SESSION 218: The Rock
Strangeness persists and there is more to this island than meets the eye.
Day 138 continued (12.20/0605): Coming to the toe of the slope from the palm forest the terrain become completely sandy and somewhat damp. They came upon what would be later determined to be a fairly sizable tidal pool. It was full of life anemones and strange colourful fish bristling with spines. On the farside of the pool they caught sight of something larger one of those overstuffed sausage like mammalian things. This one however was moving really weird and making a low groan to match. A portion of the gang approached to get a better look. The creature was rotting. So much so that bone could be seen. Is it dead? Is it alive? For some reason this creature instilled a metric shit-tonne of cowardice in our gang. As they fuddled the creature turned towards the reconnaissance team let out a gross noise and charged. Our group ran like chickens. The thing pursued until it impaled itself on Rhagnar’s javelin. It slowly slid down the shaft leaking fluids all over Rhags before some with even more ick occurred. Seeping out of one of the creature’s nostrils came a jellyfish that landed on Rhags shoulder and then oozed it’s way down to the ground leaving even more gunk on the Dwarf. He stomped on it spraying jelly-slime all about.
Moving on, not far, there was another rocky slope. Looking around before traversing the slope Bunny noticed that the sand was wet and then observed an incoming trickle of water along the rocky toe. “I think the tide is coming in” “That ain’t right” “Right or wrong doesn’t change the fact”. They decided to be watchful of the creeping waters as they pressed on. Getting to the apex a number of eerie glows breaking the gloom could be seen beyond. This rocky area was actually a dome over some sort of grotto that released a weak blueish light that escaped from a collection of ‘skylights’ in the rock. Looking in it was like a marine wonderland albeit tainted by the red glow of the barnacles of Abyzou heavy presence in the waters. This seemed like the logical place to go next but the rising tide was a concern so they elected to return to the palm forest and ride out the bizarre subterranean tidal cycle. This was not a bad plan. The central sandy beach area was now covered in fingers of water that crawled across the beach and began filling the pool. They made their way back to the highlands and set up a makeshift camp. It was not all that long until the waters swallowed the land between them and what little of the rocky dome that still broke the surface. With the waters came the strange mutated denizens of this sea. Our hobos were rather happy to be on terra firma a goodly ways above the waters.
Day 139 (12.20/0605): The tidally determined rest cycle lasted six hours. The gang decided that the spell casters would forgo the two extra hours to replenish their powers to maximize the low tide period for exploration into the grotto. As the waters once more revealed the low areas of the island the mob made their way back towards the ‘skylights’ above the grotto area. First there were a couple of obstacles.
As they crossed the sands they encountered a group of giant crabs tearing apart what remained of a merman. They considered bypassing this event but then noticed a dismembered arm that was adorned with glittery jewelry. That was enough to activate their murderhobo powers. After mashing the crabs up and doing a little searching, there was an unexpectedly large amount of loot – Huzzah! The second obstacle occurred as they made their way upslope to the apex of the rocky dome over the grotto. This time they were ambushed by a pack of unusually large and carnivorous flies. Getting through this they got to their destination around one of the larger skylights over the grotto and commenced their plan.
Bunny took the folding boat and dropped down the rope of climbing. Easy peasy the water was only about twenty feet down. She activated the boat got in and kept it in place as the rest of the gang descended into the strange glowing grotto. The waters were teaming with life but Ding-We was looking for something else and after a little bit he thought he had found it. An ascending passageway presented itself just above the waterline and the squawking prattle of things of the avian persuasion. The wizard wanted a dry refuge during high tide and felt this was a strong contender.
Into the tunnel. It lead to a larger cavern full of bird things and their stinking refuse. Our hobos went to war with the colony. These birds were big 3 – 4’ tall with mostly black plumage aside from a white ring of feathers around the neck that did an excellent job of highlighting a long sharp beak, some of which were two feet long. They used these beaks to great piercing effect, as our frontline quickly learned. As more birds filled the chamber from another side passage things were getting out of hand as they became increasingly frenzied. Ding-We decided it was time to drop the hammer – the chamber was then engulfed in a ball of flame. The birds were toasted and our mob moved onto final cleanup of the few remaining birds. Afterwards they began to investigate the cavern.
At the back was the nesting area and the only loot found was nine intact eggs. Steve thought this was a win and was excited to cook a few up. The rest of the group felt let down but really what do you expect a bunch of seabirds to actually have? The adjacent tunnel lead outside to a guano stained ledge overlooking the great sea. More interestingly there was evidence of another passage that had collapsed. After evaluating it Rhags declared that it could be cleared. But first they would set up a base camp to support the imminent exploration of the grotto. Bunny did not care for the lingering stench and refused to set her pavilion in such a gross place – “we will be smelling this forever – ugh”.
ROLECALL
Carla the Green High Priestess of TMB (C9) 296582 xp +10% <300001> CRT 1d12/III
Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm
Bimbles the High Priest of GSS (C9) 270698 xp +5% <300001> CRT 1d12/III
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed arm
Hobo Steve the Lord (F9) 282057 xp +5% <360,001> CRT 1d24/V
Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)
Touched from Beyond the Grave (Sloth): Eating disorder (x2 food) -5’ mve
Blessing of Orcus (Consumption -1 CON)
Injury: -1 STR from brutal arm shatter
Rahgnar the Dwarven Superhero (D8) 203046 xp <280001> CRT 1d20/IV
Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)
Critical Wound: disembowelled less able to process poison (-1 penalty)
Missing thirteen teeth
Raul the Voyager (MD8) 238829 xp +10% <240000> CRT 1d12/III
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4,
Removed one of his own nostrils.
Boris the Dwarven Lord (D9) 352754 xp +10% <400001> CRT 1d20/IV
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed arm
Wound: Bad leg (-5’ MV)
Multiple Injuries: lost 25 teeth (7 remaining), drools a lot CHA -1
Serious Injury: Brain Drain -2 INT
Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)
Injury: -Crushed -8” H
Ding-We the Peg-Legged Sorcerer (W9) 456405 xp +10% <470001> CRT 1d10/I
Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated, runs at ½ rate (peg required)
Bunny the Thief! (T9) 250189 xp <280001> +10% CRT 1d20/II
Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand
Ramrod the Cloned Magsman (T8) 153935 xp +5% <160001> CRT 1d20/II
Serious wound: Bad Back (-1 stone CC)
Scars: Neurological damage to hip, noticeable limp (-5’ mve)
Missing eight teeth talks with a lisp
The Henchmen
Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY7) 173128 xp <200001> CRT 1d10/III
Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed guts
Sloth the Bopper (L7) 170997 xp +10% <178800> CRT 1d20/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)
Mental Illness: Mummy-a-phobic
Missing ten teeth
Nara the Nearly Naked Purple Swami Girl (PS7) 109599 xp +5% <125000> CRT 1d16/II
Wraith Drained: -1 CON
Biff Bartley the Half-Orc Blackguard (HO7) 101166 <120000> +5% CRT 1d12/II
Lasting injury: Crushed spinal column -6”H, -5’mv, -10% thieving
Sasha Plasha the Warden (R8) 116826 xp +10% <200000> CRT 1d10/III
‘BOB’ the Deadly Shade (N7) 64817 <90000> +5% CRT 1d16/II
Felix Ignatius Hemlock the once skeletal Sleuth (I7) 47017 <80001> +5% CRT 1d16/II
Mason the Lama of Yrrrg. (C7) 57293 <100001> CRT 1d10/III
Charles in Charge the Myrmidon (F6) 55424 <64000> +10% CRT 1d16/IV
Critical Wound: Punctured lung (-2 CON)
Mostly DEAD. (-1 CON)
Gurn Hammerhand the Dwarven Swashbuckler (D4) 21514 <36000> +5% CRT 1d12/III
Wendul the Magician (W6) 43262 <80000> 5% CRT 1d8/I
Dolec Da the Hero (F5) 40244 xp +10% <64000> CRT 1d20/IV
Missing five teeth
Camillus the Myrmidon (F7) 81443 <120001> +5% CRT 1d20/IV
Injury: -1 STR from brutal arm shatter
Injury: -5’mv from brutal arm shatter
Willy the Reformed Burglar (T5) 18256<20000>10% CRT 1d14/II
Chung-Li the Myrmidon Warlock (E6) 103411 xp <120000> +10% CRT 1d8/II
Brett & Jermaine Kobold Cooks & Eavesdroppers Extraordinaire
RESERVES
BoB is the lone lawn ornament for the Basilisk Knights.
Boris & Camillus rehab (correction of structural injuries) for 14 days
Elapsed: 8 days
Chung Li needs 12 weeks and a stack of coin to rewrite his lost spell book.
Elapsed: 8 days
Sloth rehab 14 days
Elapsed: 4 days
Bimbles, dead as a doornail
Elapsed Campaign Time
586 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation)
Join us for session Two-Hundred-and-Nineteen when we ask the questions:
If this is really a grotto where are the naked babes?
Will we eat the eggs or try to sell them (Steve sez yum yum)?
Has Ding-We found a good place to set camp?
Where is the evil we have come a looking for?
Tale of the Tape
Exploration Below
Location hex: 12.20
KILLS
Controlled seal mutation
Giant crabs (5)
Robber flies (6)
Gougerbeaks (29)
LOOT
Gougerbeak eggs (9)
4000 sp
Jewelry (rings 3, bracelet, necklace, anklet) = 6900 gp
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