SESSION 253: On the Beach
Wandering around looking for the tube to the surface. A chance encounter points them in the right direction. Things, as they are apt to do, took a turn for the worse at the last possible moment.
Day 191 (12.20/0605): The crew disembarked one last time. Once more pressed out across the rolling sand dunes. They went SE in search of the wall. It was uneventful. Once there they decided to go that way (W). A couple of hours later a number of lanterns could be seen. Cautiously moving forward, it was a wagon with five footmen. Hailing the wagon they were greeted by the guards and once cleared they were escorted to the now stationary wagon.
Out popped three sharp dressed men – Malaki, Palaki & Laki. They were merchants from Vermillion ( a City-State somewhere out there in the preposterously large underworld) each specializing in their own fine libation – rum, ale and wine. They were of a friendly sort but were in a rush, behind schedule to reach their destination to trade the vast majority of their wares. Never being ones to discount a trade opportunity they offered to sell their limited spare inventory. For some reason our gang decided to take this the wrong way and decided to be dicks. The merchants once more explained that they were concerned that they would miss their very important meeting if they tarried too long. Our gang continued to be indifferent. Once again the merchants showed their professionalism and satisfied our band of jerks and made a three-flavoured sale and then began to move along. We had to stop them one more time with a final inquiry – “Have you seen a gross wet hole in the wall?”.
They had, it was the other way about ¾ of a day. “Now we must truly did you adieu”. With that the leader of the guard cried out “Double time otherwise this diversion will wreck our mission those damn flippers are flighty!”.
They went that way and the hobos went this. Sometime later fatigue began to set in and camp was made. Steve cooked up the last of his fish reserves and they settled in. It took a little while but the fish roast attracted attention. A trio of hungry griffons stealthy attacked from above during the first watch. They swooped out from and back into the darkness causing some challenges until Saff was convinced to fly up and illuminate beyond the camp light. She took a nasty pecking and would sometime in the future fill Ding-We’s bed roll with centipedes to teach him a lesson – do not mess with the Queen of Ribbits. With Saff extending the visibility range they finally began to mount a strong counter attack. Two griffons were brought down and the third retreated into the darkness. The rest of the rest cycle was uneventful.
Day 192 (12.20/0605): They broke camp and made the final push for the tunnel. It took 3 hours. Bunny took a look and was convinced that this was indeed the tube they came down, handholds and all. A snack was had and then they began the grind back up to the surface.
About ¾ of the hike was uneventful. Bunny heard scratching of many claws and then saw numerous glowing red eyes. A flash of scales. “Oh no…Basilisks!”, screamed Bunny as the beasts charged. Two immediately fell upon the thief while three others came up behind. Bunny was able to fend off being petrified again but still took a nasty bite before she made a hasty escape. The first two monsters hit the front line as the leadership group began to freak out “We gotta go nuclear now!”, screamed Ding-We right before he dangerously discharged a fireball that also engulfed the first two ranks of hobos. Saff and her wizard then started pulling out wands. The clerics brought forth protections to ward and aid. One basilisk down four to go. Steve and Dolec held the line. “Boys stand strong things are about to get real cold”, Ding-We moved upto the second rank and discharged his wand of frost. He well frosted the tanks and basilisks. The terrible beasts were frozen solid. Steve & Dolec only mostly so. This was a victory. “Gah! Why are we not back in Denethix? Who cannot see the warning? The damnable Basilisk Hills! They even have a cult for crying out loud….”, Bimbles once more reasserting his disdain for the country life. No one paid much attention as Steve, Dolec and Charles started opening the creatures guts and all sorts of stuff, shiny stuff, was spilling out.
Looks like they hit a major payout.
Ding-We derailed the celebration as he began yelling for gizzards.
It would take some time to deliver his demand.
They would be spending some time in the tube before finally getting back to the surface.
So close, but not close enough.
ROLECALL
Carla the Green High Priestess of TMB (C10) 339203 xp +10% <400001> CRT 1d12/III
Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm
Bimbles the High Priest of GSS (C9) 301725 xp +5% <300001> CRT 1d12/III
+2 save to poison and internal body things; Double eat (gotta feed my baybay)
Hobo Steve the Lord (F9) 314678 xp +5% <360,001> CRT 1d24/V
Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)
Rahgnar the Dwarven Superhero (D8) 233287 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
Ding-We the Peg-Legged Wizard (W10) 503926 xp +10% <620001> CRT 1d10/I
Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated, runs at ½ rate (peg required)
Bunny the Thief! (T9) 282710 xp <280001> +10% CRT 1d20/II
Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand
The Henchmen
Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY7) 189378 xp <200001> CRT 1d10/III
Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed guts
Sasha Plasha the Warden (R8) 119078 xp +10% <200000> CRT 1d10/III
Mason the Lama of Yrrrg. (C7) 72857 <100001> CRT 1d10/III
Charles in Charge the Myrmidon (F6) 77674 <64000> +10% CRT 1d16/IV
Franz the Grave Return (Lawful; XXXX) Sword
Critical Wound: Punctured lung (-2 CON)
Mostly DEAD. (-1 CON)
Dolec Da the Hero (F5) 56494 xp +10% <64000> CRT 1d20/IV
Missing five teeth
Captain Alamend Strender the Swashbuckler (F5) 37745 <32000> +5% CRT 1d16/IV
Lester Flanders the Warder of Oceana (P5) 37504 xp <45000> +5% CRT XXXX
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: 50 days (from A-Team calendar)
Elapsed Campaign Time
632 (630) days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation)
Join us for session Two-Hundred-and-Fifty-Four when we ask the questions:
Can’t we just get to the surface?
What about this Vermillion place?
Could we actually maintain a trading outpost down here?
Tale of the Tape
Rhags and Alamend are still rocks
Lester and Mason brought back from petrification through divine ritual.
Exploration Below the Blighted Sub-Hex
Location hex: 12.20
KILLS
Griffons (2)
Basilisks (5)
LOOT
20000 gp
5000 pp
No comments:
Post a Comment