PRL Serials

Game Master: Ariel and Leilar were in the Umbatia swamp watching the Melee, when they overheard two Umbatia, Mensah and Badú, arguing over the lost pipe of an Aziza of the Fonlands named Jeje. They talked to the Umbatia and decided to help them find Jeje’s pipe, that gives deeper understanding of any object or subject of the user’s choosing, if they will share it. The Umbatia agreed and Ariel recognized the area on the map that the Umbatia have, that is drawn on a kid’s restaurant placemat, and they quickly found what appeared to be a large, magical tree in the woods near the home of Ariel’s mother. As they arrived at the magical tree with an awesome treehouse in its canopy, both Ariel and Leilar began to suspect their new compatriots. They wonder if Jeje is alive and on Earth, and if the Umbatia intend to rob Jeje for his pipe. 

Ariel: I mean, we probably should have asked this before we left the swamp, but are y’all good guys or bad guys?

Leilar: Is Jeje in that treehouse?

Mensah: Whoa, ladies. I don’t know why y’all so skeptical all of a sudden. We were all friends two seconds ago.

Badú: Fickle, just like all females. 

Mensah: Let’s not say things that would upset them any more than they already are, Badú. We are not bad guys and as far as we know, Jeje isn’t on Earth. He hasn’t been to this realm since he lost his pipe, or I think it wouldn’t still be lost. He would probably pick it up. 

Ariel: GM, do they seem suspicious or anything? 

Leilar: I don’t know why we rushed into this. Stranger Danger, I’ve heard that before somewhere. And they almost made us the Stranger Danger for poor Jeje.

Ariel: It’s a shame.

GM: You both can roll Intelligence to see if you can tell if these guys are being honest with you. 

Ariel: I got that Divine 20!

Leilar: That’s my girl! I don’t even need to roll. What’s up with these guys? 

GM: Ariel, with that Divine 20 not only can you tell that the Umbatia are telling the truth, but they are low-key very intimidated by you and are very afraid that they have upset the two of you.

Leilar: Aww, they’re suddenly very cute. They really just want to be able to have a source of the Essence away from the swamp so they can see more of the world. I’m glad we’re helping them.

Ariel: Me too, girl. Mensah, what’s up with the tree house?

GM: Mensah, I’m gonna have you roll for Wisdom, or knowledge of the Fonlands. Since you’re essentially NPC in this story,

Ariel: We’re the protagonists.

GM: We’ll roll to determine your knowledge of the Fonlands. You’re Umbatia, so we’ll give you an advantage roll, roll 1D20 twice, take the higher number. 

Mensah: That’s a 16 and a 17.

GM: That’s a good roll. Mensah is like an Fonlands fanboy. He’s read all of the Umbatia scrolls about the Fonlands and the ways that Fonlanders have settled Earth. That’s how he came across the story of Jeje’s pipe.

Mensah: There’s a weekly scroll that is produced, illustrations and narration about various events and figures from the history of Fonlanders on Earth and one of those scrolls had a long, multiple scroll Arch about Jeje and the Aziza. 

Ariel: It makes you so much cuter that you’re a nerd. What do you know about this tree?

Mensah: It’s the only known dwelling place of the Aziza on Earth and it is only on Earth when the discs of the Fonlands settle into this universe with Earth at the exact center of the overlapping discs. It is not permanently on Earth and if we are within five feet of it when it disappears, we will be transported to the jungles of Agê’s disc.

Leilar: So that’s why it’s lost? Sometimes it’s here, sometimes it’s there.

Badú: If it’s really in there. We won’t know until we go inside.

Ariel: We could get taken to the Fonlands though. 

Badú: How long does it stay here and then there?

Mensah: It is here for a shorter time than it is there. I don’t know the exact time, but it’s a few weeks here and then the rest of the time there. 

Badú: And how much longer before it disappears?

Mensah: I don’t know how long it’s been here.

Leilar: GM, is there anyway Ariel and I can find out when the tree is set to go back to the Fonlands? 

Ariel: Or to be sure that the pipe is inside cause they don’t know for sure it’s here. 

Leilar: That’s true. Can we do anything?

GM: I don’t think either of you have psychic abilities, no mind reading or mind control, though you are both descendants of mmoatia. Let’s check the attack and Essence spells available to Mmoatia. Well, by this point, you’ve both spent time with Supreme Mmoatia. Lorv is your mother Leilar, and you were with her in the swamp Ariel. So the question is, in that time, did the two of you learn Mmoatia tricks from Lorv. I’ll have you both roll Wisdom, 1D20, to determine what you know at this point. 

Leilar: I’ll go first. That’s a 7. That doesn’t seem good. I feel like I should get another roll because I was with my mother for so long on Top. I’ve grown up with my mom, it’s very likely she told me some Mmoatia stuff.

GM: That makes sense. Roll again. 

Leilar: Oh man, that’s a 4. So if she was telling me Mmoatia stuff, I wasn’t listening. We live and work on Top, so I was probably much more into my social life and being good at my job to listen to my mother talk about her culture. I just wanted to know about the technology and battle stuff.

Ariel: Yeah, young people don’t listen to their parents. Do I get two rolls?

GM: No, sorry, you haven’t spent that much time with Mmoatia. But I will give you an Intelligence roll to see if Jophiel taught you any cool Aerphim moves, specifically Archangel moves. You’ll have advantage for the Intelligence roll. 

Ariel: Bet. So I got 17 for my Wisdom roll!

Leilar: You’re one of those people that really likes her friend’s parents. 

Ariel: Absolutely. Lorv is Goddess. She is so lovely and sweet. I knew when I met her on Endla that I should have never gone with Jophiel. And all I did was talk to her before the Melee started.

Leilar: That’s how we met!

Ariel: Yes! After you brought Pultine’s cocoon to the swamp she introduced us and we’ve been inseparable since. So what did I learn from Lorv?

GM: At your current Essence Retention level of 15, you can do a version of Mmoatia Persuasion and Compel Truth but your roll has to exceed their attack bonus to be effective. So you’ll roll to see if you’re successful, then roll for effectiveness essentially, and the target rolls to see if they can save from your attempts at controlling them. Both of those spells involve controlling someone, but not reading minds. Compel Truth makes someone tell the truth. You don’t have access to Lorv’s subclass spells. So roll to see if you learned anything cool from Jophiel. And you do roll with advantage.

Ariel: I’m a beast already. 

Leilar: You’re teaching me everything you know.

Ariel: I was thinking that, too. 

GM: You can do that, but you won’t be able to access any of those skills for this quest, Leilar. Give me your Intelligence roll, Ariel.

Ariel: A 17 and a 3.

GM: You are a beast. So Jophiel probably taught you Angelic Memo which allows you to send a psychic message to someone you have spoken to before. 

Ariel: That’s good for if we get split up.

GM: You both wondered before if there was any way to know when the Aziza tree would go back to the Fonlands, and basically you need to go see if someone inside can answer your question, or use the spells and things available to you to find out. 

Mensah: I think we should go in. If we get taken to the Fonlands, we can always portal back. 

Ariel: You can make portals? 

GM: You need an Essence Retention score over 21 and Mensah and Badú do not have it. Leilar, you can cast portals based on your very high essence retention score, and you are able to create portals between this universe and the Fonlands, but you can only create a portal to a place you’ve been before. 

Leilar: Does it matter that I’ve never been to the Fonlands before, and I’ve never actually cast a portal. I guess I’ve seen my mother do it, but I have never actually done it myself. 

Badú: I say we run in quick and hope to find someone to ask how long we have and if they know where the pipe is.

Ariel: I guess that sound pretty good to me. 

Leilar: I don’t want to be a spoilsport, I’m down for whatever Ariel. The adventure seems cool, I wouldn’t mind visiting the Fonlands with you and getting lost. And I’m sure Hysteria can run the fights back if we miss the Dance completely, whenever that is. But, is the pipe worth it for you? Are you up for an adventure to a strange land?

Ariel: I’ve been to Endla and that was pretty strange, but I survived. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Fonlands either. 

Leilar: Then we’ll follow Badú and Mensah to the tree.

GM: The four of you approach the tree pretty quickly, flying to the base of it and slowly making your way up. You notice that there is no ladder, rope, no way of accessing the canopy without wings. When you make it to the bottom floor of the large tree house, you see a wrap-around porch with rocking chairs and there seem to be podiums or like reception desks every ten feet or so, and there are doorways with no doors behind each podium leading into the interior of the tree house. Everything is made of slickly varnished wood and it seems very expensive, but it also seems empty. 

Ariel: Should we just go in here?

Leilar: I think we should fly up and check out the rest.

GM: They move up to the second floor that serves as the roof of the first, and there is a gap in the wooden structure. The second floor is open-air and there are wooden beams along the square outline. The inside appears to be a restaurant or cafe, there are tables with chairs. There are also lounge chairs with comfortable looking pillows. 

Ariel: Is this a spa for the Aziza or something?

Mensah: It is a place of recreation and relaxation, but I don’t know how recent those stories are. It could be years since any Aziza used this place.

Leilar: How do we find the pipe? Just search every floor?

GM: I’ll let you all roll Wisdom to see if you are getting any magical or enchanted vibes off of anything. There is one more floor above you that caps the structure and is covered by a roof. There is a wrap around porch up there and open doorways with no doors and there are no signs of life. 

Ariel: 2

Leilar: 10

Mensah: 4

Badú: 14

GM: I think Leilar and Badú can sense arcane power emanating from the top floor. 

Badú: Strange sensation from above, Mensah. Maybe we have found it!

GM: Badú flies up and Mensah follows closely behind him.

Leilar: Let’s go, we don’t want them finding it and not sharing.

Ariel: Maybe we should go wait on the ground, let them bring it out. I’m getting kind of nervous about the chance of us disappearing to the Fonlands. I thought I was ok, but now that we’re in here…

Leilar: That’s cool. Hey boys! We’re gonna wait for you on the ground.

Mensah: Ok, we’re still looking! We’ll see you down there.

GM: But before Ariel and Leilar leave the second floor of the tree house, the view around them begins to distort.

Ariel: Shit! I jinxed us. I should have just flown out.

Leilar: This must be it right? We’re going to the Fonlands?

GM: Indeed. When the view around the tree comes into focus, they are in a jungle setting. Ariel and Leilar walk to the wooden barrier at the edge of the structure and look down.

Ariel: I guess we’re here. Let’s go help them look for that pipe. I’m sure it’ll help us get home. 

Leilar: You look like you’re about to start panicking. 

Ariel: I am, I’m trying to stay cool, but the Fonlands is a whole other universe right? We just traveled to another universe, Leilar. My mama don’t even know where I am right now. I don’t even know.

Leilar: It’ll be cool. Hey, this will be a fun adventure. 

Ariel: I’m cool. Shaking it off. Ok, let’s get that pipe and figure out where we are. 

Leilar: I can’t believe I just talked you down like that.

Ariel: You did good girl. I’m feeling ok now, yeah. You’re the best. 

Leilar: Thank you, but I can’t believe it because I’m fucking freaking out, too. Did I use that right? Fucking? Ariel, what the fuck? We gotta get back to the swamp.

Ariel: We’re both freaking out? Girl, if we’re gonna be friends we have to be more honest with each other. 

Leilar: That is true. Ok, I’m ok. Let’s do this.

GM: Our heroes are freaking the fuck out! And they’re both in the Fonlands for the first time. Can they retrieve the pipe of Jeje? Can they make it back to the Umbatia swamp in one piece? Come back soon to find out.