Rainbowland Chronicles: The Burning Gaze

The captain and crew of the Costly Greasecaft were impressed and dismayed by our rebuke of the elder deep thing. They had been greeting their doom with chants of "ph'nglui mglaw' nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah nagl fhtagn". The seemed pacified however by the grant of their continued existence, though we certainly encountered more grateful rescuers before.

The last days of our voyage passed event-less, with the hushed murmurs of the crew becoming ever more eerie. On a bright afternoon we finally spotted the 100 cyclopses guarding the Redland District. Even with their backs turned these huge statues radiated arcane power. A chill crept across my spine considering the over land approach though the glassy gazelands, facing the burning gaze of these monsters. With that foreboding thought we docked in the busy harbor. A group of men in white robes, their faces hidden by pointy hats, watched as we docked the Costly Greasecaft. They bode us to follow them for an audience with Izundra, the Azure Lady.

Boring, Grungar and Thulsa followed the hooded henchmen. Dougal insisted on reporting the Kraken to the local harbour authority.

---

Dougal hurried to the harbour authority driven to save as many as he could from falling into the hungry maw of the Kraken. He fast talked his way through the queue and found himself face to face with an implacable bureaucrat. So he retrieved the appropriate forms, and filled them out in triplicate. When Dougal returned to the buerocratic lady he also noted a logical inconsistency in the structure of the forms. This triggered a reaction in her impassive face and she took him directly to see the harbormaster.

The Harbormaster Three of the Waterguild by our merciless DM, Luka

Intrigued by the vessel holding the harbormaster he tried to see what lay in this magical enclosure. Her voice boomed through the audience chamber, commanding him to cease his scrying. So, without knowing whom he was addressing, Dougal reported the the Kraken and departed thanking the harbormaster for her time.

---

Booring, Grungar and Thulsa followed the hooded gentlemen in white through the busy harbour. They ushered the group onto a canal barge and so they floated gently through the canals of the Redland District until they reached the blue quarter. The hooded barge men guided the group down indistinct canal followed by indistinct canal finally turning down what seemed like a sewer pipe. Emerging on the other side they found themselves in a courtyard. The water here was crystal clear, only showing the blue shade of unfathomable depth. Here the hooded fellowship disembarked them. They were led to through the building to a rooftop garden. Here our bleached custodians turned us over to two female guards, dressed in practical leathers and capable of human communication.

Our new guards flanked us and ushered us to the centre of the garden. A pale woman stood in a pool here to greet us. She was Izondra, and she knew Benjamin, the hated pretender, personally. They had worked together opposing the machine gods, so she promised us a great bounty to return him to her, alive. Thulsa liked her 30,000gp reward and their religious employers seemed as fool just wanting the man executed. Did they fear he would overthrow their gods? That would be fun to see.

Izondra also knew Mephistos the demon-sorcerer from the dwarves mines. It had opposed them back during the machine war. She was dismayed that we had unleashed him upon the world. Overall she seemed a better ally than the crazy paladins of the Rainbow gods. However the mindless minions that had ushered them into the place unnerved Thulsa, so he chose to ask one of the female guards out for a drink. Freya "Old Easy" was happy to meet him at the Oyster Garden mermaid bar. Over dinner she turned out to be an honest and happy young woman who enjoyed her life and work. This further solidified Thulsa 's opinion of Izondra.

After Freya departed Thulsa rejoined the group at another table. They were planning the attack on Otto Ask and the headquarters of the green hexad. While we were arguing about how to get into the serpentine tower, a troll slammed his meaty hands on the table. "Someone better stop looking for the green hexad." He argued, followed by a threatening " That is an unheated activity." All the while spilling Ulf's beer.

In defiance Ulf demanded "Well are ye going to buy me a new beer?" The troll refused  and Ulf started a barfight. Here we learned that we had been arguing with a pixy wearing a troll suit. We were also kiked out of the Oyster Garden for thoroughly wrecking the place. We found a alternative venue in a halfling orc carberet. Here we decided to attack the Villa Adrian,  Otto Ask's home. We also met an odd fellow called Pal 600. He seemed very closed off and awkward. To get him to relax a bit Thulsa led him out to dance on the stage. First this terrified Pal, then he came to enjoy the applause. This seemed to instill some trust for the party in Pal and he entrusted him with his misson: to deliver a message to Zeeta Ask. This message was a gold brick inlay ed with a unique pattern. The party accepted the mission, presuming they could find Zeeta in the Villa Adriana.  Because of his odd behaviour they braught Pal to Izondra: She only said this senseless phrase: "Ohh neat, a positron brain. Still functional."

With that they turned in for a nights rest, to head out to the green quarter the next morning.

Rainbowland Chronicles: Enter the Haxads

After a few days to recover from our barbecue we returned to Pueblo di Mesas. The journey went uneventful and we decided to celebrate our recent and local fame by having a few drinks. In a gentleman's club Dougal met fine fellow with his teeth coloured yellow. His name was Paul and he instructed Dougal in the more subtle aspects of the local wine production. Enjoying their drinks and conversation they were surprised by the group of men in tight black leathers that had strode up to their table. The leader of the group pointed at Paul and speaking with a slight lisp that seemed accentuated by his hard accent commanded "Paul Goldtooth, you will come with us."

Dougal dislikes displays of dominance and felt that a set of leather clad nihilists were nothing to be afraid of. So, for once he stood up to confront the strange man. "Who are you and what is your quarrel with this man?" Dougal asked trying to cover the charm and illusion he was weaving to put the men at ease.

"I am Van Hell Sink" the lead leather replied, as they dragged off Paul. These nihilists indeed did not believe in civil behaviour and rewarded Dougals magical efforts with a dagger through the right hand.
With one last effort Dougal tried to save his drinking buddy by trapping the abductors in a web, but failed to weave the spell with his right hand disabled. So he slunk off to ask Molly for healing and vowed vengeance.

The next morning we secured a boat for the travel downriver to Saffrange. A group of boats floated down the river each other, all having set off at a similar time. One such boat flew a flag of a landlocked city in the blue lands. Boring recalled that this flag belongs with a pirate group that hires out their boats for clandestine operations. At this Dougal perked up feeling the time for his vengeance approaching. The others, feeling from his telling of the tale and having seen his injured hand, were happy to help. So under the cover of night we attacked. Dougal used his magic to conceal himself and flew over to the pirate ship. To no surprise Van Hell Sink was on board, so Dougal slunk to the waters edge. He selected a piece of the hull large enough for Grungar to fit through and turned it into salt. Then returned to fetch the rest of the group. They coordinated an attack with Grungar and Molly breaking through the salt, and Smart David and Dougal casting down a confusing array of fire from above the ship. Thulsa was, much like he spend every day the past few weeks, tripping on some new substance he had acquired from the barge crew.

Grungar managed to find and retrieve Paul Goldtooth who was tied up in the hold of the ship together with a Beatrice, a halfling Van Hell Sink was recovering for his master "Otto". During the escape he and Molly finally attracted the attention of the leather clad assassins. A set of poisoned darts hit Grungar, and a less determined person would have fallen into the water. Grungar however pulled his whits together and made it to the riverside before passing out. More distractions by David and Dougal saw Grungar safe back aboard the barge, and they managed to avoid further notice on the travel to Saffrange. There Paul was happy to host them in his establishment in thanks for saving him. The Beatrice, happy to escape her family in Pueblo di Mesas decided to stay and take the job Paul offered her at the bar.

Once settled in at Paul's club he revealed to us that he was a wine vampire, and the hexads were angry at him skimping on his protection money. Van Hell Sink, in particular, also had a problem with his kind and therefor came after him. Otto Ask the leader of the green hexad, Van Hell Sink's boss is also his nephew. Paul also suggested that we talk to the ambassador of the Redland District here in Saffrange, she may have some more information for us. The ambassador loathed Otto Ask for the rumours surrounding his hedonistic home and how he treated women. She told us to get in touch with Asaundra, the Azure Mistress, in the Red Land District. She may be able to help us out. And together with her plot to overthrow Otto and place ourselves in control of the green hexad.

After an evening of scheming we find the next fast ship to the Red Land District, the Costly Greasecraft is about to disembark and happy to take us. Their mysterious captain only nods as we come aboard and that is the last time we seem him. The crew works efficiently and quietly as the craft sets out. We make easy progress for the first three days of our five day journey. In the twilight hours of the fourth day we looking the ocean, and the ocean looks back at us!

A huge tentacle emerges from the depths and hammers the boat. Thulsa and Sir Boring are thrown into the abyss while the rest of the party defend the hapless Greasecraft. In the depths Thulsa feel like he is in a strange dream, descending he sees the massive tentacles descending down. Following them he comes eye to eye with the Kraken. The beast stirs and Thulsa understands the invitation to battle. He draws his axe, but swings at the best ineffectually. Then the Kraken opens its beak and the water draws Thulsa in. At first he tries to resist, then he goes with his intuition. Thulsa swims into the maw of the Kraken, and as he does so like a light in the darkness he find his anger. As he is stabbed by the beasts steely tongue he flies into a rage. With the rage his magic returns to him with a deep thrumming the water quakes around him and the beast spits him out. Thulsa arcs up into the air and lands on the deck in the rigging. The beast disappears into the depths.

Rainbowland Chronicles: Accolades to the (Dungeon) Master

Luka, our amazingly creative DM, has a fantastic blog. Before I joined the game he wrote about the story of the party, in this post. He also creates some great sketches, and shares them on google plus.

Rainbowland Chronicles: The Guardians of the Void

Dougal blinked not quite sure how to respond to the wall melting away in front of him. Seeing the door he opened it on reflex. It revealed a small library and alchemy lab. He noted the excellent equipment of the lab as he passed to regard the library. The books of the library were coded into the seven colours of the rainbow and octarine. Curious Dougal picked up an octarine book, expecting exciting secrets. As he picked up the book a great flutter of pages rose as the library and the books and pages lifted from the shelves. They gathered into three swirling shapes and attacked.

Sir Boring had just reached Dougal to stop his reckless curiosity, in the background Grungar cursed. Facing a formidable foe Dougal fled, after all he is a fisherman not a fighter. Once at a safe distance he cast some fire down upon the literary wraiths. Grungar and Sir Boring faced down the infra-dead and ultra - violent shades of linguistic anguish. Yolo caught the blue wraiths attention and lead it into the machine. There he outmanoeuvred it and locked it in. He emerged just to see Boring being struck down, his flesh spelling out something in the forbidden script of the black city. He rushed over to revive the paladin with a healing potion. As Boring came to Grungar dispatched the red wraith but was struck down by the violet one. Similar writing appearing across his skin. This time Molly had to resurrect the warrior. Together everyone took down the violet wraith.

Realising that this dungeon may kill them our heroes decided it was time to depart. The escape however was foiled by the wraith guardians below. The fixed the group with icy stares "What have you unleashed in the machine? We feel it's presence, you cannot leave until it is destroyed."

Forced to choose between fighting a dozen undead abominations or one pile of blowing paper, we decided the paper was the safer course. Once again we descended to the machine, steeled ourselves, and opened the vault. A furious flutter of papers attacked the group. Outnumbered and it only downed Yolo before being destroyed. Yolo regained consciousness, and the group set off. This time the wraiths were ready to let them pass but counciled us that the chambers of the machine could be used to restore the party. Yolo, trustworthy as the young hero he was, entered the machine. The first chamber killed him, the second brought him back ... to undeath.

Sensing the life essence of his companions near by the undead Yolo attacked. The party was at odds what to do, but Molly raised the symbol of the Orange god. The devine presence drove Yolo away, and his incorporeal self slipped through the cracks in the walls. Morning the loss of their comrade the party moved to leave this accursed dungeon. They carefully approached the wraiths in the machine chamber to negotiate their departure. The wraiths were unhappy with the abomination that the party had created in the machine. So we deliberated on how to get past them as a muscular man lept into the middle of the wraiths. His impossibly far jump into the middle of the wraiths revealed that his savage was wearing nothing but a tattered loincloth underneath this fur cloak. Two bear paws, almost part of the cloak, pinned it to his shoulders like the pauldrons on an officer. His loincloth was held in place by an animal skull protecting his private parts. He landed on the machine with a massive thunderclap, and the wraiths were scattered across the room. Given this opportunity, half the party fled the other attacked.

Credit to Luka

In the pitched battle the wild man was knocked out, attacked from all sides after his impressive entry. The party managed a retreat after most of the wraiths had been dispatched. Sad about letting the heroic man die by the hands of the undead Dougal decided to retrieve him, and whatever the party left discarded in their flight. He used his magic to shroud himself against sight and sound. Then started flying back through the machine chamber. There he found the barbarian, and created a magical force to lift him slowly away. One remaining wraith stirred at the motion. Thinking quickly Dougal created some ghost sounds on the other side of the room. As hoped the wraith was distracted allowing Dougal to effect a silent escape.

Licking their wounds the party returned to the wizard tower they had rested in the night before. Here they made a fire and settled in for the night, but found only fitful nightmares and no rest. They beheld disturbing visions as they tried to sleep as the corners of the room warped into incomprehensible geometries. Something threatening was lurking in the non-euclidean corners of the tower.

Exhausted after a restless night the group tried to think what they may have taken that was such a problem. In the end resolving to take all the looted items from the tower, burying them in the desert, and returning for more rest. Still their visions returned, and they could find no respite. Unable to deal with the situation, the group packed the loot and gear and made for the Oasis of Laurence. The travel back nearly ended our travels but we managed it with the last reserves of our strength.

The group spoke with the paladins of the rainbowgods who had arrived at the Oasis after our reports in Pueblo di Mesas. The paladins suggested that the things lurking in the corners were demons unleashed to take those who had disturbed the borders between the planes. These demons were the guardians of the infinite void. Fortunately there were a group of heretics to be executed, so the paladins suggested the with some ritual the demons could be tricked into taking the heretics instead of our heroes. Grungar and Sir Boring went with this plan, spending the night in a ritual circle with the heretics crowded into the corners. After some time the heretics screamed and disappeared, lifting the curse from Grungar and Boring.

Molly and the wild man, whom the party had gotten to know as Thulsa, could not stomach the idea of sacrificing people in this way, so they sought the shaman Greeta's advice. She agreed with the paladins, but proposed to take Thulsa and Molly on a spiritual journey. They sat together and smoked a pipe leading them on a vision quest. They followed their spirit animal, defeated a riddling blue sphinx, and finally defeated their own images in combat. After this they were granted an audience with the demons that were hounding them. After explaining the circumstances of their quest with the dread machine the hounds agreed to let them go if they held a great feast to appease them. So it came to pass that Molly and Thulsa hosted a greatest outdoor roast festival of the Yellowlands. One hundred baby oxen were roasted and been and wine flew freely for a couple of days in the desert about the Oasis of Laurnce.

Greeta's smoking herb left Thulsa seeking ways to expand his consciousness in similar ways. In this way he became too meditative and curious about the void beyond to seek out his wild anger.

Rainbowland Chronicles: The Dread Machine

After our journey through the canyon and desert we stood facing the closed gates of a singular dungeon. The etire structure was clearly ancient, slowly being swallowed by the desert. It was a wonder that the doors were out of the sand at all. A large room welcomed us into the dungeon. In an alcove to the far right we found a mysterious swirling vortex. It had an eerie interplanar feel about it, so we decided to test it by throwing all matter of stuff in there. In the name of science.

Our studies found that inanimate objects would return, though brittle and with much lower density. Animals thrown into the vortex would be truned into machine simulacra, almost capable of performing as their organic cousins once did. After satisfying our curiosity we set about exploring the place further. There was a railing covered in slime. The slime was very reactive upon contact, but with cunning use of mage hand and mason jars we captured some of it. For now we left the railing untouched.

Opposite to the vortex we found a wynding staircase guarded by a statue. We recalled similar statues from the quest through the old dwarven mines. With some apprehension Yolo made his way up the stairs. After wynding his way up he stairs, close to the final door he heard a creaking in the walls. Wanting to depart from the stairs quickly he made for the door. He battered down the door the same time a metal statue broke throughthe wall behind him. Yolo lead the statue on a chase throughthe hall above and downthe stairs where grungar crushed the metal machination.

With the way free the party proceeded up the stairs. There we entered into a chamber housing a great engine. The engine was guarded by a host of undead priests and paladins. They bode us to stay away from the machine. We spotted a hallway next to our entrance and a ladder upwards next to the machine. Fearing what an undead intelligent enough to have a conversation, albeit a short one, we headed down the corridor. The locked door at the end of the hallway lead into a comfortable sitting room. An unnatural fire crackeled happily in the hearth. The walls covered in bookshelves made the place feel comfortable. Along a wall stood a one handed man, he seemed to be both owner and target of our six fingered compass. He introduced himself as the artificer of the hated pretender and gracously accepted our gift of his hand. In return he lend us the help of his ghoulish thralls to fight the priests and paladins outside. Not being too comfotable with the unsavory nature of either sidew e were happy for the combat and immediately backstabbed the ghouls. The one handed man was unhappy about that, but whatever we feared from him was cut short by Grungars sword slicing right through the man. Our actions earned us the trust of the intelligent undead by the machine, and thereby passage to the next level.

Before venturing onward we looted the single handed bandit's rooms. There we found another tablet of the dread machine. Next to it Dougal found a transparent orb , gazing into it he lost hs mind for a spell. He beheld a vision of a lone traveller in the desert. Sensing Dougals ephemeral presence the wanderer turned and asked, "What is my name?"
Dougal found that Benjamin befitted the traveller in the desert.
"Yes, Benjamin, that is may name" agreed the hated pretender.
Having answered a question Dougal saw it fit to ask "And where arey you travelling, Benjamin?"
"I ... I don't know. I was looking for seeking Alice. She lifes in the swamps i think."
And so Dougal emerged from his reverie with news for the group: The hated pretender is called Benjamin, and he is heading for the Blue land marsh to find the woman called Alice.

After this revelation we moved on to the chamber above the engine. This crowded storage room had a wall made entirely of glass. It overlooked a great hall. The hall housed a massive machine, the dungeons namesake. A door to the left opened onto a landing leading down i to the machine room. Curious about the poweful arcane forces at work here Dougal quested forward. On the landing he found a small shrine. Where you would expect a statue to your god, saint, spirit, orther deific creature there stood a cylinder of gold. It was machined and preserved with inhuman precision, clearly defining the unit volume and weight. Dougal could not resist picking it up. Sir Boring rescued Dougal from the expected trap, and Molly healedthe two.

Venturing into the depths of the machine room we found an access hatch on the face of the machine. A set of stairs opposite to the machine lead downwards. The wall by the machine was made of steel and covered in alchemical symbols. Dougal pinched the Iron and Mercury symbols, effecting a transformation of the wall into liquid. The liquid dissapeard through grating in the floor opening the way to a hidden door ....

Rainbowland Chronicles: The Oasis of Laurence and the Living Stone

The few day journey from Pueblo di Mesas to the Oasis of Laurence went by uneventful. This could be because Yolo. The fighter turned Zookeeper now enjoyed the company of a four-tusked, wooly mastodon and a baby chimera. Those two must have discouraged wondering monsters from approaching our camp. Though keeping those two alive and tame is a full time occupation. Once we arrived at the Oasis of Laurence Yolo chose this as a good location to stop and train the two.

Dougal, the wizened wizard, immediately made a romantic connection with the local shaman. She turned out to be Grungar's great aunt. This made Grungar a bit grouchy around Dougal. With her as a willing ally though we learned that our six-fingered hand was pointing towards a known dungeon of evil denizens about a weeks travel into the desert. It was rumored to be the home of some dreadful machine. The week long trip would first take us along a river canyon. Beleagued by bandits the journey was dangerous only to be followed by a trip across the desert. After a few days in the desert we should arrive at the dungeon. We were also advised to be on the lookout for ambulant cacti, who at the slightest provocation would fire their stingy spines at passerby.

Knowing that we had a long trip ahead of us we stocked up on provisions. We also learned a bit about the aggressive, migratory, local fauna. Prepared for a long journey with set off. The travel along the river was pleasant. The ancient path crossed the river at three places. Here strange stone bridges conveyed us across the rapid river currents. Curious how such ancient constructions could remain in perfect shape lacking all maintenance Dougal investigated further. The bridges were clearly magical, and at the second crossing we found the bridge destroyed. It had been affected by some necromantic magic, so Dougal deduced that these bridges were clearly made from some sort of "Living Stone". He set out to learn the secrets of Living Stone. At each of the other bridges he spend significant time studying the material.

We found an ambush set by the river bandits: the way was shut by a hedge of ambulatory cacti. We investigated carefully to avoid a battle. With some cunning combination of invisibility and minor image, Dougal managed to fool the cacti into believing he was one of them. His ploy was interrupted as some bandits approached. They noticed the party and sent the cacti after them. Dougal pretended to be the lead cactus to warn our group. In our studies at the Oasis of Laurence we had created a serum that would repel the cacti. Using our reserves of this material we warded of certain spiky doom. I don't exactly recall what happened after that, maybe the cactus repellent was mildly intoxicating, but we seemed to hit it off quite well with the bandits. The robbery had apprently been a misunderstanding and they were happy to let us take shelter in their camp for the night and buy more provisions. So we set off again after a good nights rest. The next morning we were on our way following the six fingered hand.

At the last river crossing we found the bridge crippled, some massive blow must have been struck here in the past. Its few remaining arches hung over the river from each side. Our pondering was interrupted by a group approaching the other side. Brave as we are we hid to assess the scene: A gathering of town folk were following a priest. The priest lead a child dressed up for sacrifice a child to appease the desert gods. After some discussion about freedom of religion, we decided that even if this child wanted to be sacrificed it had clearly been indoctrinated and needed to have a proper education before reconsidering her options. Spurred by the humanitarian spirit we leaped into battle: Bloodthirsty, Grungar ran straight for the battle. While he ran through the churning river below I cast a web between the arches under the bridge. The child sacrifice was thwarted by this web as the priest threw her off the bridge. This let Grungar focus on what he does best.

Grungar pacified the townsfolk with his treatment of the priest. This opened ear their ears to hear Mollies teachings: party and be merry. No sacrificing children. On account of being much more fun this new belief structure was quickly adopted by the townsfolk. Hopefully their lives now involve more parties and less sacrifices. Dougal, his old bones too weary to climb up the bridge, and wanted to rescue the child. He relied on his magic to levitate down the chasm from one side, pick up the child and land safely by the townfolk. Celebrating our rescue of the child, more importantly that we managed to do so without murdering the town population, we trudged onward through the desert.

After a days journey (or so) we arrived at a lonely wizard tower. Since I was missing for the session I don't recall what happened here. To my knowledge wizard towers have an uncanny ability to host monsters and/or villains. I am sure there was a fun encounter here. After a good nights rest here we arrived at the dungeon of the Dread Machine ...

The Rainbow Chronicles: Mephistos and Laurence the Yellowlander

... as Dougal and Yolo enter our story the rest of the party had made it's way to a secret entrance at the back of Zhur Botu, an old dwarven mine.  We are tasked to route a camp of bandits under the leadership of Laurence the Yellowlander, and their camp happened to be around the front entrance. Zhur Botu had been abandoned after unearthing some strange horror in the depths (gasp!). What this horror was we did not know - but how bad could it be? So, instead of facing the bandits head on, the group had decided to look into entering the mine by this side entrance. Maybe we could turn that strange horror against the bandits? Maybe we could surprise them by entering their camp from the dungeon?

The secret entrance lead through a small grotto to enter a the dungeon through a cave system. The mines were deserted except for some strange sort of mechanically enhanced zombie. The dwarven machinery was of course still fully functional. Through experimentation we learned that the dwarven technological innovation here was spurred by a bureaucracy that shuns short lived media such as paper for their documents for words written in stone and metal. Delving into the mine we found our way to the main control complex. An unhealthy looking elf had taken up residence in these quarters. Assuming that is pallor and odd mannerisms were simply a result of an extended time being locked underground thanks to the bandits without and zombies within the mine we started a friendly chat with Mephistos. He was indeed happy to hear that we were panning to make our way out the mine and was happy to join us, as long as we subjected to a test: we must agree to be checked against corruption by the unholy machine god. We all passed his scrutiny except Grungar, the blood-thirsty fighter played by Konrad. He offered help to "purify" Grungar via a simple operation. Grungar volunteered, not wanting to be tainted by any strange machine evil. So he had his leg removed, and replace by ones that looked an awful lot like some steam-powered driven machine contraption. On the plus side the new leg doesn't get tired, so Grungar calls it a win. Yolo started suspecting that maybe not all was light and right with Mephistos.

We had also learned that the strange machine zombies emerged from a luminescent vortex deep in the mine. To aid our departure we played with the lighting system of the mine to guide the zombies to the main entrance. With minimal problems play one enemy against the other. Then the group together with Mephistos depart the mine. Yolo, feeling all is wrong here leaves the party and darts ahead to warn the bandits. Sneaking, or just running past zombie hordes Yolo makes it to the bandits a short time before the rest of the group. Met at first with skepticism he manages to convince the bandit leader, Laurence the Yellowlander (the Yellowlands are not Arabia, but rather more a spaghetti-western landscape, why not add spaghetti Arabia?). Laurence marshaled his forces just in time to meet Mephistos and the group. At this point it becomes clear that Mephistos is either a mage sufficiently powerful to turn into a dragon, or a dragon who had adopted a strange human. Judging by the time he must have spent in the mines, I choose to believe he is not human. Also he had pointed ears, silver hair, silver chainmail and silvery skin. Coincidence, I think not? At least there seems to be a metallic theme.


With this powerful "ally" we crushed the bandits. Yolo did manage to save and tame a mammoth that was kept by one of the bandits in the camp. With an awesome new mount we headed back to the Pueblo di Mesas. For your reference here is a map of the Yellowlands, all credit for the awesome map goes to Luka. We dropped off the few captured bandits to collect our bounty, though facing the uneasy truth that Laurence was a Robin Hood to the Yellowlands. Certainly an outlaw, but regarded widely as a freedom fighter. The same was true for many of his companions: there seemed plenty of evidence for their crimes of the past, but there were also many good things they did for the people. After some deliberating Sir Boring, our paladin of the Green god won through arguing that we had signed a binding contract to deliver Laurence and that we needed the money. Mostly so he could "invest" it for the party. Still not sure exactly what nebulous paper machination he employs to safeguard our monies. We did have an encounter with some Chimera's while our bandits had escaped (my memory is a bit spotty here). We defeated the mother chimera, and while having to put down one of her children, Yolo managed to tame the other. We were well on the way to make a better traveling zoo and freak show, rather than an adventuring group.

From previous adventures the party was in posession of a strange six-fingered hand. Contained in a jar, it was pointing the way towards the Oasis of Laurence ... where we would probably have to kep quite about our relationship to Laurence the Yellowlander. So after a respite at the Pueblo di Mesas we set off for the Oasis of Laurence, to see where the six fingered hand would lead us ...

The Rainbowlands

When I first moved to Geneva Michael and Carly introduced me to a group of gaming friends in Lausanne. I joined them for the seventh session of their 5th edition based game, a fondue featured Christmas special, and met a great group of gamers: Luka the DM and our host, Steve who introduced me to the session, and fellow players Ula, Konrad, Vincent, Oscar, and Alban. In the previous session the group had set up the world for the game, The Rainbowlands. As I joined the group found itself in the arid landscape of the yellow lands. Yes the world has a land for each color arranged around a central sea. Each such land worships a deity of that color, who are all aspects of the unicorn riding Jesus Thor who rules the skies from the great mountains rumored to be in the middle of the central sea. I took gleeful amusement from the open ironic take of religion: much like the pythonesque Gawds of Erf Chris threw together in his game, but also taking a piece out of the bigotry towards the LGBT community. Keep in mind this cultural and religious backdrop as our characters lean about the eldritch machine gods of order and chaos.

Since Luka, our kind and merciless dungeon master, runs an old school campaign where death is a likely consequence of an adventurers life-style I was encouraged to create two characters. Dugal is an aged fisherman who attended an arcane university late in life. Dugal did not enjoy the cloistered life at the university and his teachers frowned upon his dismissal of authority and dangerous ideas about the arcane. So Dugal went off to learn the interesting corners of the arcane arts he was forbidden to study at university. For my second character I imported Yolo "#Swag" Tumblefoot character from the  games at the Penny Arcade Expo and Caitlin's practice sessions back in Victoria. Yolo is not exactly greedy, but certainly in the adventuring business for the money. Think like a half size Conan with extra attitude to make up for the size difference.

As we begin our story paladins of the rainbow gods had tasked us with rooting a camp of bandits, who were camped outside an old dwarven mine ...

Rebuffat

Geneva, much like the rest of the world it seems, has been very warm of late. To escape the heat Dorota, Pawel, Gianluca, Kacsper and I decided to head up to the Aiguille du Midi and hang out on the Mer de Glace. Sitting on some ice, we agreed, should help to cool off. Kacsper and I planned to climb Rebuffat, the south face of the Aiguille. Since we didn't have any pressing plans for Sunday we also agreed to camp out on the ice field for the night, allowing us lots of time for a relaxed climb. Since Dorota, Pawel, and Gianluca climbed Rebuffat in the past they set off for another peak, Gianluca with the plan to head home that evening.

Since Gianluca and Kacsper and I were feeling pretty relaxed we dallied a bit while the other took off quickly. We dropped out gear off by the camping spot on the ice and packed out things to climb. I decided to take along my ice axe and the big camping backpack, plus 1.5L of water and some snacks. The rest of the food and gear we left in bags and packs reserving ourselves a spot. From there we went off to find the start of the climb, just at the bottom right of the rock face in the picture. We quickly found that while some gear was in place it was good we had brought, nuts, cams and friends. Since I have no experience placing gear, Kascper had to lead the whole way. Good thing he is a fantastic climber :)

Once of the ice, even exposed to the breeze, it was hot up on the rocks. Since most of the 9 pitches had a rating between 3-5 (camptocamp) I expected this climb to be fairly easy. Turns out the climb was harder that I expected for a few combined problems: my big expedition backpack kept getting in my way, the ice axe and crampons were extra weight and also in the way, and I got winded quickly climbing in the high altitude. All of this together stressed me out and after taking a tumble on the 6a (think low 5.10a-b by the North American scale) it took me a moment to get my nerves back in order. Even with some scrapes and bruises this was a really great climb, and thank you to Kacsper for leading all the way. He was smarter than me, bringing only a bare minimum of gear in a more compact pack.

We could see that we were going to be fairly late with our climb by the fact that half way through the route we encountered a friendly couple who were rappelling down, past where we were climbing up still. We also had the Rockface more or less to ourselves, which made the climb very enjoyable. I had feared that there would be a lot of traffic since we could see many climber on the route while we were dropping off the camping gear.

 

Once art the top of the climb it is easy to abseil down to a tourist platform on the other side of the rock face.  By the time we had gotten there the station on the Aiguille du Midi had closed down and there were no tourists around. So we spread out and soaked up some evening sun while having a little lie down on the platform. A great climb indeed!

Eventually the sun started hiding behind some mountain peaks and we found it was time to make our way to the camping spot. Unfortunately the doors to the gondola station were locked, and we could not get to the exit leading to the ice field. Having a look around we spotted some other climbers who had come of the Cascade des Cosmiques and where in the gondola station on the other side. With some waving we got their attention and they let us in - I don't know your names, but you guys saved us from miserable night in the cold without food or shelter, thank you! After having a friendly chat with the three guys that let us in, we made our way to the ice field. Here we had an entertainingly hard time setting up Kacsper's tent, and snacked on some bread, cheese, and meat we brought along. Dorota and Pawel, the intrepid campers they are, had already had a warm supper and made us some tea on their stove. Gianluca was also hanging out with us since he had missed the last gondola off the mountain. He had a spot in Pawl and Dorota's tent but without a foamy and sleeping bag it must have been a miserable night for him.

Kacper and I slept in the next morning and lazily broke camp. We stopped at the Aiguille du Midi for our first breakfast and in Charmonix for second breakfast. We found a fantastic little bar/restaurant here. Google says it is called "The West" but there is a different place in the same spot now. I can't recall the name. They made an excellent pulled pork eggs Benedict. Since I had a craving for a Cesar I was trying to explain how to make one to the friendly bar staff. They countered by offering me the Bloody Mary they make there: a concotion very similar to a Cesar since they add some ghost pepper sauce. Very spicy, very tasty. After lounging for a while we took off with the goal of shopping for some gear. On of the waitresses advised us to check out the aptly named "Mountain Store" in Sallanche. Since we were on our way to Sallanche to visit Au Vieux Campeur anyway we decided to stop by there also. Turns out on a Sunday they are both closed x.x

Having failed in our shopping desires we slunk back to Geneva. It was still as hot there as we left it. Kacsper had some pland involving a man with a GPS unit so he dropped me off at home and went on his way. I enjoyed the end of the afternoon relaxing by the shore of lake Geneva. What a great weekend :)

Mouseguard At Last

A long time ago in a town far away ...

It was a hot summer. I was home-sitting for my supervisor. Carly came for her second visit to Victoria.

During the visit, Carly managed to find the rulebook for an role playing game, Mouseguard, a friendly game where you pretend to me part of a civilization of mice.

In pursuit of work after the PhD Carly find herself in Switzerland. And she is still the custodian of those rulebooks, so we gathered fellow nerds for a game this weekend ...

...

enough

...

The first four words made we want to try writing in some sort of suggested syntax. I am terrible at both prose and writing, so back to normal sentences. Those are challenging enough for me.

Carly and Michael came to visit me in Geneva. Their original plan was to stay with Steve, a common friend in Lausanne. Unfortunately Steve's apartment has been invaded by the lake, so they crashed at my place. I was very glad to play host, actually making use of my luxurious domicile. They arrived late on Friday, and after a short welcome and friendly chat we decided to call it an early night.

After a comfortable breakfast on Saturday morning we went about acquiring provisions for the game that afternoon. We prepared some tomato soup and let it sit in the slow cooker for the afternoon. We purchased much snacks and drinks, as one these are essential for a good RPG session. Around 2pm folks started arriving at my place: Steve, Jon, and Ant joined as fellow players, Vincent as our kind dungeon master.

Our mice were an interesting collection of characters: Mike played a paranoid guard veteran, Carly an idealistic gullible scout, Steve the bee-keping pacifist, Jon was our healer with a keen sense for herbs, and I a mouse supremacist carpenter (inspired by the game making me thing of the Maus comics and some encounters of my past). I am ashamed to admit that I don't recall Ant's character concept, please post a response below if you do!

This rag-tag group of mice was tasked with delivering some bees to a city about a weeks journey away. Once there we should secure honey and wax production as well as establish order in the city. After gathering supplies we set out for our journey, braving early spring weather. The first few days were pleasant travel and we made good progress, then the weather turned on us and we were caught in a late snow storm. We did what we could to protect the bees and weather the storm. It became obvious however that we needed to push on such that our precious bees would not freeze in the cold. The game provides very nice rock-paper-scissors style mechanics for role-playing through challenges: be these combat, environment, or social. There is also a emphasis on role-playing the actions your mice take in these confrontations. It was pretty fun braving the road beset by slush and ice, dealing with a caved in bridge, and a wild ferret on the other side. The ferret only ate half our bees. The rest the group managed to sneak past a gang of outlaws, while my mouse foolishly confronted them. Finally we delivered our cargo.

At the new city we organized a militia, which we lead to take those outlaws prisoner. Having captured the outlaws we did a good-mouse bad-mouse routine to get them to give up the hide-out of a local gang of rebels. With this new intelligence we plotted various ways to attack the rebels. A group of us was disguised as a group of merchants, transporting a load of ale. We had of course poisoned the ale hoping the rebels would attack us, take our stuff, and then get drunk. The sneakier group of mice shadowed us and followed the rebels as they made off with the ale. Sure enough, soon the rebels were merrily getting sloshed. We returned to town and raised the militia. When we arrived the rebels were weakened by the poison, and we managed to overpower them with some cunning military maneuvering.

Back in town we caroused with locals celebrating the victory and bringing peace and prosperity to the far ranges of the mouse kingdom. From here on our reputation can only grow! What a great day of fun and gaming. Thank you for DMing Vincent, and thanks to everyone who came out to play!

Climbing Into the Wild

Kacper, Kasia, Gianluca, Julia, a friend of Gianluca's, and myself went climbing. We drove to a small parking lot near the Hotel du Buet between Argentiere and Vallocine. There is a campground near the parking lot as well, and the hotel looks inviting with a rustic charm. After biking about the Jura all day yesterday my legs were pretty tired, so I almost felt like skipping the climbing and sitting down for a beer fist thing in the morning. Kacper was much in the same predicament having cycled around lake Geneva the day before. So we lamented our foolishness, formed a weak legged climbing team, and packed our gear for the trail. After some discussion with Kacper and Gianluca I decided to leave most of the lunch I braught with me with the cars, except for a few snacks. I should have known better :-)

From the parking lot it is a short walk though rugged country roads through some small buildings. Just follow the markers towards Mount Buet. The road continues to a cafe situated on the side of a cliff with a terrace over a mountain stream at the Cascarde de Berard. The train starts by the cafe following a beautiful valley stream. It takes about 75 minutes of hiking to get to a small cairn marking a trail to Mount Oreb on the right hand side of the path. It is a steep scramble up to the base of the two climbs on Mount Oreb: L'Ete Indien and Into the Wild. While scrambling up the slope to the climb we were greeted by a group of mountain goats. There were already a couple of climbers at the bottom of the climbs, so we queued up. While waiting we snacked on some Nuss Stängli, some stick-like hazelnut cookies I had spied on my previous visit to Klosters and promptly located at the local Coop. They were delicious.

After a short wait we got to start on the climb. Since Kacper is the better climber I started the first pitch since it would lead me to naturally climb the easier pitches. None of the climbs were very hard, though it was still early in the year for the sections where we walked through soil were muddy. Some of the dock was still we also, making it slippery. While the climb itself was clear, there was still a fair bit of snow around the same altitude we were climbing, though it will probably be gone soon. Once we got to the 6th or so pitch we were rewarded with a beautiful view of a glacier across the valley. The beautiful scenery of the mountain valley below giving us some idea of how high we had climbed.

By the time we made to the top we had precious little daylight left to rappel down and hike out. Since Gainluca and his friend were right in front of us we decided to rappel as a group of four: One team setting up the current rappel with one set of ropes, the other one taking the old one down. Second person heading down the next section took the ropes from the previous rappel, so the setup for the next one could get started as quickly as possible. We could have made record time on the way down except that one of our rope sets got stuck, so we had to climb up and retrieve it. After rappelling down we hicked out at a fairly brisk pace, with just enough light left to see by as we got back to the parking lot. We met the Julia and Kasia at the Hotel bar, where they had already established themselves as veteran climbers enjoying beers and the local company. We enjoyed a beer and some snacks before heading back to Geneva. That you to everyone who came out for yet another fantastic day in the mountains!

Trying Mountainbiking

A few months after I started at CERN I was invited to a welcome session for new staff and fellows. One of the coworkers I met there, Nathalie, turns out to be an avid mountain biker. Ever since I wanted to join her in one of her tours around the Swiss and French countryside. I really enjoyed biking about the backwoods in Nova Scotia. When moving to Vancouver though I was too chicken to deal with the very real mountains. Over the past years it seems I have grown more confident in my abilities. A couple of years ago I joined my climbing buddy Chris in cycling around the Heartland trails by Mount Work. Ever since I have been toying with the idea of getting back into mountain biking, so I am happy to have somebodies coat tails to hang onto.

After trying to pick up used bikes, a hard task for somebody my size, I finally gave in and just rented a mountain bike in Geneva ($18 for the day at Geneva Roule). From there I cycled out to meet Nathalie in St Genis. She knows the area well and does this a lot so I depended on her to set a route. We headed up to the Le Tiocande. From there we took a beautiful, flat dirt-road over to Crozet. At Crozet we climbed up to the ridge of the Jura. At this point I started having trouble keeping up with my avid guide. After some lunch with a beautiful view of Geneva and the Alps we continued along the ridge line to the Col de la Fussile. A beautiful ride with the French countryside to the left and a view of Geneva, the lake and the Alps to the right. We cycled down the road from the pass and through the countryside from Gex to Previssin. There we stopped for a coffee and some pastries.

After that fantastic (albeit exhausting) day of biking I really want to get a mountain bike. For a guy my size (196cm, or 6'5")  it is really hard to find a used bike. I am monitoring the local used stuff slites: anibis, leboncoin, glocals, and the CERN market. There is also the biking forum pinkbike. And Nathalie and my coworker Tim suggested the following three sites for a new bike: bike-alm, bikesportworld, and chainreactioncycles. Nathalie pointed out that currently the 2014 models are being cleared for the 2015 ones, so not may be a good time to grab a bike ... let's see how it goes. I think a mountain bike set up for touring would be a fantastic way to explore Switzerland, for example there is a trail between Geneva and Davos, here.

Klosters And Caumasee

Carly and Michael invited me to come visit them in Klosters this weekend. Michael and I wanted to go for a dive on Saturday. The rest of the time we could enjoy a hike or some board games. Since it is a five hour train journey I decided to take Friday afternoon off for the trip. I left Geneva at 13:45 heading to Zurich with the train. Michael and Carly met me in Sargans, because I missed my connection in Zurich. Together we headed to Restaurant Balans in Malans for dinner. I had a great plate of Cordon-blue with some Rösti and a solid local lager. We picked up some needed groceries on the way to Klosters. Here I learned about a Nußbrot that Coop sells which is delicious. Turns out the Coop across the street from my apartment sells the same bread. We spent the evening chatting about Mouseguard, a role-playing based in a fantasy settings where mice hide cities and civilization from the other stronger animals of the forest. We are planning a session with some friends in Lausanne in two weeks. Then we played few games of Dominion, Michael and Carly pwned me, clearly I don't game enough these days. I really enjoyed the nights sleep away from the city noise of Geneva.

Caumasee

Saturday morning Michael and I headed to Chur to drop by the dive shop there to pick up some rental gear and see about getting a permit to drive to the lake. Unfortunately the shop had forgotten about the gear Michael requested, but after an hours of sorting through things I ended up with two 7L steel cylinders and 8kg of lead for my side-mount rig. The tall thin 7L cylinders felt very nice for the dive, much better than the 10 and 12L cylinders I've tried thus far. Though I am a bit of an air hog, so if I do buy some cylinders I'll probably settle for the 8L cylinders.

The dive water in the lake w
as beautiful glacial blue. We saw a few juvenile fish during our dive. Every rock and the entire ground was covered in an algae layer which supported a dusting of sand. There were some neat rock piles along the shore of the lake with lots of nooks and crannies to scout for signs of resident life.

After the dive we enjoyed a pick-nick by the lake taking in some warm sunshine. There were plenty of friendly hikers and bikers about that were curious about our dives, so we got to chit chat a bit as well. While the dive was not hugely exciting, it was a neat experience to see an environment similar in topology, yet completely alien to the diving in BC. Afterwards we dropped off the rentals at the dive shop (SCUBALINO). A very nice shop if you find yourself in the area looking to go diving.

Once we returned to Klosters we rinsed our gear. After we had a cold drink and some ice cream on the terrace at Michael and Carly's place. It was a gorgeous day outside so we enjoyed the view down the valley, warm sunshine, and good conversation. Later it started raining a little, so we moved inside and spend the evening creating mice characters for mouseguard: Carly made a naive country mouse, Michael a paranoid guard veteran, and my mouse a boisterous mouse-supremacist. Events the following week make me feel my cynical character parody was in bad taste [link].

Cavadürli

After a lazy morning breakfast we decided to use the beautiful weather to hike up to a place called Cavadürli from Carly and Micheal's place. From their house we took a neat path across some hay-fields to the river on the other side of the valley. The river was still brimming with water melting off the mountains. After crossing the river the trail started climbing up the side of the mountain. The wild fields were full of beautiful mountain flowers and we met some goats grazing by the path. After crossing underneath some train tacks - yes Swiss trains really go everywhere - we lost the path. An evil-eyed stare from a couple of local farmers had us turn about and search for the path elsewhere. Turns out we missed a turn just after the train tacks. Here the path leveled off taking us through some beautiful forest and past some nice mountain huts. A few mountain bikers were enjoying the downhill trails crossing our path as we started our descent back into the valley. We sat down for lunch before reaching the town and heading back to the house. I learned that in general berries growing close to the ground should not be eaten here: foxes tend to pee on them and their urine carries a very unpleasant bacteria (Leptospyrosis?). They do look nice though.

After the hike we played through an encounter of Mouseguard and I got whipped one more time at Dominion. Afterwards Michael dropped me off at the Klosters Dorf train station and I headed back to Geneva. I shared a few friendly beers with a couple of punkers returning from a concert and two friends of theirs returning from military service on the weekend. They recommended a concert in Davos in September. I made it back to Geneva before midnight and collapsed exhausted but happy into bed.

Pic de Jallouvre

On Thursday Pawel mentioned that while he was heading to Poland for the weekend Dorota was looking for somebody to go climbing with. I got in touch with her, and we batted the ideas for a number of different multi-pitches to climb around. Since it would be the first time we would climb a multi-pitch together we decided to go for something more cautious and start with the Courte Paille on the Aix de Allyards (above image taken from the website). There are five other multi-pitches to climb in the area as well, so we had options in case we were looking to climb some more. We both had plans to go out with some friends on Friday night, so our climbing enthusiasm was thus far undetermined. There was a chance of a few other friends joining us as well.

Dorota seemed to have the longer night out, she messaged me when I had already turned in that we would be joined by the two Kasias who were spending the day at the cave overt and coming to join us for a BBQ in the evening. So, on Saturday morning I quickly gathered my camping gear and went off to meet Dorota at the CERN reception. From there we headed to the Col de la Columbiere in the pre-Alps. On the drive both of us noted that we had forgotten our cameras, so this time my pictures come from my phone. The parking lot for the climbing area was close-by. We arrived around 10:30 packed our climbing gear and headed for the wall. There we spend a little time walking about orienting ourselves and soon found our climb. I lead the first pitch, Dorota the second and so on. It was an extremely pleasant climb, especially once we got to a section that involved cannelures: limestone that had been scraped down by glacial movement and then worked by running water. Very nice! There was a nice photo opp half way through the climb :)

We finished the climb and found ourselves back at the car around 3pm for some late lunch. Thanks to Dorota for sharing her delicious cucumber+hummus sammich. We also had to convince the Kasias to join us at the Picde Jallouvre since they wanted to meet us in Charmonix: and this place just had the nicer climbing wall in this case. After some lunch and phone conversations we resolved to go for a second climb until our company would arrive for the BBQ. This time we climbed Alley-z Mme Mummury, another beautiful climb. I think Dorota and I are well matched in climbing skill so the challenge level was just right plus we moved at a good pace. While rappelling down we saw a group gather in the alpine valley below and start a campfire. There were too many to be the three that would join us but the campfire looked inviting.

The others arrived just before we made it back to the cars with provisions for the BBQ. We went ahead and started setting up our tents, at which point some of the campfire group came over and invited us to their fire: they were a group of teenagers from Annemasse. They were visiting the small village nearby with their parents and were enjoying the evening outside. We made friends over the fire them practicing the English and German they were learning in school, us working our French (I am by far the worst French speaker in the group). A great evening by the fire, and a good night bivouacking in the alpine.

The next day we woke up to a lazy breakfast, though we had run out of sufficient bread and yogurt, so I ran off to find a bakery and supermarket in the nearby town. Unfortunately both bakeries and the supermarket in the first village were closed so I moved two the next town. Though lacking breakfast it was a lovely drive visiting the picturesque French villages.

After breakfast we gathered our climbing gear and headed to the wall. This time we chose a climb Manque un Metre the tough points of which were very reachy, so we thought I stood a chance. Again a great climb, and I started getting comfortable sport leading 6a's (low 5.10's in North America) and top belaying two climbers. With the lazy morning and three of us climbing together it was late in the afternoon by the time we finished. We decided to head home after the one climb. On the way we stopped by a small restaurant called Le Peille in Saint-Jean-de-Sixt. It being off season we didn't need any reservations. Not really being hungry we all decided to have desert. It was delicious, the place would be a great restaurant for some traditional French cuisine to visit in the future.

Thank you to all who were out for an amazing weekend of climbing, camping, and just hanging out!

Dentelles de Montmirail

Trip to Provence

For the third long weekend in May (Pentecost) I joined Pawel, Dorotka, Katarzyna, and Gainluca in a climbing trip into the area of Avignon, Provence. We went to climb the Deltelles de Montmirail, specifically the Chaine de Gigondas.

We left Friday after work we took a break half way through the 4-hour drive to have some dinner. We shared the food we brought at a rest stop along the French highways. Some delicous salad was provided by Katarzyna, and Dorotka brought some delicious concoction where some zucchini pretended to be pasta.

After a bit more driving we made it to the Domain des Favards, a campground located in the middle of a vineyard. Since we had called ahead they left the gates open for us to enter even though it was midnight by the time we arrived. We set up our tents: Pawel and Dorotka braught their luxury accommodations and a beautiful light weight tent for Katarzyna. Gainluca and I shared his iglu.

Col du Cayron

We headed into the nearby town of Violes to find some food for breakfast and lunch. We found baguette and crossaints at a bakery, some good meats at a deli, and some nice cheese at a small store owned by an Italian from the same town as Gainluka.

Stocked up on foodstuffs we headed to the Roche de Ecole (?)
to get into the climbing mood. After a few climbs on that rockface we moved on to the Col du Cayron. The rocks here are a limestone, and sharp enough that it hurts. I tried one 6a here which started with some absolutely terrible footholds. I managed it in the end, with some patient belaying by Gainluka: and there you have it, I lead my first 6a outdoors (that translates to a 5.10 by North American standards [wiki]). The pride afterwards made the pain worth it!

After we finished our day of climbing we ventured off on a quest for food to throw on a barbecue. After asking some locals and driving about small French villages for about 30 minutes we found a store that was still open. There we purchased food for an evening feast as well as provisions for the next day. We finished the day with a fantastic BBQ at the campsite, enjoying gilled meats and veggies along with some delicious French wines.

Dentelles

These foothills to Mont Ventoux were formed in the Jurrasic period as a folded piece of limestone. Since then erosion has turned them into a sharp peak rising out of the lush countryside. There are climbing routes all around these rock formations, we visited the South face on Sunday and the North face on Monday.

The climbing on the Dentelles was much more pleasent than on the Col de Cayron, the rock not biting quite so hard. As a pleasant surprise the occasional handhold some thyme or lavender growing out of it producing a pleasant burst of fragrance to brighten up your climb. On our way back to Geneva we stopped to shop for some wine, and I bought my first box of wine. Ever. I don't regret the decision, I only hope that I can stop myself from consuming all of it before bringing a bottle or two with me to Canada as gifts.

Watchmen

Yesterday I found myself contemplating why when it is so easy for us to comprehend the horror and futility of war, why humans fight. A phrase snuck into my head: "Swords to plowshares". I was curious where this wording had come from, and those that know me from back in high school will immediately know: this was an old school magic car. Of course the name of the card was a biblical quote [Isaiah 2:3]. While reading a bit more about it I learned that it was for example used in Ronald Reagan's Address to the 42d Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York:

Cannot swords be turned to plowshares? Can we and all nations not live in peace? In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognise this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences world-wide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you, is not an alien force already among us? What could be more alien than war and the threat of war?

Is this then where the idea of the watchmen emerged? It seems to be the central plot point: Dr Manhattan is the representation of science being "shaped into something gaudy": a weapon. Then during the movie him and Ozymandias are working to make him that external threat, very reminiscent of the last question.

I hope sincerely that globalisation, and specifically the freedom of communication though the internet, will allow us to recognise our common bonds. This is why net neutrality is important to me.

Climbing At Finale Liguare

Thursday May 14 was a holiday at CERN starting the second long weekend in May. On Monday I took a late lunch and bumped into a colleague who I had met climbing a while before. Another friend of his was planning to go to Finale Liguare in Italy for a weekend of climbing. He was so kind to invite me along, and not knowing anything about it,  I decided that this sounded awesome and I wanted to join. We set off on our trip Thursday afternoon.

The Journey There

Kacper and Katarzyna picked me up at the CERN main entrance. From there we drove on past Chamonix. We stopped there at an outdoors shop called Au Vieux Camoeur, fantastic place I want to go back and leave more money with them. With some advice from Kacper and Katarzyna I picked up some equipment: two different length slings, three more locking beaners, a helmet, some chalk, and a thin jacket. Now fully equipped for some climbing we moved on towards Genova. At CERN there is almost a communal pool of Mount Blanc tunnel passes, and we used a pass we picked up after the lunch where I met Kacper to head into Italy. It takes about 15 minutes to traverse the 11.6km long tunnel that leads you though under 2km or more of rock.

Cross section of the Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) showing the profile of the tunnel. Credit to TMB.

After the long dark of Mont Blanc we continued though the beautiful Italian countryside. It quickly flattened out making the driving easier but the view less interesting. A few hours later we arrived in bohemian Genoa. Here we promptly went to the Genoa Brignole train station to meet Tomek, a friend who was waiting at Genoa Principe. After clearing up the confusion we met at an excellent little back by the main exit of the Principe train station where they serve beer out of nicely chilled glasses. We waited for another hour for the last climber, Wojciech, to join us.

With everyone assembled we headed to Finale Liguare and the San Martino camping ground, where we would stay for the next two nights. We arrived well after midnight, but while there was nobody working the gate was still open. We found a nice site and registered the next morning.

Great Climbing and Great Food

With dozens of crags and thousands of sport climbing routes there the area of Finale is an absolute dream for climbing. While there are many guidebooks for the area, the one I saw the most was the Finale 8.0 Sport Climbing Guidebook. Even with the guide and extra topos it could get confusing finding the climbs we were looking for since new routes are added constantly. Overall I found that the climbs ended up being hard for their ratings, especially those set in the 70's.

The first day we explored a crag over the Mediterranean. To access most of the routes there was a traverse, the start of which you can see in the picture to the left. A gorgeous climb with the waves crashing onto the rocks below. Since it was a windy day the traverse on the way back ended up being washed over by large breakers. We ended up climbing up a fair ways to make it over the wet slippery rock. We chose some nice easy going routes to get into the spirit. Most of the pitches were only ~20m long a good practice for me doing my first multi-pitch climbs.

In the mid afternoon we stopped at a bar in Finale where we were served some delicious pasta and enjoyed a beer in the hot Italian sun. After we moved on to explore some climbs in a Grotto. Unfortunately we were running out of daylight on the way to the grotto and decided to get a few climbs in at a crag on the way. I'm still not entirely comfortable with the European rating system, but it seems I can lead a class 5b and follow a low 6.

After the sun set we hiked out with headlamps and made for a pizzeria by the beach to pick up some food. Wojciech had the forethought to pick up some wine to drink when we came through town earlier so had a amazing dinner sitting on the promenade along the beach.

The second day we headed to a series of crags on the same mountain as the Grotto. There were plenty of both multi-pitches (up to about 150m) and tons of sport climbs. While I don't recall the name of the place, I was able to locate it on google maps:

We spent the day climbing and enjoying the sunshine. The view from the crags down the valley with the nearby highway winding down to the Mediterranean was beautiful. That evening we made our way back to Geneva. We dropped of Wojcieck in nearby Savona where he found a ride home via blablacar. We grabbed some pizzas, a bottle of wine, and ate by the beach. On the way back we stopped for gelato and then settled into the car for the long ride back to Geneva. Arrived home happy if tired around 1am. Spent my Sunday relaxing, working on photos, and starting to write blog entries.

A Visit To Amsterdam

May comes with not one, not two, but three long weekends at CERN. This strikes me as a great opportunity to explore. The first long weekend happened to be May 1-3, which I used to visit Amsterdam.

Friday

EasyJet took me there with only an hour delay on Friday afternoon. From the Amsterdam airport (Shipol) it was an easy 20 minute train ride to the Centraal, the main train station in Amsterdam.

At Centraal I met up with Lena, a Russian girl I met in Geneva a few months back. We  grabbed some two day travel tickets of the trams and headed towards the expo centre RAI. I had managed to find an apartment via AirB&B for the weekend out that way. We dropped off our bags and were pleasently surprised at the beautiful place we got to stay for the weekend:

Typical 30s apartment, close to RAI in Amsterdam

Welcome to Amsterdam! We are looking forward to rent out our apartment to you. It is build in the 'Amsterdamse school' style, architecture that is typical for the 30s and seen everywhere in the 'rivierenbuurt' (river district). View all listings in Amsterdam

Since it was a pleasant day out we walked over to the museum district and checked out the van Gogh museum. Lean had already bought a city guide with discounts and tickets for many of the attractions around Amsterdam, which meant we got to skip the line. Gogh thing too, since we only have about 1.5 hours to enjoy the place, not nearly enough to see it all. Lots of beautiful art by van Gogh, his friends and inspirations. Along exhibition you are told the sad story of this clearly tortured soul. Well worth the visit, if I return to Amsterdam I shall want to return to see the parts of the museum I missed as we ran out of time. The guards did not seem too entertained by our attempts to wander past all stealthy like to sneak a peek at the Potato Eaters after the closing call. After being sternly asked to leave we found a nice pub for dinner and enjoyed some of the local Heineken. As you may expect it tastes different from a tap in Amsterdam than out of a can in Canada.

Saturday

On Saturday I woke somewhat early and took a wonder around the apartments neighbourhood. A quite affair with some nice coffee bars, bakeries, and so on. Removed from the tourist overrun down-town this was a pleasant way to see what it must feel like to live in Amsterdam. Picked up some bread, cheese and meats for breakfast. The grocer I stopped by even made fresh OJ right in front of you to take along. During breakfast we made plans for the day: visit the science museum, the Anne Frank house, and the red light district in the evening. The Anne Frank house was closest so we headed there first, the massive line discouraged us from queuing right away. Rewarded us with a nice tour of the Joordan neighbourhood. I really enjoyed the place and made a note of returning here on Sunday evening. We also found ourselves some bicycles. With our new means of locomotion we headed for the Nemo science centre.

Science Center NEMO

I am generally a big fan of science and natural history museums: I loved the Canadian Science Museum in Ottawa and the Science Museum in London. Though in both I noted that while the exhibits were nice it would be great to have some interactive displays to allow for experimentation. The Science Center NEMO had lots of that, in fact where it wasn't gift of coffee shop it was interactive learning displayed: a great place for families and kids with lots, but the lack of some more exhibitions on local scientific accomplishments was disappointing for me. I did really enjoy the science of love corner though (third floor on the left). It was dedicated in equal parts to explaining animal reproduction and human sexuality with some education about relationships and dealing with emotions to boot. Ten minutes in that exhibit were more informative than my entire sex ed course in high school.

After having our fill of the science centre we took our leave to tour the town. On the way out I spotted a holographic postcard that reminded me of Bruiser, Karen's get betta fish. So I left with something to do in Joordan on Sunday afternoon and a postcard richer.

Central Amsterdam

The beautiful city centre is overrun with tourists. there are many inviting looking bars and cafes, ton's of shops, and plenty of beautiful architecture.  It was beautiful first cycling about a bit, and once the crowds got to thick moving through the city on foot. Eventually we found a nice cafe that serves us pancakes and beers. Here we relaxed a while until we felt ready to once again brave the line at the Anne Frank house. Our hopes that it would be shorter with it being dinner time and the closing time of the museum coming up shortly were dashed as we arrived to see a line snaking it's way through the adjacent city square. So we formulated a plan: one of us hold the spot in line while the other goes exploring. This exploration netted a comic book shop, the tulip and the cheese museum.

After two hours of standing in line we were finally at the doors of the museum and one of the last groups to be allowed in. It was a harrowing experience seeing first hand the house in which the moving story of Anne Frank unfolded. Since it had been many years since I read her diary I on;t had a vague memory of her story. Seeing the museum brought back a lot of the unpleasant side of German history I recall too well from being a teenager. It bring close to heart one of the many personal tragedies that unfold in the horror that is war. Hopefully we are able to learn from our mistakes.

The Red Light District

Lena had been to here the night before but I felt my trip to Amsterdam would not be complete without seeing this part of town. This warren of a party town has everything you would expect of a neighbourhood dedicated to the baser pleasures of our existence: bars that will happily seel you drugs and alcohol, working girls vying for your attention from behind their red (and sometimes purple) light windows, and of course vast crowds of people here to enjoy a good time. About as many bachelor parties seem to come here as you may expect. We wondered the party palace making our way to the museum of prostitution. If you find yourself in Amsterdam visit this museum. For me it was an extremely interesting and educational experience, learning about the prostitutes that work in the city. Their life experience being so vastly different from mine, it was really a great way to expand the mind. I think my favourite exhibit there was a booth where you could sit down in the same place a prostitute would sit to attract customers. The entire "window" was a looping movie of an average night of passer-bys. A great way to make you think about how strong these women and men have to be. We finished off the evening with a visit to one of the many bars in the district and had a drink and a smoke.

Sunday

Since Lena was leaving early in the afternoon so we chose to visit the Rembrandt House for Sunday morning after grabbing a comfortable breakfast.

Rembrandt House

As the name implies the museum is situated in Rembrandt's former home. While some of his art is on display here, most of it is the story of his life as well as in introspective into life in the 17th century. After traversing up the house through the various rooms you arrive at the top floor where you can work on some fine art yourself. There is only one group session and they start at specific times three times a day it seems. Would have been interesting to join but unfortunately the timing didn't work out.

Rijksmuseum

After the Lean and I said our goodbyes I made my way to the Rijksmuseum. Because I had picked up a cold on the flight over she had lent me a scarf that we promptly forgot about. An excuse to meet for another European excursion!

The Rijksmuseum is organized into three floors, each dedicated to a set of centuries starting with the 17th going to modern times. It houses many of the masterpieces produced by Dutch artists, including van Gogh and Rembrandt. It also illustrates the history of Willam of Orange and the birth of the Netherlands as a nation. There are rich displays about the mercantile culture so prominent throughout the history of Amsterdam and the Netherlands, particularly during the imperial age. Many fantastic artefacts are on display either acquired from around the world, or made in celebration of the opulent wealth gathered by Dutch merchants of the time. There was also a special exhibition on Rembrandt hosted at the museum while I was visiting.

The Way Home

I still had a few hours in Amsterdam before my flight, so I ambled on over to Joordan and found myself a nice bar. As a walked in a woman was looking at me tapping the seat next to her, and entertaining coincidence as she was inviting a friend to sit down next to her, but my appearance had caught her attention. So I met a group of friendly Dutch folks. After a short exchange of jokes and stories over beers they departed and I found myself a place to sit by the shelf of board games, next to the comfy chair occupied by the bar's cat. There I sampled a few beers, had a fantastic burger, and wrote the postcard to Karen. After chatting with a few more folks that came and left around me I paid my bill and made for the airport. A very happy and content traveller.