SWA Game-a-thon, Studio of Bridge & Games, Schenectady, NY.
Across from Price Chopper
There is a $4.00 event fee for this game assessed by SWA. This fee will be waived for Paid Members of the League. Paid members should pay initially and see the GM onsite for reimbursement.

The citizens of Alua have long known that the Ninth Kingdom is to be avoided. But they have always kept their distance since the last war. Now a border town has been taken. Is this a random act? Or a first move in something larger?

Neutral Haven has long been a contradiction. As close to the border of the Ninth kingdom as you can get, it has served as a trading post between people that otherwise would rather fight than talk. Only the trading post's neutral status has llowed it to survive. Now, that neutrality is apparently over.

Three champions answered the call to investigate why Neutral Haven hadn't been heard from. After getting the general story, they proceded to the trading post to find it completely covered by a twisted growth of vines and flowers. The champions approached only to find themselves beset by 6 dire tigers, puffs of spores, and whipping vines. It took some time, but fire and creeping doom opened a hole for entry. What the champions found was a decaying village and a continual bath of acid and spores. No bodies were inside, but all wood, paper, and gear inside were rotting away at an accelerated rate.

The champions explored a bit more and found that the bulb of vines was being fed by 6 main trunks from the nearby swamp. Only Kristoliana could defeat the magic of the swamp enough to enter and find the source of the vines. They came up from the ground only yards away from the border. The champions then severed all of the trunks and set the bulb on fire. The smoke could be seen for miles and the screams let out from it as if a single voice was crying for relief from the pain.

The three returned to Sor-Rii and made their report. The loss of Neutral Haven was definitely not a random incident. It was part of a larger plan and the population appeared to be lost. For their service, they were paid 700gp each and received the thanks of the city.

A week after the incident, more information came to light. The bulb at Neutral Haven had started to regrow. Several more were spotted to the North and South along the border. The elder at Sor-Rii reported that the magical barrier they had placed at the edge of the Ninth Kingdom was no longer under their control. Its energies were now controled from within the swamps. And for three miles out, all of the grass had died. The only bright news was that not all of the people normally stationed at Neutral Haven were caught up in the bulb. Several had travelled to Sor-Tai on business and vacation. Only 22 people are unaccounted for. But then, that's 22 too many.

Coordinator's Note: This was our first session at the SWA Game-A-Thons. It turned out well and we will be continuing to hold games at these events as long as people keep attending. We have also decided to run an RPGA event at each one as well. If you would like to volunteer to GM a game, please let me know.

1. Swarm (Novice)
   Player: Mark Jerard
   Kristoliana (Aranea Master of Flies 9 ECL 16)

   Swarm survives to adventure again.

2. Torg II (Novice)
   Player: Jason B. Murphy
   Torg II (Human Male Fighter 15)

   Torg II survives to adventure again.

3. Zedbor (Novice)
   Player: David L. Hill
   Torg I (Human Male Fighter 15)

   Zedbor survives to adventure again.