Welcome to Gaia! ::

The world is a scary place, but that doesn't mean that you can't come out to play. If anything, doesn't that make everything more fun?

You are in the city of Gulthiac, the capital of a certain country whose name is not important. For your own reasons, you have come here and you cannot leave until you complete your quest, however gruesome it may be. If you don't have a reason to leave, you'll find one.

It always seems to dark. The skies are clouded with smoke and moisture. It is always snowing, but whether that snow is ice or ash is not certain to you. The streets are not bitter cold as steam escapes from just about every building, tempering the cold darkness with a vaporous ghost.

The city seems to be somewhere from the middle-ages but it is an anachronism of sorts. Factories and homes sit amid towering gothic castles and cathedrals. All of this lends itself to the unnatural feeling you have when you are here. The reason why you want to finish your business and leave. But you know it can't be that easy...

Evil lurks in the plentiful shadows. Strangers eye you with distrust, danger, or lust. There isn't a friendly face to be found. You hold your weapon to your heart and pray to your God that one of them can protect you from the glowing red eyes that stare at you from places unseen.

You enter the place where you will start your investigation: the Great Library. It is the only part of the Royal Castle that is opened to the public, and the reason behind that is a mystery. Millions and millions of books, tomes, and all sorts of data cover the immense, giantess sized bookshelves, and that is just the human sized section. The stone walls and stain glass windows are testaments that this used to be the chapel of the Castle, before the day that their God died to them, and the great schism between the Church and the State was opened. But all of that matters little to you. Anything you may have ever wanted to know is here-- the only problem is finding it. Maybe you could find someone to help you?


The Great Library The only part of the Royal Castle normally accessible to anyone outside of the royal family, officials or dignitaries. Most information can be found here but not all. The Moderator here is the Librarian. No combat is allowed in this zone. You can engage in combat, but if the moderator is watching than you will be thrown outside, where it is not so friendly.

The Ruined Wing: This is the area of the Library that is stocked with books on all types of the mysterious, the unknown, and magic. Everything looks decayed and somehow wrong, though the books are all mysteroiusly in order.If you are searching for a book, it takes you 2d6 monster checks to find. This is not a safe area and apparitions and monsters of an evil sort appear out of nowhere. Monster checks are made from the Occult Minions table. If you die here, you may not teleport to the Library, only the Cathedral.

Inner Castle: Entry into this ancient and well-defended citadel is suicide to all but the most powerful warriors. Even if one makes it in, there is no known source of a map of its interior. Finding your way in the endless stone, candle-lit corridors is no easy task. You must make 2d6 monster checks from the Royal Minions table. If you succeed, you may consult the gamemaster(me) as to what happens.

The Great Cathedral, Main Hall: This is the foremost religious center in Gulthiac, although what God is worshiped here; that is not known. Still, it is a holy and quiet place and evil seems to stay out. It towers thousands of feet into the air. Even to a giantess, it gives one the impression of being small. To a human, infinitesimal. The Moderator of this area is the Priestess. Combat is not allowed here, explicitly. If a character challenges another to combat, he suffers a permanent -1 to all of his stats. Also, the priestess can then throw the character out.

The Great Cathedral, Catacombs: The Order that runs the Cathedral is very secretive. What they are hiding could be of great importance to a seeker. It consists of many underground book depositories, sanctums, and chambers. Still, this area is not easily traversed. Guards, Priests, Monks, and Ancient Knights will kill any intruder they come upon in this most holy of areas. It takes you 2d6 monster checks to find what you are looking for. Monster checks are made from the Light Minions table. If you die here, you may not teleport to the Cathedral, only the Library.

Outside in the Streets: This is not a safe place. Traveling on foot means that you will encounter enemies for sure. Roll for a single monster check on the Streets table.

First of all, the places where you should search go like this:
Holy relics are stored in the Catacombs.
Ancient texts and some evil artifacts are in the ruined wing.
Valuables, jewels, and vials are located typically in the sewer.
Less useful mechanical items are found in the old factory.
Extremely important and rare items are likely to be somewhere in the inner castle.

While searching you will most likely encounter enemies that wish to impede your progress. This is represented by monster checks. After you have rolled the dice to determine the number of encounters you may face, roll d20's one at a time and compare them to the appropriate monster table listed in the location description. if you must enter a combat, resolve both your attacks and the enemies attacks as if you were playing both characters. the enemy must attack every turn if it is able. enemies do not waste actions healing or removing adverse status conditions unless noted in their entry in the Bestiary. after the combat continue your rolls until you have no more to make, stopping for combats as they arise.

If you die during the attempt to find your item, you lose all of your progress. However, the next time you enter this area to find the same object, subtract the number of monster checks you made during your last attempt from the number of monster checks you must make this time, to a minimum of 2 (1 for characters with Skilled Navigator). This represents the knowledge you gained from your last attempt.

When you succeed, you gain the item that you were searching for. This item may or may not increase your stats; I have not decided that yet but keep track of your acquired items as they will all take effect at once if this rule is implemented.

I say that the giants make humans seem about 2 inches or less depending on individual height, etc. Still, the fantastic nature of the game means that size has little bearing on combat, other than special abilities and the like.