I have been playing RPGs for, off and on, about ten years now. My GM has been doing likewise for much longer than I ... he's two or three years older than me, and started playing at a much younger age. The rest of the group is two fairly long-time shadowrunners and one first-time gamer (who, nonetheless, does surprisingly well). We are all in our twenties.
The story actually begins in high school when my current GM's younger brother tried to pull this run on us ... as he usually did, he took what he liked, ignored the rest, rushed through and a good time was had by all. Of course, we never did complete the run as it was SUPPOSED to have been done. The run notes themselves are contained in a binder--there are fifteen pages. (I'm hoping GM will let me have a better look at them, now that we've finished it.)
Several years later, in our current group, which has by this time been running in more or less its current form (you know the drill: players come and players go, but in a "surviving" group, there's always a "core" around) for about three years. We are sent "across the pond" on an errand from a talismonger friend of ours. (We're doing a 'scavenger hunt'-type series of missions for him, from which this was actually a break.)
Our physical adept (Felix) needed a "deed" so he could initiate a little cheaper--got something extra thrown into the bargain, as it turned out. When we arrived, we were immediately accosted by someone claiming that he worked for the employer of the gentleman we were supposed to meet. We were taken to meet our employer (we magical-types checked him out, of course, nothing particularly unusual), he gave us a few summary instructions and we were on our way. (We found out later that the our talismonger's friend was an independent researcher and had no employer. Too bad we didn't ask beforehand. Oh well, wouldn't have changed much.) We set up in a nice hotel while investigating the circumstances of Dr. Kirlian's (our contact) disappearance and figuring out whatever the heck it was he was doing when he vanished. He left about 200 pages of notes which we pored over, noticing some oddities, especially toward the tail-end. We investigated a few leads, one of which was a set of coordinates, latitude and longitude. Because I actually knew what was coming, to a point, I (being the caster-type) did a little astral-projection recon and found a floating castle.
Actually, it wasn't so much a castle as a walled enclosure (complete with floor). There were towers at the corners of the walls and at least one had a small room. The whole structure was fashioned from the very clouds, but there was something odd about them--they were infused somehow, more ALIVE, if that word is applicable. (Of course, being astral, I was seeing everything astrally.) Now for the real kicker: this castle had a resident. Just one: an older gentleman. He was walking about, a little wearily, perhaps ... apparently talking to himself. I spent a good long while observing this fellow and ... well, kind of experimenting on him. (Nothing harmful, just trying to figure out who he was talking to and how he got up there.) Of course, this took quite a few trips back and forth.
Before I forget, I also discovered what we came to call "the swirly vortex of death". This is not so important now, but it will be vitally important later.
For some reason, this structure could not be seen physically--only in the astral. Now, here's a few fast facts: first, he wasn't talking to himself--there were actual voices that could be heard ... not discerned, though, at least by me. He seemed fairly coherent for someone who talks to voices that come out of thin air. Oh, and he could do magic. Not spells and conjuring. I watched him during lunch and dinner time on a few occasions. He would call up a table full of food just by saying a few words in a language I did not recognize. He did the same thing at night when he went to bed, calling up a place to sleep. No spell effect--he spoke, and it happened. No mana-manipulation involved. Well, finally I notified our "employer" about all this (as we had been instructed to contact him occasionally). He sent a mage with me to check the phenomenon out. (Here's where the fit hits the shan.) The mage pokes around a little, asks a few questions and finally says "okay, thanks, I'll let the boss know."
On my next trip to visit the castle, I found a SWARM of people around the place. Several LAVs and a few levitating mages outside the castle, and a few projecting mages inside. Those inside were coralling my friend into a corner--he was, of course, quite distressed. I singled out the fellow I'd talked to earlier and asked him what was up. I got a sort of "we'll take it from here, move along" answer. Finally, my buddy the adept and I managed to convince the "muscle" half of our team (a couple of mercenaries if you ever saw them) to help us free my friend and take revenge on our "employer" for misleading us. You see, this gentleman (and I use the term loosely) headed up a corporation that had been buying up its competitors left and right--quite a local powerhouse, actually. Probably the equivalent of, say Gaeatronics in the Pacific north-west. Maybe a little lower down, it's hard to say. What we know for sure is that he'd made quite a few enemies during his rise to power, which we drafted into our effort to take revenge.
During our recon of the facility we planned to "hit", we discovered that the whole thing was only two stories above ground--but there was a good deal going on UNDER ground--much more than there ought to have been. So, I cooked up a quite brilliant plan. The main group of runners (ours) would search for my friend (whom we actually located quite quickly) and take control of building security (which we also did quite quickly). We discovered a locked door leading down to the basement, which couldn't be accessed by any other means. (One of the guards we "relieved" was posted here--apparently someone was supposed to be there all night.) When we'd secured the two aboveground levels, we used the key that the guard at the locked door had surrendered at our manufactured shift-change and sent down the second team, whose job was to find and terminate our "employer". (I had envisioned a much more complicated and stressful take-over process when I assigned team-roles.) They found a few rooms containing animals (puppies, I think), and another door leading to some stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. (We were keeping in contact via radio.) About seven stories or so below ground, they entered a very large chamber. At the other side of the chamber, a small room. We heard over the radio, the following exchange:
Beta team leader: "Kendetsu, I presume."
Voice: "You're NOT my security."
Beta team leader: "Leave."
Static.
Then came the two second-most horrifiying minutes in my gaming career as we, the players, discussed what the crap to do now. The final verdict: "he did TELL us to leave." I took some initiative and projected down the stairway real quick because I wanted to make sure that what I THOUGHT was going on actually WAS going on. One of our muscle carried me out as we did this. The other one set up some C-4 at the door of the building. (This actually proved vital in buying us the seconds we needed to escape.) I hadn't gotten very far down the stairs when I felt a VERY powerful astral presence coming up to meet me. Needless to say, I got back to my meatbody double-time. The GM tells me I'm certain that whatever it was got an astral reading on me, so after all's said and done, I spent some karma to initiate and change my signature (the SECOND time in a row I've had to do this). As we flee the building, we see it fly apart at the seams and an enormous black lizardlike creature thrashing about--apparently very, VERY angry.
The whole incident makes the local news, BIG TIME. We laid low with some buddies that we'd made in the course of our investigations. Naturally they weren't TOO happy we were possibly bringing down the wrath of a dragon on them, but they were good friends and we paid them off well. Besides, we didn't stay with them long. We did, by the way, manage to rescue my confused friend from the rampaging dragon. He actually led us to the next plot-point: a cave by the seashor on one of the small islands that surround brittain. The cave is hidden by some arcane means--not a hologram and obviously (to my astral eyes) not an illusion spell, but it can't be seen with the naked (mundane) eye. Inside, my friend walked around, seeming to remember a few things. From the walls (made of crystal), we see a ghostly figure approaching him from behind. It seems to have an upraised dagger. This figure, we notice looks EXACTLY like him. The figure finally strikes and merges with my friend, who, as you might expect, is now a whole lot more coherent and sensible. (As we later discovered, he never lost his talent for being annoyingly cryptic.)
When we asked him to tell us who he was, he replied "the protector of Brittain". He'd gone by many names, he said, but the one we were most likely to know was "Merlin". So, he gives me that dagger, says something about a debt and tells us we are going to have to collect a bunch of mystical items from the "old world". He also tells us about the swirly vortex of death, that it is attracted by these items, and they must be thrown into it, or it will consume the whole world. Also, he tells us, part of our job is to kill the dragon. Our search will be greatly helped if one of us becomes "attuned" to the items, so that we can find them more easily (instead of, say poring over books whose information may be centuries out of date, or worse, entirely fictional). The downside to this is that the sorry person will also be attuned to the vortex of death. The whole process involves a weakening of the link between spirit and body. I take the hit for the team and become the "compass". As time goes on and we collect more and more of these items, it becomes easier for me to project--this is not a good thing, with the vortex around and me attuned to it. The attempts to get each item are fairly entertaining in themselves, and each makes up a decent-sized "war story" in its own right. But, finally, we got all of them together and set about putting together a trap for the dragon.
He wants the items, you see, and is drawn to them. So, he'll come to US--sooner or later. We have, among our items, a chariot that can fly and ride through earth (or indeed anything else), a mantle that makes its wearer invisible and a sword we're pretty sure is Excalibur. (There's also a power focus-like item that I've got with me, but it don't come in much.)
HERE NOW IS THE SETUP FOR THE SLAYING OF THE DRAGON:
We find a good size cliff and use some of the items we've found to create a napalm-like wall of fire immediately in front of it. I ride around in the chariot with as many items as I can carry that are not necessary for making the dragon be more dead. Our muscle stands by with Panther Assault Cannon at the ready at the top of the flaming cliff of fire. Our adept (Felix, remember?) carries the mantle and Excalibur, since he's most able to use them. Hopefully, as I fly into the cliff face, the dragon chasing me will think he is only flying through a fiery wall and knock himself silly on the rock. Felix will jump from the cliff (Excalibur keeps him from being hurt--he can still be knocked about and feel shock--but not actually HURT), ready to hack at the unconscious dragon. Meanwhile our muscle (this is a minotaur, by the way), will be ready to fire his Panther Cannon at need.
As I flew about in the chariot, I notice (barely) the approach of the dragon. Here, now, come the MOST TERRIFYING two minutes of my gaming career. With my measely charioteering skill bought with whatever karma I had to spare in preparation for this very event, I made my way AS FAST AS I POSSIBLY COULD toward the cliff of fire. Keeping low, I eventually make my way into a small forest just before the cliff. The dragon closes behind me. I break into the open as I approach the cliff and he dives after me ... and just then we break through the wall of fire. I make my way out of the cliff as quickly as I can, since there are Troglodytes living in there for some reason, and they can see me. Did I mention that driving through the cliff meant that I was travelling toward the vortex of death? This meant speed, which was an asset at the time. Unfortunately, now I can't stop the chariot! Finally, probably several dozen feet above the sea by now, I bail out of the chariot and into the water, summon up a sea spirit to take me to land and wait for rescue.
Meanwhile, my friends are having all the fun hacking up the dragon and making sure he is DEAD DEAD DEAD. Muscle-boy fires off several shots with the Panther Cannon, Felix goes in to try cutting and then backs off, more shots are fired and finally the dragon's head is severed. Thinking him deceased, we gather together all the items that didn't go heading for the vortex on their own when I bailed out of the chariot and got ready to huck them in there. Then the dragon's body starts REGENERATING. GAH! Just as we are pondering what the crap to do about this situation, our minotaur hears a chuckle, apparently coming from a rock to his left.
Did I mention that "Beta team leader" was a gargoyle shaman, who could actually turn himself into a statue? We knew this beforehand, but didn't think of it when we were RUNNING FOR OUR LIVES.
The "rock" stands up and hands our minotaur an obsidian statuette of a man with dragonlike wings, saying "would you care to do the honors?" On his second try, the statue SHATTERS, and the dragon stops regenerating. DRAGON SLAIN.
This whole affair took probably two months or so to play out. It's been tried two or three times in the past, including the time the GM's brother tried it with our old group, which was when we were in high school. NEVER before has it been completed.
My character's working name is "R.C." She is a sun shaman and currently a grade three initiate. And she, with the rest of her group, is a DRAGON SLAYER.
(P.S. I hope you enjoyed my long-winded story.)