SESSION 33: The Crawling Fog (05DEC16)
The fifth day in Greenwood rolled in on the creeping tendrils of a fog sporting unnatural thickness. Biting cold and wet, travel is slow. Eventually the trail begins to drop down and the grey gloom brightens as the trees open up. Welcome to the swamplands. Clouds of biting insects are your reward for surviving Greenwood. No time to complain smoke is on the air, then the clang of steel and from the mist runs a man covered in hundreds of egg sized spiders biting and encasing him in webbing. As quick as he appeared the mist again swallowed him and his screams.
Pressing on we find a bridge with an overturned caravan wagon burning and the scene of an ambush. The fog still not willing to give up all its secrets hides the true details. Little froglings leap about attacking the humans protecting the wagon. Spiders the size of mules also harangue the guards and on the other side of the bridge orchestrating the whole thing, spider-men. Bipedal tarantula-like beings 7 – 9’ tall wearing very expensive skinny jeans. Let us not get preoccupied with their modern idiot fashion sense, all hell is breaking loose. The front-line, of these beings, hurling spider baby balls that explode upon Raul and Calvin. They both fall to a thousand little bites and become encased in webbing in the blink of an eye. The big one in the back unleashes a mental attack that shows the horrors that await- all flesh will be consumed. The hobos regain their wits just as the frogmen horde closes in. We enjoy a grand melee, you imagine it I don’t have time or inclination to type it out.
Then something strange happens, our murderhobos all of a sudden begin to fancy themselves heroes and decide to pursue the spiders with the intent of saving the soon to be victims. Treasure was also of interest they are murderhobos after all. Yes, I skipped the fight. Just like i said. The key takeaway was that the spider-things took off with their encased captives as our hobos were swarmed by the froglings (I suggest researching tarantula and frog mutualistic relationships). Into the mist in pursuit the terrain begins to rise. Moving up the hill they discover the hive of the Tarantulons and with a little bit of sneaking and murdering they get in unnoticed.
A maze of web tubes, spider traps and sneak attacks brings our horde face-to-face with the hives broodmother Thelob. A massive bloated creature the size of a cabin sitting upon her dais flanked her hand maidens and two statues of blood red stone. Images of her master or god perhaps? A spider with the head of a wicked looking woman somewhat human and somewhat elven. They are greeted with a lightning bolt and then, as usual, hell breaks loose. Boris gets off a couple flasks of oil off and we have burning spider. Thelob lets loose a psionic blast, her alien intelligence is too much for some of our group - crushing mental capacity. Ramrod seeing the battle tipping in favour of the spider grabs a stone and has Carla cast silence on it and he dashes in.His intention is to counter Thelob’s verbal component of whatever spell she was going to drop next. The opportunity is too much for him and he performs a backstab. She is not happy and turns on him. The spider queen pummels Ramrod and then gives him the kiss of death. Ramrod falls dead. Seconds later Thelob also succumbs to mortal injury. Victory, and we save some people too but it came with a cost. A wealthy family, a couple of guardsmen and the wagon driver are in tow but no stinking treasure...
They make a hasty retreat. Escaping the hive they are confronted by the Psychic Master and a horde of dog sized spiders. This gets messy. Lenardo falls summoning his surtuepede to return him from the brink, it does not work properly. Strange green boils rise up on one side of his face. The child also gets it, and so do the guards and driver before the battle ends. The band move further down the slope and set camp too injured to press on to the town today. But not too hurt to get treasure! Back into the hive, there must be loot to loot!
Back in they go and this time they seem to discover more spiders and traps. Sloth falls after being swarmed by spiderlings, he saw the light but needed to come back and ask Ding-We if he should go to it or not. “Damn loyal mendicant that one”. They press on sensing treasure is near. It was, in a chamber they had not paid much attention in on the original delve. “Sheeee-it! Coulda saved us some resources”. After dealing with the males of the colony our hobos got down to sifting through decades of desiccated husks to find a veritable horde of treasure. Packing up the loot and fallen Sloth they made their way back to camp unmolested. While no one was watching Bimbles pulls a scroll from his sleeve and Ramrod becomes a little less dead. “It was him or the kid and that kid ain’t done nothing for me”. Morality out in the wilderlands is about survival and nuttin else.
On that note, our hobos can bask in the glory of this five hour work day. They were heroic, they were hobos, they murdered the opposition and they got paid.
Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm
Ding-We the Theurgist (W4) 19658 xp +5% <20001> CRT 1d8/I
Bimbles the Prefect of GSS (C5) 19186 xp +5% <25001> CRT 1d12/III
Hobo Steve the Swashbuckler (F5) 17667 xp +5% (101) <32501> CRT 1d24/V
Rahgnar the Dwarven Hero (D4) 13365 xp <17501> CRT 1d16/IV
Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)
Raul the Wayfarer (MD5) 15936 xp <30000> CRT 1d20/II
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, Removed one of his own nostrils.
Calvin the Bold Architect (MM5) 12518 xp <22400> CRT 1d12/III
Serious wound: permanent loss of INT -1
Lenardo the Professor (S4) 11839 xp <12000> CRT 1d8/I
Light wound: permanent loss of two fingers (pinky and next) left hand
Boris the Dwarven Hero (D4) 15613 xp <17501> CRT 1d16/IV
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face
Bunny the Burglar (T5) 14544 xp <20001> CRT 1d20/II
Ramrod the Burglar (T5) 14840 xp +5% <20001> CRT 1d20/II
Serious wound: Bad Back (-1 stone CC)
Scars: Neurological damage to hip, noticeable limp
Missing six teeth talks with a lisp
Saffron the Mad fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY4) 21892 <32501> CRT 1d10/II
Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen
The Henchmen
Sloth the Charger (L4) 8769 <16800> CRT 1d20/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s,m)
Mar the Jester (J4) +1338+526+512+156 CRT 1d16/II
RESERVES
Mighty Yord the Slayer (B3) 10801 <16251> CRT 1d14/III
Mighty Nord the Slayer (B3) 11714 <16251> CRT 1d14/III
Hrolga the Amazon (CC4) +1338+526+512 CRT 1d16/IV
Elapsed Campaign Time
83 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation)
Join us for session thirty-four when we ask the questions:
What is this Ironguard Motte gonna be like?
Will the people like us now that we is heroes?
I wonder if there is any neat stuff to kill and loot in this swamp?
Tale of the Tape
Sloth became spider food and went splat (2wks)
Len-ardo was perforated and infused with venom (2wks)
Ramrod – Dead and back again (2wks)
KILLS
Froglings (24) Defeated
Frogling sergeants (8) Defeated
Tarotulas (4)
Tarantulon Catcher
Tarantulon Psionic Master
Frogling gaurds (6)
Tarantulon Males (4)
Tara-Drones (15)
Spider swarm
Tarantulon Breeders (5)
Thelob’s Hand Maidens (8)
Tarantulon Brood Mother (Thelob)
LOOT
7800 sp
2000 gp
1800 pp
Scoll (3 x MU)
Glass shield
Short bow of fine quality
Spear remarkable construction
Potion of ???
Potion of ????
a Girdle
20 gems
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