SESSION 228 (Side Session): Siege on the Gangrenous Pt. 5 – Fool’s Ascent
The B(oris)-Gang follow the tombstone stairwell for days with their insufficient supplies quickly diminishing before encountering another soul and end up finding a bizarre prehistoric subterranean fern jungle.
Day 165 continued thru 167 (not of this world): They descended for two uneventful days within this non-descript tube. No alcoves. No side passages. Just ever going deeper. The error of their ways was really sinking in. They had no idea where they were going or were. To make matters worse an inventory of supplies revealed a group largely unprepared for an expedition that lasted much more than a day or two. Rations were limited and water was already sniffing around the danger zone. They could only march towards their destiny.
Day 168: In the stairwell still. Around midday, at least from a marching perspective, they caught a rank scent and then what sounded like the quacks of a muffled duck. The stink was from a horde of rotting ghouls stacking the passage. The quacking came from a dwarf-sized armored duck clutching a deceased monkey being in a small side chamber. It seemed that they had come across the result of a final battle that had ended with the loss of a dear companion. The duck did not really seem to care at the hobo presence, in victory he was defeated. It took a little prodding to get the abnormal waterfowl to get focus. He was Ike and his friend was Winston. He claimed to be an ‘avatar’ while Winston had found true-death. It took more than a little prompting but the gang finally got a some clarity on things. They were in the Dreamlands and Ike was not truly present. His physical form was elsewhere unlike Winston and our hobos. “Waagh. If I die I will awaken elsewhere. Totally screwing my mission but I would awaken, that is what being an avatar in the Dreamlands means. Winston, much like you, was here physically and can only escape through a portal and death is death. Waagh!”. This still did not make a lot sense but one thing was certain they should help Ike the Duck however they could. They eventually got Ike to shake off his malaise and they successfully convinced him that they all should work together to achieve their goal of getting the hell out this tunnel. After they reached this conclusion Ike began to clear up and asked where they had come from. “From up the tunnel” “Waagh! That portal is now dead to us. We must find another. All that for nothing…”. They once more marched onwards.
Day 169: This day they came to a cross road. Ike told them that is from where he and the ghouls had come. “In the Dreamlands the earth is home to the Empire of the Ghouls the unintended guardians of the world portals created by the passage of the mighty space worms as they pass through the planes looking for worlds to hollow out and consume”. The prospect of battling hordes of ghouls only gained two votes, from Ike and Agolloch. It seems that duck-folk have an innate hatred for undead, due to some species specific albatross, and Agolloch is simply an overzealous piece of sharpened metal. They all continued further into the depths of the unknown.
Day 170: Water was running short(er) resulting in rationing. Making the march even less fun. However, things did change towards the end of the day. The tunnel ended. Spilling into a massive subterranean valley. How big was difficult to say as before them was a colossal and prehistoric fern forest. After some observation and conferring between Sasha and Ike, both of whom have very good directional sense, they concluded that they must go “that way” to cross the forest. Even though they were underground the chamber was illuminated by some sort of non-point source ‘sun’ high above. The group crawled down from the elevated ingress and setup camp.
Day 171- 174: They marched for four days through the primordial forest as the supplies dwindled even after rationing. Starvation and more importantly dehydration were becoming serious concerns as more days passed. The fourth day provided both reprieve and horror.
The morning of the fourth somehow inexplicably brought a storm thunder and heavy rain. They used the first half of the day to collect and drink the precipitation. Until their activities caught the notice of a feathered tyrannosaurus like creature. It was a bloody battle for our already partially starved hobos.
To make things weirder it seems we all slipped into a dream where Willy with the help of Agolloch’s power of teleportation landed atop the monster for a moment before slipping, falling to the ground and then being eaten by the beast.
In whatever reality we were currently occupying Willy disappeared only to reappear 10’ above the dinosaur’s head with Agolloch thrust low like a pogo stick that then was buried hilt deep into its huge skull. This was a glorious killing blow. The lizard’s final death throes did end up throwing Willy into the ferny understory but he was most certainly not dead – for once. Agolloch screamed in victory and Willy really liked not appearing to be dead. A rest was required before anything else the team may have been victorious but the cost of victory was not cheap.
We will find out what’s in the creatures guts and if it does taste like chicken next time.
ROLECALL
Raul the Voyager (MD9) 241471 xp +10% <240000> CRT 1d12/III
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4,
Removed one of his own nostrils.
Boris the Dwarven Lord (D9) 355396 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
Ramrod the Cloned Magsman (T8) 156577 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
Sloth the Bopper (L7) 172653 xp +10% <178800> CRT 1d20/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)
Mental Illness: Mummy-a-phobic
Missing ten teeth
Sasha Plasha the Warden (R8) 118482 xp +10% <200000> CRT 1d10/III
Gurn Hammerhand the Dwarven Swashbuckler (D4) 23170 <36000> +5% CRT 1d12/III
Wendul the Magician (W6) 44918 <80000> 5% CRT 1d8/I
Camillus the Myrmidon (F7) 83099 <120001> +5% CRT 1d20/IV
Injury: -1 STR from brutal arm shatter
Injury: -5’mv from brutal arm shatter
Willy the Reformed Burglar (T6) 21306<20000>10% CRT 1d14/II
Ike the Duck (DF6) – AVATAR
RESERVES
BoB is the lone lawn ornament for the Basilisk Knights.
Chung Li needs 12 weeks (74 days) and a stack of coin to rewrite his lost spell book.
Elapsed: 29 days
Elapsed Campaign Time
600 (610) days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation)
Join us for session Two-Hundred-and-Twenty-Nine when we ask the questions:
How far from cannibalism are we?
How long can we go on measuring water in drops?
How big is the primordial forest?
Tell me again, why Willy ain’t dead?
Tale of the Tape
Location hex: ????
Willy slipped while attempting to “Finish Him!” and was then swallowed by the thunder lizard. No no no.. that was just a fever dream. He lives to adventure another day!
KILLS
Big lizard with sharp teeth and stupid pastel feathers
LOOT
none
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