SESSION 290: Merry Mayhem the End (Season’s Beatings Pt. III)
Coming face to face with a great bumble of a beast along with the great rotter. The king of sinful sots. With his termite smile and brain full of spiders, it was Orcus Claws!
Day 248 Continued (Claws’s Workshop): Taking a quick look at the stolen metals storage chamber they cleaned their blades and pressed on. A natural passage. Reaching a junction they continued on rather than moving into the noisy noisy noisy workshop. They came to the filthy and gross living quarters of the crueltide elves. Beyond the yicky stuff there were three crueltide elves and Thrasher one of the demonic reindeer playing dice. The prize was an already taste tested purple-winged fairy. Saffron made it clear there would be no parlay, “Listen up you mother fuckers! Any of you don’t move and I’ll execute every last one of ya! Ain’t no one but me that gonna eat some sweet meat”. Remember, she is cra-cra so it could just be simple cannibalism…. The fight was on. Thrasher blasted his fire breath at the hobos rolling in from the corridor before he attempted to impale Bunny. The thief jumped on and held for dear life. The fight was quick. The fairy was Sugarplum and she wanted only to repay for her freedom before getting the hell outta dodge,” Over there is a secret wall and if you go through the workshop it will lead you to him. I will do my best to forget you all almost immediately”. Sugarplum disappeared as twitty hobos tried to get more than she was giving.
The secret wall hid coin, gems and a frosty dagger not all that dissimilar to the snowmen carrot stabbing noses. The room was really gross.
The hobos did not, for once, dither about. Like a red tide they streamed into the cacophonous workshop.
Noise, noise, noise!
Great crude machines and conveyors have been set up and dozens of Crueltide elves worked ceaselessly to craft the most wicked tools of mass slaughter you’ve ever seen. Two of the Crueltide elves wander up and down the center of the chamber between two rows of workstations. One has a blazing red beard and carries a bloody pickaxe, while the other holds a tiny pair of pliers and has a long shock of dull yellow hair. All work suddenly stops, though the machinery continues to rattle. The two foreman elves turn and look at you and your companions, the red-haired elf twirling his pickaxe wickedly.
“Back to work, wretches! The Dentist and I will handle this!” The Crueltide elves return to their work at his command, though with only a halfhearted effort as they await the ensuing carnage.
The two unusually extra-wicked crueltide elves charged with abandon into the frontline. Carla, showing uncommon courage, stepped into the fray and was rewarded with Nokuy the Red burying his pick axe in her chest. The fight wa quick and triggered a mass exodus as the worker goblins.. err Crueltide elves nearly crushed Bimbles in the passageway as they fled their evil master.
The workshop led to the stables and another larger chamber beyond. Before we would reach that, final, chamber they faced two more demonic reindeer – Pounder and Chaos. The hobos pressed hard and finished things expediently. Now they came to the sleigh hanger and final boss, Orcus Claws.
The largest chamber in the entire complex of caverns. A large red sleigh sits in the center of the room, easily 30feet long and equally wide. Hitched to the sleigh are four demonic reindeer that snort and champ, clearly eager to act. Standing astride the bench on the front of the sleigh is a massive, bloated creature that looks like the terrible union of some forgotten goblinoid beast and an abyssal servant from the deepest part of Hell. Corpulent and wearing a long red mantle that is little more than a bloody rag. It raises a staff of bone topped with a half-shattered human skull and lets out a low chortle.
Chained to the wall is a terrible thing, a cross between a frost giant and some infernal polar
bear.
“You’ve been naughty, and I’ll deal with you soon enough, but I’ve got packages to deliver to all the News down in Newville. It’s time for my sleigh ride … or should I say, slay ride. But don’t worry, Orcus’ Claws has a present, even for naughty boys and girls.” raising his staff and singing in a twisted, infernal voice. The chains binding the terrible beast withered
away to nothing. The massive, white-furred monster let out another earthshaking scream and charged. Orcus’ Claws returned to his preparations.
It seemed that the clock was now ticking.
The snowbeast charged into Charles and Dolec and Orcus sung an infernal song of beguiling, “Bloody Solstice to all, and to all a great blight!”.
This song would turn allies into enemies and the fat bastard would not quit singing variations of this, even when engulfed in an insect plague. Carla did try her best, from afar.
Lester summoned berserkers to aid the efforts. Half of which fell to the morbid tales of OC’s deadly dance. This was going to be tough but there were some advantages to play.
The beast was mindless. Orcus Claws was distracted with the sleigh launching process and Rancid, Putrid, Damner and Vicious were hitched to the sleigh so they could not seek out sweet hobo flesh. Nevertheless the fight was pretty brutal, you should have been there.
The hobos had not made much effort to preserve their resources for the final battle.
Nara was out of brain power and just had to go in kicking.
The clerics were down to low level healing and a flamestrike which proved timely when the snowbeast got into the pillar of holy fire.
When the abominable finally snowbeast fell the sleigh was rocking.
At any moment Orcus Claws would take to the sky to rain death down upon the (predominantly) wee-folk of Newville. The hobos began the long run to the sleigh. Orcus kept singing and friends kept going rogue.
Charles mashed Bimbles’s face into mush, berserker turned berserker, Bunny attacked Saff and then Saff attempted to perforate Bunny.
Then.
Unlikely combatants went face-to-face with Orcus Claws to prevent his nightflight from Hell (yes, feel the Boney M). Bunny and Nara surrounded the corpulent entity. OC swung his mighty skull topped mace and attempted to puncture with his tail mounted death delivery system. The girls were one with the force and dodged his very likely to be terminal blows. Kick, kick, stab and then other stuff. Luck was still with the hobos they were beating down Claws. His plans of raining down mass death were ruined so he would present a final present. He went Islamic. OC called forth an infernal ball of fire and tossed it into his sack of crueltide contraptions.
Ka-Blam! or Big BOOM. Whatever your pleasure.
Fire and shrapnel everywhere. The sleigh was obliterated and Orcus and his reindeer were no longer on this Earth. The hobos, miraculously, were not dead.
Not a single one.
I no longer know what passes for Winter Solstice cheer...
Orcus Claws and his minions had been defeated and our gang returned to Newville as heroes.
All the News were holding hands around the Festival Tree and singing a soulful, but slightly annoying song of celebration. Lucinda New and the rest of the townsfolk thanked our hobos heartily, and the mayor offered to build a cottage for them to use in Newville. She asked one last favor from the Heroes of Newville, “Will you stay in Newville for the season and help the villagers rebuild the damage Orcus’ Claws and his Crueltide elves did to the village? Carla, Nara and Lester quickly accepted. Drowning out Bimbles’s grumbles.
It was a surprisingly mild winter filled with good cheer and better food. A great many small miracles occurred during those months, including Small Sam learning to walk without his crutches, Sheriff Wourelle finding his courage, and at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Day, the Shrine of Father Newvus miraculously became whole and unstained again. After a season of simple, hard work the murderhobos would find their hearts were evermore filled with good cheer in times of darkness and could resist any fear unlike before.
Spring did eventually arrive (ninety days later) and the gang collected young Sam, whom Bunny and Nara had been training during their free time, and once more our band stepped into the wilds to return to Helix.
“I wonder what we missed”, mused Charles.
“Probably just death and dismemberment”, came from Dolec.
“What kinda operation is this?”, Lester was finally beginning to see the folly of his ways.
“Better than being sacrificed to an indescribable blob thing by your father and also still being second in line to your sister”, the normally not so creepy Nara.
“Peggy-leggy probably did something dumb”, was Saffron’s unexpectedly astute addition.
Lester was very happy the fairy had stepped up as the nearly naked purple girl had scared him.
“Probably”, was all Bunny had to say.
Bimbles shut things down with a grumble, “Can we not be rid of this horde of sausage fingers?”.
“Bu…ah…um…”, Sammy was catching on and did not elicit further grump from the cleric.
Carla pointed towards the south. She was not going to get dragged into this. She was a high priestess of TMB after all.
If they were lucky a giant or two would be found on the way.
The CBB-Team: Carla, Bimbles, Bunny, Saffron, Charles, Dolec, Nara & Lester
ROLECALL
Carla the Green High Priestess of TMB (C10) 356271 xp +10% <400001> CRT 1d12/III
Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm
Bimbles the High Priest of GSS (C10) 320506 xp +5% <400001> CRT 1d12/III
+2 save to poison and internal body things; Double eat (gotta feed my baybay)
Hobo Steve the Lord (F9) 326064 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
Raul the Voyager (MD9) 272840 xp +10% <360000> CRT 1d12/III
Fezzi-Gig (Neut: XXXX) Sword
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4,
Removed one of his own nostrils.
Boris the Dwarven Lord (D9) 374765 xp +10% <400001> CRT 1d20/IV
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face
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)
Ding-We the Peg-Legged Wizard (W10) 515312 xp +10% <620001> CRT 1d10/I
Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated, runs at ½ rate (peg required)
Bunny the Thief! (T10) 312116 xp <400001> +10% CRT 1d24/II
Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand
Ramrod the Cloned Magsman (T9) 181946 xp +5% <280001> 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) 198080 xp <200001> CRT 1d10/III
Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed guts
Sloth the Bopper (L8) 203454 xp +10% <390000> CRT 1d20/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)
Missing ten teeth
Nara the Nearly Naked Purple Swami Girl (PS7) 112609 xp +5% <125000> CRT 1d16/II
Wraith Drained: -1 CON
Biff Bartley the Half-Orc Blackguard (HO7) 102620 <120000> +5% CRT 1d12/II
Sasha Plasha the Warden (R7) 128163 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) 78549 <100001> CRT 1d10/III
Charles in Charge the Myrmidon (F6) 86207 <120000> +10% CRT 1d20/IV
Franz the Grave Return (Lawful; XXXX) Sword
Critical Wound: Punctured lung (-2 CON)
Mostly DEAD. (-1 CON)
Gurn Hammerhand the Dwarven Swashbuckler (D5) 32851 <36000> +5% CRT 1d12/III
Wendul the Magician (W6) 54599 <80000> 5% CRT 1d8/I
Dolec Da the Hero (F7) 71196 xp +10% <120000> CRT 1d20/IV
Missing five teeth
Camillus the Myrmidon (F6) 57780 <64001> +5% CRT 1d20/IV
Willy the Reformed Burglar (T6) 32987 <40000>10% CRT 1d14/II
Agolloch the Eye of Purity (Lawful; XXXX) Sword
Chung-Li the Myrmidon Warlock (E6) 103411 xp <120000> +10% CRT 1d8/II
Captain Alamend Strender the Swashbuckler (F6) 37745 <64000> +5% CRT 1d16/IV
Lester Flanders the Guardian of Oceana (P6) 48456 xp <95000> +5% CRT 1d16/IV
Katre Elf-Girl and Swordsman Conjuror (E3) 13040 xp <16000> +0% CRT 1d8/II
Lady Versamage Knight Errant (K6) 62883 xp <85000> +5% CRT 1d16/IV
Herbert the Gnomish Trickster (G3) 12276 xp <12000> +5% CRT XXXX
Skull-Crusher (A3) 5850 xp <6000> +5% CRT XXXX
Brett & Jermaine Kobold Cooks & Eavesdroppers Extraordinaire
RESERVES
Elapsed Campaign Time
(702 b) days at beginning of session (Dreamlands)
689a (Bunny Group Newville)
706d (Ding-We Gang Liwil)
Join us for session Two-Hundred-and-Ninety-One when we ask the questions:
Not much really as we won’t see these guys again until Spring
Will Small Sam be the newest addition to our MurderHobo brigade?
Was this the last or Orcus Claws?
Tale of the Tape
Our squad stood up to fear and will come out of it with a greater internal fortitude (+2 to Fear saves).
Finished until Day 779.
KILLS
Crueltide Elves (6)
Thrasher
Nokuy the Red
The Dentist
Chaos
Pounder
Snowbeast
Orcus Claws
LOOT
365 gp
Golden Rings (5) 50 gp each
Silver Panpipes 150 gp
Beryls (3) 20 gp each
Rubies (4) 60 gp each
Strange Wintery Dagger
A Cottage in Newville!