to me as the new Sentinel. And you won't take him from me!" The Plaguewomb unleashes a blast of sickly green tendrils from her fingertips, coursing with energy, and they catch Daal full in the chest. The stunned Duros tries to return fire, but again the Plaguewomb sidesteps his blasts and then it's too late. In a horrific embrace, the Plaguewomb kisses Daal and a flood of toxic, cancerous bile pours down his throat. He slides to the ground, barely moving.
Seconds later, Atel, Arresta, and Doxen arrive. Again the Plaguewomb unleashes an onslaught of arcing tendrils of energy, and Atel falls. "Tamarand is mine!" the Plaguewomb cackles, as she walks towards Arresta and prepares to attack again. But Arresta stands firm. The Princess of Mongui swings her vibrorapier with all her might and the head of the Plaguewomb tumbles to the ground with a sickening thud. Looking down at the body of the fallen Sith, the Princess smiles in satisfaction. “Get in line, bitch.”
Arresta hurries to Tarn’s side, but Doxen arrives first. Finding him completely unresponsive and realizing that something – presumably the anomaly – is getting closer, they hog-tie the Jedi and carry him out. Having roused himself, Atel stumbles closer to the oddly-shaped lightsaber hilt that is laying on the ground. He reaches out a hand, and the weapon seems to almost leap into the air. The moment he touches the handle, Atel feels infused with new strength. Daal tries to dissuade him from bringing the lightsaber along, but has no luck. Turning his attention to the approaching anomaly, Daal is tempted to take his own journey back inside, but Atel convinces him to walk away.
Returning to the large, crumbling chamber once presided over by the Necromonger, Atel runs toward the fountain in the centre of the room, claiming he knows another way out. Investigation reveals he is correct, as a water pipe just large enough to squeeze through can be accessed at the bottom of the pool. With a combination of aqua-breathers and oxygen tanks, the group slowly make its way through the tunnel, emerging in an underground cavern.
This large cavern has no apparent exits, but an almost mummified corpse is sprawled over an ancient wooden cask filled with hollow metal cylinders, each covered with unusual symbols. Daal decides to sample the tempest spice that he obtained from Mika the Hutt, pockets one of the cylinders from the cask, and then helps Doxen search the cavern for a way out. Meanwhile, her steady stream of recriminatory muttering belied by her gentle touch, Arresta cares for Tarn, placing him on the repulsor-lift stretcher from her medical kit. At Arresta’s request, Atel attempts to communicate with Tarn through the Force. Atel is able to discern that Tarn has placed himself in an extraordinarily deep trance intended to help him survive in the temple until the anomaly arrived; and as far as Atel can tell, a return to the anomaly will awaken the entranced Padawan, but other methods may exist as well.
Daal and Doxen complete their search of the cavern and find a possible way out: a tiny fissure in the cavern's ceiling lets in a ray of light. Daal prepares several impromptu explosives and persuades Atel to levitate them toward the fissure. Although safely out of the blast range of the homebrewed grenades, a cascade of falling rock pours over the Jedi and deaths' door is within reach. Fortunately, Daal rushes over and manages to stabilize Atel. The Duros strips Atel of the new lightsaber and then helps the others haul the two fallen Jedi through the hole in the ceiling.
[A.G. 867]
On the surface, the area around the ruined temple is vastly changed. The weather is cooler, the sands have darkened to black, the massive trench is partially filled from rockslides, and what looks like a small pre-fab mining building has been erected nearby. Daal constructs a small droid jammer to take over a mining droid while Doxen scouts the perimeter of the new building. Although curious about the new facility, the group decides it's too dangerous to explore. Instead, they decide to head straight for the freighter which they left in a narrow valley several kilometers away.
[A.G. 868]
The next day, when they arrive back at the borrowed freighter, they find it covered by large boulders from another rock slide. While the Princess watches over Tarn, the others use a combination of lightsaber, blasters, and explosives to pulverise the explosives. Daal hides the strange lightsaber he took from Atel behind an access panel in the engine room.
[A.G. 870]
After a couple of days work to patch up the hull, Daal flies the ship to the last known location of Mika the Hutt, but finds him long gone. Without Poparra's son to provide voice prints for the locked hyperdrive, the group appears to be stranded on Endregaad. Daal investigates the ship's security system and finds two sophisticated self-destruct systems to deter tampering; with the right equipment and some able hacking, he thinks he might be able to unlock the nav-computer and hyperdrive. Atel and Doxen take the cargo hauler and head to Tel Bollin, hoping to find the equipment Daal needs. They find the city changed – even more run-down then before. The CSA has abandoned their checkpoints and those in the city speak of the plague as an event long past. The news is shocking: it seems more than a year and a half has passed since they entered the subterranean temple--and in their absence, the galaxy has moved on. The Separatists have scored several major victories on planets like Jabiim, Duros, Humbarine, and Merson. Only the recent destruction of the Separatist "Bulwark" fleet by Captain Dodonna at the Battle of Anaxes has kept the Core Worlds safely in Republic hands. Atel and Doxen meet a purported down-on-her-luck mechanic named Ailsa who offers to join the crew in exchange for passage off Endregaad. They are sympathetic, but cautious – afraid that sharing too much information will create a mob demanding to be taken off-planet. They decide to have Daal meet with her the next day to assess her usefulness.
While the others develop plans to bypass the booby traps that threaten the nav computer and the hyper drive, Arresta cleans Tarn up and sits with him, sadly placing his hand on her pregnant belly to feel the baby kick – with no response from the unknowing father-to-be. The Padawan will walk, sleep or eat – but “he” isn’t there.
[A.G. 871]
Daal and Doxen travel to Tel Bollin. Daal meets the mechanic and finds her skills to be only moderate, but he takes pity on her and asks her to show him to a junk pile where he and Doxen salvage various parts. They set her the task of repairing several swoop bikes and tell her they will contact her later.
While alone on the ship with Arresta and Tarn, Atel's tinkering with the ship makes the Princess suspicious. She contacts Daal and informs him that she believes Atel might be looking for the lightsaber. Despite this, she asks the Jedi Knight to try again to awaken Tarn, but although A'tel tries his best, he realizes that awakening the entranced Jedi is simply outside of his ability.
Reunited, the team makes a quick trip to orbit to confirm that no other ships are presently in orbit of the planet. Deciding that they must risk removing the booby traps, they determine that due to Arresta’s pregnancy, it would be safer to have the new mechanic, Ailsa, help Daal than it would be to have the Princess assist in trying to bypass the computers.
[A.G. 872]
The next day, Doxen picks Ailsa up from Tel Bollin and brings her back to the ship along with a partially-repaired swoop bike. The group decides that only Daal and Ailsa should be on board the ship in case there's a catastrophic malfunction during the hacking attempt. The others agree to wait at a safe distance, but Arresta becomes nervous about this plan. Leaving Ailsa in the engine room to get started, Daal exits the ship to talk things over with the rest of the group. When he returns, he finds the door to the engine room is locked! He quickly bypasses the door controls and is shocked to see that Ailsa has attempted to sabotage the ship by ripping wires and circuit panels from the sublight drive. Daal draws his blaster, but Ailsa throws her hands up and shouts "If you hurt me, Jocasta will kill you! She'll be here any minute now." She says that Jocasta hired her for a rotating shift to wait in Tel Bollin and watch for the group to return, and that sensors hidden in mining equipment around the ruins picked up their escape from the subterranean temple days ago . . .
As Daal frantically tries to jury-rig the engines, the others arrive. Doxen conducts a thorough search on the tied-up saboteur and finds a tracking device. Desperate to get it away from the ship, he pockets the tracker and leaps onto the repaired swoop and into the desert. As he rides away from his friends, he sees a ship coming nearer in the distance. Arresta suggests that in the past, Jocasta has been open to negotiation. Atel says he'll handle the negotiation some distance away from the ship in case they track his comlink. He powers up the cargo hauler and drives away.
Doxen makes it to a rocky outcrop and hides just as the strange, crescent moon shaped freighter lands. The gangway comes down and Stefan Cassadine emerges, followed by his Aqualish bodyguard Xam. A few seconds later, Jocasta and two of her crew descend. They see Doxen's abandoned swoop and the tracking device, but the furry sniper has managed to hide himself in a pile of rocks. While the sniper listens from his place of concealment, Jocasta receives a call on her comlink from Atel. The corsair says she's not interested in a fight, but that she needs three things to happen before she leaves: Daal Mordo delivered to her custody, the head of 8P-MD-4 in her hands, and Arresta Cassadine reunited with her husband. Listening in on their conversation, Arresta gasps in dismay. She tells Stefan that she and the baby are okay, but then tries to stall for time.
Meanwhile, Stefan loses what little patience he has left. He blasts the swoop bike into a smoldering pile and begins shouting for its hidden pilot to reveal himself now or face the consequences. With the search party closing in, Doxen decides to reveal himself and negotiates transport for himself, Tarn, and Atel in exchange for Jocasta and Stefan getting what they want. Via comlink, the Princess tells the others that they have to give in – at least as far she and the delivery of the head are concerned. She assures her friends that “If Stefan finds Tarn, he’ll kill him.” Taken aback, they suggest a ruse with 8P’s head. Arresta says that there is no time and that it is too big a risk. Atel tries and fails to trade himself for Daal--Jocasta is very specific on who she needs. She makes it clear, however, that she's not planning on killing Daal: instead, he'll be leading a "research team" under her direction. Atel realizes that the lightsaber he took from the crumbling temple yearns to be with someone as powerful as Jocasta.
Atel returns to the ship and speaks with Arresta. She asks him to please protect Tarn. “If he wakes up, please do not tell him what took place on this mission – or anything else that you might suspect about me, or my baby. If he is somehow alright, he should just go and be a Jedi and I’ll take care of the messes I made for myself…” Atel promises her that he will do as she asks and Arresta leaves in the cargo hauler. When she is gone, Atel conceals Tarn and then contacts Jocasta again to negotiate a side deal with her. He will provide her with the strange lightsaber found in the anomaly, if she agrees to provide protection for Arresta and her baby from Stefan's wrath. Jocasta expresses surprise at the news that Arresta is pregnant, and some scepticism that Arresta requires protection from Stefan, but she agrees.
When the Princess arrives at the specified co-ordinates she turns over the head and is reunited with her husband. They head onboard Jocasta’s ship and pass by Siege Commander Korg, whose personality has been uploaded to a massive war droid. Once they are alone in his cabin, Stefan shows his temper, angrily confronting Arresta for her actions. She tries to explain what she describes as her compulsion to follow this mission and apologizes for worrying him. Desperately, Arresta spins a tale of having received a vision while inside the ruins, one that showed her that Tarn is necessary for the safety of the baby. She reveals that Tarn is harmless and unresponsive in his trance and is on the ship with Daal. Stefan appears to believe her and agrees not to take his anger out on Tarn…for now…but he does suggest to his wife that she convince her friend Daal to turn himself in to Jocasta because the corsair is not someone to be trifled with. He reveals that he murdered Twitch on Alderaan during his search for her, and that Tarn's master in the Jedi Order has been arrested and exiled from the Temple.
Arresta tries to convince Daal to give himself up, as does Atel. Doing so will mean safe passage for the others and a period of indentured servitude for Daal, but he'll at least have a life to look forward to. Eventually, Daal completes the repairs and lands the borrowed freighter near Jocasta's ship. Atel disembarks, bringing Tarn with him. Daal clearly doesn't want to turn himself over, but with a ship incapable of jumping to hyperspace and his companions aboard Jocasta's ship, he doesn't have many options. He tries to bluff and threaten Jocasta, but she's determined and merciless. After a tense stand-off, a seemingly-defeated Daal gives himself up.
Jocasta's ship lifts off and quickly leaves Endregaad behind for the journey into hyperspace, carrying a strange collection of souls: a pirate and her motley crew, including the newest, reluctant member; a sniper and a Jedi Knight, returning successfully from a mission that took more from them than they expected; and a pregnant Princess, her vengeful husband and her incapacitated ex-lover. All loosely connected, all on the same ship – and all unsure what will be waiting for them next….
Return to Clone Wars Campaign Main Page
* Daal's decision to simply charge in and attack the Plaguewomb resulted in his being hit by the Plague Kiss (a special attack with an extraordinarily gross description) that gave him an incurable form of esophegeal cancer and a slow march to death (in current sessions, he's growing weaker but insists "he has a plan"). I had prepared a range of options for how the PCs might try to deal with the Plaguewomb (both combat-wise and non-combat wise), but Daal's attack made everything very simple.
* A'tel's decision to, first, take up the strange lightsaber and then, in a shocking move, give it to Jocasta. This mysterious artifact has been the driving force behind the actions of a lot of NPCs, and it ending up being given to a major campaign antagonist was (from a director's perspective) a beautiful moment that could not have been scripted better. (it almost didn't happen, as the rock fall in the cavern knocked A'tel to -9 hit points, in a system where death occurs at -10).
* The group's decision to go along with the Sun Runners and Stefan Cassadine instead of fighting. Daal was originally the hold-out here, and to spare the player's feelings the recap glosses over his confrontation with Jocasta. Basically, Daal was alone aboard a freighter, staring out the cockpit canopy as Jocasta stood on the ground, insisting that Daal owed her a debt that could only be paid through service in her employ. Daal came out with a great sounding line: "What's to keep me from blowing you away right now?" Jocasta's reply made everyone snicker and Daal's player so embarassed he gave in without further resistance: "Because that freighter only has turret-mounted weapons, and you're standing in the cockpit."
The timeline jump was done for a couple of reasons: (1) It made for some really interesting story possibilities, as a lot had happened in the galaxy while very little time had passed for the PCs and (2) It allows Order 66 and other major developments in the Clone Wars to happen on the correct canonical dates (that's why I keep close track of what day it is and how long everything takes). A few short stories tell some of what happened during the "gap."
The name "Necromonger" was stolen (I think) from a villain in the Chronicles of Riddick, while the name "Plaguewomb" I came up myself, after a great deal of pondering. I always imagine her a little like the character Pestilence from the Fall of the Mutants storyline.
I was both quite proud of the fact that Jocasta's agent, Ailsa, succeeded in her mission (as my players have grown extraordinarily cautious) but in a somewhat bittersweet way, as it's hard enough to get them to care about NPCs they meet in the course of the campaign and one of the few times they do she turns out to be a turncoat, which only increases their paranoia.
Update (July 24, 2012): Added some previously secret information about A'tel's communication with the spirit of Veris Saak, which is actually some fairly important backstory to the strange lightsaber and the anomaly.
SESSION # 33
Shortly after the Clone Wars began, a young student in the Jedi Order, one repeatedly dismissed as being too weak in the force to deserve an apprenticeship, mysteriously received his first assignment off-world. Tarn Tamarand’s life has never been the same since that fateful day, but now, just months after finally achieving his dream of becoming a Padawan learner, he has mysteriously abandoned the Order and travelled across the galaxy into an ancient and crumbling temple. Ahead of him lies the cosmic vessel known as the anomaly. Behind him are companions from days of adventure past. But next to him stands the Plaguewomb – powerful and unholy member of the Forgotten Sith. A crossroads has been reached, one that may reveal the final fate of Tarn Tamarand, for once and for all.
For Atel Por'Ten, time stands still for the final time. He feels himself floating through the massive chamber and into the small alcove that lies past the bronze doors. There, he sees the figure from his previous visions--Veris Saak--standing next to the seemingly-frozen bodies of Daal Mordo, Tarn Tamarand, and the Plaguewomb. "You've managed to come far, young Jedi" Veris says, "but you are weakening. Without my help, this crumbling temple to the Uncreated will be your final resting place." Suddenly, Atel finds himself looking at this chamber from high overhead. He sees images of himself and his companions in battle against the Plaguewomb, but she unleashes crackling tendrils of green energy from her fingertips and Atel is the first to fall; he sees images of him and his companions, victorious over the Plaguewomb and trying to escape over the crumbling stone staircase, but Atel slips and plunges over the side and is lost in darkness; another vision, him and his companions avoid a fight with the Plaguewomb but decide the strange lightsaber at Tarn's feet must be returned to the anomaly--Arresta stuns Atel from behind, slips the lightsaber into his belt, and together the group tosses him into the portal; and finally, a last vision: Atel reaches out with the Force, the lightsaber jumps into his hand, he strikes down the Plaguewomb and finds a secret escape tunnel from the crumbling temple and emerges a hero of the adventure. With the aid of the lightsaber, Atel becomes a famed general in the Clone Wars, his brother apologies for his misdeeds, and the Order places him on the Council. As fast as the visions passed before his eyes, Atel is back in the chamber with Veris Saak. "I can sense your thoughts, young Jedi. That I am evil, that I have come to tempt you. But the truth is I seek only freedom from the accursed prison you call the anomaly. Years ago, I was a young Jedi, like yourself. Drawn by visions and dreams sent by the Oracle, I gathered strange artifacts and prophecies, and travelled to the anomaly to await the coming of those who would finally set her free. Your companions are among those who accomplished her ends, but my role fulfilled, I fell by the wayside. My body destroyed, my essence trapped in this blade of light. All I ask is that you take me with you. In return, I offer survival and a chance to become a Jedi out of legend . . ."
With the fall of the massive Necromonger still echoing through the temple, Daal bursts through the bronze doors to see the horrific Plaguewomb standing over the kneeling Padawan Tarn Tamarand. Behind them, the open-faced room (carved into the cliff-side) looks out over the massive trench the group had seen while flying over the ruins; but now, the gigantic silver cylinder known as the anomaly fills the sky as it slowly approaches, a small blinking light on its outer rim beginning to line up with the chamber.
Seizing on the momentum of Doxen's success against the Necromonger, Daal immediately opens fire on the Plaguewomb. Like a snake, she writhes her way around the blasts, her eyes full of fury and fixated on the interloper. "This warrior has come of his own will to return what he took, to redeem himself by weakening the barrier. In exchange for my protection through the Waiting Place, he has pledged himself to me as the new Sentinel. And you won't take him from me!" The Plaguewomb unleashes a blast of sickly green tendrils from her fingertips, coursing with energy, and they catch Daal full in the chest. The stunned Duros tries to return fire, but again the Plaguewomb sidesteps his blasts and then it's too late. In a horrific embrace, the Plaguewomb kisses Daal and a flood of toxic, cancerous bile pours down his throat. He slides to the ground, barely moving.
Seconds later, Atel, Arresta, and Doxen arrive. Again the Plaguewomb unleashes an onslaught of arcing tendrils of energy, and Atel falls. "Tamarand is mine!" the Plaguewomb cackles, as she walks towards Arresta and prepares to attack again. But Arresta stands firm. The Princess of Mongui swings her vibrorapier with all her might and the head of the Plaguewomb tumbles to the ground with a sickening thud. Looking down at the body of the fallen Sith, the Princess smiles in satisfaction. “Get in line, bitch.”
Arresta hurries to Tarn’s side, but Doxen arrives first. Finding him completely unresponsive and realizing that something – presumably the anomaly – is getting closer, they hog-tie the Jedi and carry him out. Having roused himself, Atel stumbles closer to the oddly-shaped lightsaber hilt that is laying on the ground. He reaches out a hand, and the weapon seems to almost leap into the air. The moment he touches the handle, Atel feels infused with new strength. Daal tries to dissuade him from bringing the lightsaber along, but has no luck. Turning his attention to the approaching anomaly, Daal is tempted to take his own journey back inside, but Atel convinces him to walk away.
Returning to the large, crumbling chamber once presided over by the Necromonger, Atel runs toward the fountain in the centre of the room, claiming he knows another way out. Investigation reveals he is correct, as a water pipe just large enough to squeeze through can be accessed at the bottom of the pool. With a combination of aqua-breathers and oxygen tanks, the group slowly make its way through the tunnel, emerging in an underground cavern.
This large cavern has no apparent exits, but an almost mummified corpse is sprawled over an ancient wooden cask filled with hollow metal cylinders, each covered with unusual symbols. Daal decides to sample the tempest spice that he obtained from Mika the Hutt, pockets one of the cylinders from the cask, and then helps Doxen search the cavern for a way out. Meanwhile, her steady stream of recriminatory muttering belied by her gentle touch, Arresta cares for Tarn, placing him on the repulsor-lift stretcher from her medical kit. At Arresta’s request, Atel attempts to communicate with Tarn through the Force. Atel is able to discern that Tarn has placed himself in an extraordinarily deep trance intended to help him survive in the temple until the anomaly arrived; and as far as Atel can tell, a return to the anomaly will awaken the entranced Padawan, but other methods may exist as well.
Daal and Doxen complete their search of the cavern and find a possible way out: a tiny fissure in the cavern's ceiling lets in a ray of light. Daal prepares several impromptu explosives and persuades Atel to levitate them toward the fissure. Although safely out of the blast range of the homebrewed grenades, a cascade of falling rock pours over the Jedi and deaths' door is within reach. Fortunately, Daal rushes over and manages to stabilize Atel. The Duros strips Atel of the new lightsaber and then helps the others haul the two fallen Jedi through the hole in the ceiling.
[A.G. 867]
On the surface, the area around the ruined temple is vastly changed. The weather is cooler, the sands have darkened to black, the massive trench is partially filled from rockslides, and what looks like a small pre-fab mining building has been erected nearby. Daal constructs a small droid jammer to take over a mining droid while Doxen scouts the perimeter of the new building. Although curious about the new facility, the group decides it's too dangerous to explore. Instead, they decide to head straight for the freighter which they left in a narrow valley several kilometers away.
[A.G. 868]
The next day, when they arrive back at the borrowed freighter, they find it covered by large boulders from another rock slide. While the Princess watches over Tarn, the others use a combination of lightsaber, blasters, and explosives to pulverise the explosives. Daal hides the strange lightsaber he took from Atel behind an access panel in the engine room.
[A.G. 870]
After a couple of days work to patch up the hull, Daal flies the ship to the last known location of Mika the Hutt, but finds him long gone. Without Poparra's son to provide voice prints for the locked hyperdrive, the group appears to be stranded on Endregaad. Daal investigates the ship's security system and finds two sophisticated self-destruct systems to deter tampering; with the right equipment and some able hacking, he thinks he might be able to unlock the nav-computer and hyperdrive. Atel and Doxen take the cargo hauler and head to Tel Bollin, hoping to find the equipment Daal needs. They find the city changed – even more run-down then before. The CSA has abandoned their checkpoints and those in the city speak of the plague as an event long past. The news is shocking: it seems more than a year and a half has passed since they entered the subterranean temple--and in their absence, the galaxy has moved on. The Separatists have scored several major victories on planets like Jabiim, Duros, Humbarine, and Merson. Only the recent destruction of the Separatist "Bulwark" fleet by Captain Dodonna at the Battle of Anaxes has kept the Core Worlds safely in Republic hands. Atel and Doxen meet a purported down-on-her-luck mechanic named Ailsa who offers to join the crew in exchange for passage off Endregaad. They are sympathetic, but cautious – afraid that sharing too much information will create a mob demanding to be taken off-planet. They decide to have Daal meet with her the next day to assess her usefulness.
While the others develop plans to bypass the booby traps that threaten the nav computer and the hyper drive, Arresta cleans Tarn up and sits with him, sadly placing his hand on her pregnant belly to feel the baby kick – with no response from the unknowing father-to-be. The Padawan will walk, sleep or eat – but “he” isn’t there.
[A.G. 871]
Daal and Doxen travel to Tel Bollin. Daal meets the mechanic and finds her skills to be only moderate, but he takes pity on her and asks her to show him to a junk pile where he and Doxen salvage various parts. They set her the task of repairing several swoop bikes and tell her they will contact her later.
While alone on the ship with Arresta and Tarn, Atel's tinkering with the ship makes the Princess suspicious. She contacts Daal and informs him that she believes Atel might be looking for the lightsaber. Despite this, she asks the Jedi Knight to try again to awaken Tarn, but although A'tel tries his best, he realizes that awakening the entranced Jedi is simply outside of his ability.
Reunited, the team makes a quick trip to orbit to confirm that no other ships are presently in orbit of the planet. Deciding that they must risk removing the booby traps, they determine that due to Arresta’s pregnancy, it would be safer to have the new mechanic, Ailsa, help Daal than it would be to have the Princess assist in trying to bypass the computers.
Atel searches the ship and eventually finds the strange lightsaber hidden behind an access panel in the engine room; using spare parts and other equipment found on the ship, he fashions a fake lightsaber to hide behind the panel.
[A.G. 872]
The next day, Doxen picks Ailsa up from Tel Bollin and brings her back to the ship along with a partially-repaired swoop bike. The group decides that only Daal and Ailsa should be on board the ship in case there's a catastrophic malfunction during the hacking attempt. The others agree to wait at a safe distance, but Arresta becomes nervous about this plan. Leaving Ailsa in the engine room to get started, Daal exits the ship to talk things over with the rest of the group. When he returns, he finds the door to the engine room is locked! He quickly bypasses the door controls and is shocked to see that Ailsa has attempted to sabotage the ship by ripping wires and circuit panels from the sublight drive. Daal draws his blaster, but Ailsa throws her hands up and shouts "If you hurt me, Jocasta will kill you! She'll be here any minute now." She says that Jocasta hired her for a rotating shift to wait in Tel Bollin and watch for the group to return, and that sensors hidden in mining equipment around the ruins picked up their escape from the subterranean temple days ago . . .
As Daal frantically tries to jury-rig the engines, the others arrive. Doxen conducts a thorough search on the tied-up saboteur and finds a tracking device. Desperate to get it away from the ship, he pockets the tracker and leaps onto the repaired swoop and into the desert. As he rides away from his friends, he sees a ship coming nearer in the distance. Arresta suggests that in the past, Jocasta has been open to negotiation. Atel says he'll handle the negotiation some distance away from the ship in case they track his comlink. He powers up the cargo hauler and drives away.
Doxen makes it to a rocky outcrop and hides just as the strange, crescent moon shaped freighter lands. The gangway comes down and Stefan Cassadine emerges, followed by his Aqualish bodyguard Xam. A few seconds later, Jocasta and two of her crew descend. They see Doxen's abandoned swoop and the tracking device, but the furry sniper has managed to hide himself in a pile of rocks. While the sniper listens from his place of concealment, Jocasta receives a call on her comlink from Atel. The corsair says she's not interested in a fight, but that she needs three things to happen before she leaves: Daal Mordo delivered to her custody, the head of 8P-MD-4 in her hands, and Arresta Cassadine reunited with her husband. Listening in on their conversation, Arresta gasps in dismay. She tells Stefan that she and the baby are okay, but then tries to stall for time.
Meanwhile, Stefan loses what little patience he has left. He blasts the swoop bike into a smoldering pile and begins shouting for its hidden pilot to reveal himself now or face the consequences. With the search party closing in, Doxen decides to reveal himself and negotiates transport for himself, Tarn, and Atel in exchange for Jocasta and Stefan getting what they want. Via comlink, the Princess tells the others that they have to give in – at least as far she and the delivery of the head are concerned. She assures her friends that “If Stefan finds Tarn, he’ll kill him.” Taken aback, they suggest a ruse with 8P’s head. Arresta says that there is no time and that it is too big a risk. Atel tries and fails to trade himself for Daal--Jocasta is very specific on who she needs. She makes it clear, however, that she's not planning on killing Daal: instead, he'll be leading a "research team" under her direction. Atel realizes that the lightsaber he took from the crumbling temple yearns to be with someone as powerful as Jocasta.
Atel returns to the ship and speaks with Arresta. She asks him to please protect Tarn. “If he wakes up, please do not tell him what took place on this mission – or anything else that you might suspect about me, or my baby. If he is somehow alright, he should just go and be a Jedi and I’ll take care of the messes I made for myself…” Atel promises her that he will do as she asks and Arresta leaves in the cargo hauler. When she is gone, Atel conceals Tarn and then contacts Jocasta again to negotiate a side deal with her. He will provide her with the strange lightsaber found in the anomaly, if she agrees to provide protection for Arresta and her baby from Stefan's wrath. Jocasta expresses surprise at the news that Arresta is pregnant, and some scepticism that Arresta requires protection from Stefan, but she agrees.
When the Princess arrives at the specified co-ordinates she turns over the head and is reunited with her husband. They head onboard Jocasta’s ship and pass by Siege Commander Korg, whose personality has been uploaded to a massive war droid. Once they are alone in his cabin, Stefan shows his temper, angrily confronting Arresta for her actions. She tries to explain what she describes as her compulsion to follow this mission and apologizes for worrying him. Desperately, Arresta spins a tale of having received a vision while inside the ruins, one that showed her that Tarn is necessary for the safety of the baby. She reveals that Tarn is harmless and unresponsive in his trance and is on the ship with Daal. Stefan appears to believe her and agrees not to take his anger out on Tarn…for now…but he does suggest to his wife that she convince her friend Daal to turn himself in to Jocasta because the corsair is not someone to be trifled with. He reveals that he murdered Twitch on Alderaan during his search for her, and that Tarn's master in the Jedi Order has been arrested and exiled from the Temple.
Arresta tries to convince Daal to give himself up, as does Atel. Doing so will mean safe passage for the others and a period of indentured servitude for Daal, but he'll at least have a life to look forward to. Eventually, Daal completes the repairs and lands the borrowed freighter near Jocasta's ship. Atel disembarks, bringing Tarn with him. Daal clearly doesn't want to turn himself over, but with a ship incapable of jumping to hyperspace and his companions aboard Jocasta's ship, he doesn't have many options. He tries to bluff and threaten Jocasta, but she's determined and merciless. After a tense stand-off, a seemingly-defeated Daal gives himself up.
Jocasta's ship lifts off and quickly leaves Endregaad behind for the journey into hyperspace, carrying a strange collection of souls: a pirate and her motley crew, including the newest, reluctant member; a sniper and a Jedi Knight, returning successfully from a mission that took more from them than they expected; and a pregnant Princess, her vengeful husband and her incapacitated ex-lover. All loosely connected, all on the same ship – and all unsure what will be waiting for them next….
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Reunion
Buffy the Vampire: Reunion, a 2002 one-shot, is actually one of the best of the pre-Season Eight Buffy comics (which on the whole are rather mediocre). The issue is written by Jane Espenson, who wrote a lot of the episodes, and is something in the nature of a "lost tale": during the show, there's a point early in Season Six where we see Buffy leave to tell Angel that she's back from the dead--and when we see her again, she's returned from the meeting and never explains what happened. This issue is all about Buffy's friends speculating about what took place when she saw Angel again. Xander thinks they met up at the big Hollywood sign where they were attacked by a giant flaming demon; Dawn thinks they had a romantic moonlight stroll on the beach before being attacked by a giant flaming demon; and Anya thinks they met up a Denny's, had a "juicy burger", and were then attacked by a demonic rabbit and . . . a giant flaming demon. Notice the pattern? There's actually a clever explanation for it that brings everything full circle. There's a lot of good humor in the issue and a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, which I always think is something the show was much better at than the comics. Anyway, Reunion is definitely one of the best of the bunch.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Clone Wars Campaign: Zero & Natany
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Zero and Natany were two short-lived but quite memorable characters in our Clone Wars campaign. My wife and I always tend to speak of them together, because they both appeared at about the same time (Session 15/16), they spent most of their in-time game together as roguish buddies, and they both left at the same time (after Session 22). I never did find out why their players dropped out of the campaign, which is one of those things that makes directors doubt themselves (did they hate the last session? should I have put more scoundrel-y side quests and loot? too plot focussed?).
Zero and Natany were two short-lived but quite memorable characters in our Clone Wars campaign. My wife and I always tend to speak of them together, because they both appeared at about the same time (Session 15/16), they spent most of their in-time game together as roguish buddies, and they both left at the same time (after Session 22). I never did find out why their players dropped out of the campaign, which is one of those things that makes directors doubt themselves (did they hate the last session? should I have put more scoundrel-y side quests and loot? too plot focussed?).
Zero was a Rodian scoundrel. He joined the team as a hired investigator looking for exculpatory evidence during the big Trial story-arc when they were accused of war crimes. Zero and Natany weren't a lot of help in the beginning, but then they got their act together and recovered a surprising array of useful information for the defense.
A couple of the funniest things I remember about Zero is that before his first appearance, he purchased a quite expensive and elaborate blaster pistol that had like three different functions (I think it fired darts, grenades, and something else)--of course, in his first session he rolled a critical fumble and on the chart, it read "weapon destroyed." Although he got the gun repaired, he never did use any of the special settings. The other thing I remember is that, when Arresta purchased a ship, she hired Zero as the pilot. The first time space combat came around, he took that little freighter on a crazy charge right towards a massive Trade Federation battleship, much to the frantic dismay of his colleagues. They lived to tell the tale, but that was actually Zero's last appearance in the game.
Natany was a Ryn, an obscure species in Star Wars that is known for (a) having a tail, (b) a lack of hygiene, and (c) the ability to play their noses like a flute. I'm not sure why, but the player who ran Natany never seemed to like it when people brought these things up during the game. Natany's biggest claim to fame took place when the group travelled to a salvage yard to question a crotchety old man about the whereabouts of a Separatist base. As these things are wont to do, several droidekas attacked and, before being destroyed, set fire to the old man's hut. Natany pulled the thankless old man out of the fire and the group left. After they had travelled several kilometers away, Natany returned to the salvage yard to confront the old man about his lack of gratitude. It was enormously funny at the time, and one of the few things that gave the character some personality (his player was rather quiet, and Natany usually stayed in the background).
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Twilight Streets
The Twilight Streets features Torchwood Season One's only recurring villain, the mysterious Bilis Manger. The plot starts out centering on a mysterious neighborhood in Cardiff called Tretarri, that makes Captain Jack physically ill to enter (and has done ever since Jack arrived in Great Britain in the late 1800s). The rest of the plot is hard to explain as it's rather complicated, but basically we learn that the God/Demon/Alien entity named Abaddon (destroyed by Torchwood in the big climactic episode of Season One) was a necessary force to keep in check a rival God/Demon/Alien entity named Pwccm.
Bilis Manger, it seems, was the "Seconder" (helper?) for Abaddon, while Bilis' twin/doppelganger/relative (?) named Cafard Manger was the Seconder for Pwccm. Anyway, Abaddon's destruction upended the balance between Light and Dark, so the balance has to be put right and the details of exactly how that works is quite fuzzy in my head, but it involves kidnapping Torchwood, holding a big street party, and all kinds of other weird stuff. I think there's time-travel and metaphysics involved too, and how any of this relates to a consistent Torchwood mythos I have no idea.
If the balance isn't put right, a possible alternate future is shown where the Dark (or the Light?) will possess Tosh and Owen and lead them to create the "Torchwood Empire" which has almost unlimited power by harnessing the power of Jack's ability repeatedly rise from the dead. These scenes are interesting, much like the original X-Men Days of Future Past storyline.
Plot gymnastics aside, there are some other interesting things in the book.
* We get a look at World War II Torchwood, as Jack ferries a captured alien from Torchwood One (London) to Torchwood Three (Cardiff). Torchwood Three, at that time, seems to be made up of a woman named Llinos King, a very hard-nosed woman boss named Tilda Brennan, and a guy Jack has a big crush on named Greg Bishop.
*In the modern day, we meet an interesting new character named Idris Hopper, who works in the Mayor's office and is immune to Ret-Con pills (at least the first version, which only 1/80,000 people are immune too; Jack says they've developed a new version that works on all but 1/800,000). UPDATE: Wikipedia informs me that this is a character from the Doctor Who episode "Boom Town." Yay continuity!
*We learn that Torchwood Two (Glasgow) is helmed by a strange old man named Archie, who isn't very technologically proficient (touched on briefly in the Torchwood Magazine # 14's comic strip "The Selkie").
* There's a brief but well-written discussion between Gwen and Ianto on the latter's bisexuality.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Alexious the Self-Decapitating Bard
If you've been in role-playing for a while, you may have noticed this phenomenon: when a new player makes their first character, the character is likely to be a bit of a conceptual mess mechanics-wise. The player, never having played in the system before, has only the foggiest notion of what abilities are going to be useful in the situations that one encounters most often (combat in most games, diplomacy in others). Such characters are almost lovable in their innocence and mechanical mediocrity.
However, you may have also noticed that some players very quickly learn how the system works and when they create subsequent characters, they min-max them to the fullest, often creating characters that are ridiculously one-note. (Hopefully, they game long enough to make it through this stage and return full-circle, to creating interesting and well-rounded characters). Most of the gamers I've met, either as director or as a fellow player, have fit this pattern.
I certainly did.
My first character when I was introduced to 2nd edition D&D, whom I'll post more about another time, was a Paladin. I wanted my second character to be a Bard (I think because I really liked the gleeman Thom from the Wheel of Time series). However, I didn't want an ordinary Bard who was just good at deciphering runes or doing a little pick-pocketing while entertaining in an tavern. I wanted a killing machine Bard. To that end, I gave this Bard (named Alexious) his highest ability scores in Strength and Dexterity, and his lowest ability score in Charisma. Furthermore, I, for some god-knows reason, outfitted him with katanas (the Japanese samurai sword--this, in a standard medieval D&D world). Not just one katana, mind you. I made him into a two-weapon fighting expert, and he wore both swords on his back in scabbards, like some sort of action hero. He also wore chain mail armor, which messed up a couple of his bardic abilities.
(Before telling of Alexious' tragic end, I'll note that I think the two-sword thing was the best way we could think of, mechanically, to make a low-level character more powerful; my friend who got into gaming at the same time as me made for his second character an "Animal Master" character who also carried around two swords and was basically just a Fighter with no specific abilities related to training animals).
So it's the second or third session, and Alexious is in a tavern. As often happens in these places, a drunken lout spills some ale on our "hero." An ordinary bard might have laughed it off and then fleeced the lout for everything he had, but not Alexious, the veritable Harvester of Souls. Alexious challenges the lout to a fight right there in the tavern. The lout puts up his dukes, but Alexious wins initiative, draws both of his katanas, and slashes to kill before the lout can even throw a punch . . .
I roll a natural 1 and we go to the critical fumble table. On the d100, I roll a 100.
Alexious decapitates himself, and is buried behind the tavern in an unmarked grave (after his companions loot his corpse).
It was a nice lesson in humility, and I'm a better gamer because of it :)
------------------------------------
ALEXIOUS
Level 4 Bard, Half-Elf, "Neutral Indifferent"
Black Hair, Red Eyes, 5'8, 165 lbs.
AC: 2
THACO: 19
Hit Points: 24
Ability Scores
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 17
Charisma: 15
Saving Throws
PPD: 13
RSW: 14
PP: 12
BW: 16
Spell: 15
+3 if mental, +3 if dodgeable
Attacks
Katanas (+1), d. 1d10+2
Darts (+3), d. 1d3+2
Knife (-2), d. 1d3+2
Weapon Proficiencies
Katana
Two-Weapon Style
Dart
Nonweapon Proficiencies
Singing: 15
Musical Instrument: 16
Reading/Writing: -
Local History: 15
Disguise: 15
Acting: 15
Forgery: 16
Juggling: 9
Etiquette
Cantrip (4+1/level): 14
Languages
Common
Dwarven
Elvish
Bardic Abilities
Pick Pockets: 20% (0% Chainmail)
Detect Noise: 20%
Climb Walls: 50% (25% Chainmail)
Read Languages: 60%
Legend Lore: 20%
Half-Elven Abilities
30% Resistant to sleep & charm
60 ft. infravision
Secret Doors
Kit Abilities
Influence Reactions (crowd save vs. PPD)
Rally Allies (+1 attack, 1 round/level)
Counter Song (save vs. spell)
Spells
Alarm
However, you may have also noticed that some players very quickly learn how the system works and when they create subsequent characters, they min-max them to the fullest, often creating characters that are ridiculously one-note. (Hopefully, they game long enough to make it through this stage and return full-circle, to creating interesting and well-rounded characters). Most of the gamers I've met, either as director or as a fellow player, have fit this pattern.
I certainly did.
My first character when I was introduced to 2nd edition D&D, whom I'll post more about another time, was a Paladin. I wanted my second character to be a Bard (I think because I really liked the gleeman Thom from the Wheel of Time series). However, I didn't want an ordinary Bard who was just good at deciphering runes or doing a little pick-pocketing while entertaining in an tavern. I wanted a killing machine Bard. To that end, I gave this Bard (named Alexious) his highest ability scores in Strength and Dexterity, and his lowest ability score in Charisma. Furthermore, I, for some god-knows reason, outfitted him with katanas (the Japanese samurai sword--this, in a standard medieval D&D world). Not just one katana, mind you. I made him into a two-weapon fighting expert, and he wore both swords on his back in scabbards, like some sort of action hero. He also wore chain mail armor, which messed up a couple of his bardic abilities.
(Before telling of Alexious' tragic end, I'll note that I think the two-sword thing was the best way we could think of, mechanically, to make a low-level character more powerful; my friend who got into gaming at the same time as me made for his second character an "Animal Master" character who also carried around two swords and was basically just a Fighter with no specific abilities related to training animals).
So it's the second or third session, and Alexious is in a tavern. As often happens in these places, a drunken lout spills some ale on our "hero." An ordinary bard might have laughed it off and then fleeced the lout for everything he had, but not Alexious, the veritable Harvester of Souls. Alexious challenges the lout to a fight right there in the tavern. The lout puts up his dukes, but Alexious wins initiative, draws both of his katanas, and slashes to kill before the lout can even throw a punch . . .
I roll a natural 1 and we go to the critical fumble table. On the d100, I roll a 100.
Alexious decapitates himself, and is buried behind the tavern in an unmarked grave (after his companions loot his corpse).
It was a nice lesson in humility, and I'm a better gamer because of it :)
------------------------------------
ALEXIOUS
Level 4 Bard, Half-Elf, "Neutral Indifferent"
Black Hair, Red Eyes, 5'8, 165 lbs.
AC: 2
THACO: 19
Hit Points: 24
Ability Scores
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 17
Charisma: 15
Saving Throws
PPD: 13
RSW: 14
PP: 12
BW: 16
Spell: 15
+3 if mental, +3 if dodgeable
Attacks
Katanas (+1), d. 1d10+2
Darts (+3), d. 1d3+2
Knife (-2), d. 1d3+2
Weapon Proficiencies
Katana
Two-Weapon Style
Dart
Nonweapon Proficiencies
Singing: 15
Musical Instrument: 16
Reading/Writing: -
Local History: 15
Disguise: 15
Acting: 15
Forgery: 16
Juggling: 9
Etiquette
Cantrip (4+1/level): 14
Languages
Common
Dwarven
Elvish
Bardic Abilities
Pick Pockets: 20% (0% Chainmail)
Detect Noise: 20%
Climb Walls: 50% (25% Chainmail)
Read Languages: 60%
Legend Lore: 20%
Half-Elven Abilities
30% Resistant to sleep & charm
60 ft. infravision
Secret Doors
Kit Abilities
Influence Reactions (crowd save vs. PPD)
Rally Allies (+1 attack, 1 round/level)
Counter Song (save vs. spell)
Spells
Alarm
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
The fourth book in my collection of Worth Literary Classics is Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Unlike the previous Poe book I read (Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque), this one is packed with all of his classics: "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", and more. The first five of those are famous thrillers that I may have come across in general collections years ago but only vaguely remembered. They hold up well in re-reading, though they're much shorter than you might think given how well-known they are ("The Tell-Tale Heart", for example, is only five pages long).
What I found most interesting in the collection was "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and its two sequels, "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and "The Purloined Letter". These three stories each feature what literary historians say is the first detective in fiction: Auguste Dupin. Dupin is very much an armchair detective--through his sheer power of "ratiocination" he is able to solve terrible crimes simply by hearing and seeing all the available evidence. He's aided in these endeavours by a colleague who is always impressed by Dupin's intellectual powers, and who provides a convenient excuse for Dupin to explain how his deductive processes work. The influence on Doyle's creation of Sherlock Holmes and Watson are very clear.
Along with these well-known stories, there are some that were far more famous in Poe's day than they are now: "The Gold Bug" (a curious sort of treasure hunt story) and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" (having to do with what happens if someone dies while being hypnotized). Both are quite good. The collection doesn't have any of Poe's poetry, but I'm more than okay with that (poetry: an artform I've never managed to gain an interest in--just say what you mean, damn it!).
The book also has three essays by modern Poe scholars. Kevin Hayes' Introduction provides a brief and readable account of Poe's life and some of his literary devices, while Scott Peeples writes a really interesting essay on Poe's reputation both before and after his death. Louis Renza writes an essay on "Poe and Identity", but it was full of academic jargon and unconvincing.
Next: Jane Austen's Emma
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