Time with the Blue Men of Carcosa (Session 88)

 SESSION 88: The above is no better than the below (10DEC18)

            Well, the morning would have arrived pleasantly in Overmind-731’s cylinder if Carla had not cursed the lot of us. Leaving the cylinder, we faced a blizzard of ominous proportions. We were going to go to the allied Blue-man village but elected just to run for the wastes and the lair of the Bone Sorcerer. The blizzard was an elder power manifested. It puked forth a horde of cannibals and a dread Gnoth-Keh. The battle was brutal and we realized that a safe port was critically needed, so we fell back to the Blue-man village. Strangely, our arrival seemed to be known. The Blue folk were welcoming but somewhat strange, as denoted by the absence of children in the village. Accommodation and food was provided all was well and recuperative. Well until the dinosaurs attacked during the second night. It seemed apparent that Carla was badda lucka so we hit the road the following morning – Bye! 

            We travelled on largely unmolested, Saph’s fingers get into the strangest places... There was a remenant serpent-person marker in a pond which housed a nigh invisible spawn of Shub-Niggurath. Then there was an ancient temple of serpent gods. After some investigation, we realized that screwing with anything was likely detrimental to our wellbeing, so we pressed on. Later that afternoon we reached the egress to the Forgotten Valley. As we worked our way up the rocky steppe to the pass (as we had been directed by the Blue-men). We settled down for an early camp when we noticed smoke rising up from the canopy below us.

 

ROLECALL

Carla the Green Lama of TMB (C7) 89852 xp +10% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

            Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the Lama of GSS (C7) 87688 xp +5% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Hobo Steve the Champion (F7) 86026 xp +5% <120,001> CRT 1d20/IV

            Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)

Raul the Ranger (MD6) 47019 xp <50000> CRT 1d10/III

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, 

Removed one of his own nostrils.

Boris the Dwarven Champion (D7) 92968 xp +10% <140001> CRT 1d16/IV

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face

            Injury: lost 6 teeth                               

Ding-We the Peg-Legged Magician(W6) 70652 xp +10% <80001> CRT 1d8/I

            Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated

Bunny the Sharper (T7) 77450 xp <80001> +10% CRT 1d16/II

            Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand

            The Henchmen

Arnd Cobblestone the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 38175 xp +5% <70001> CRT 1d14/ III

Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY6) 89013 <130001> CRT 1d10/III

            Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Sloth the Clocker (L6) 45917 xp +10% <81300> CRT 1d16/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)

Sasha Plasha the Guide (R6) 38623 xp +10% <50000> CRT 1d10/III

Nara the Naked Purple Girl (0) 455 xp 

 

Elapsed Campaign Time

203 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation) 

Join us for session Eighty-nine when we ask the questions:

Are we going to check out the smoke or is it a trap??

Really, how much further?

Will Nara ever wear clothing and do we want her to?

WHY ARE WE NO LONGER IN A RUSH?!?

What will happen in the future?

Tale of the Tape

Nara the naked purple girl survived a whole session!

KILLS

Cannibals of I’thaqua (12) 

Gnoth-Keh 

Plesiosaurs (3) 

Q’ythmur spawn of Shub-Niggurath 

LOOT

Zip, aside from some salted fish

Above or Below it is Carcosa (Session 87)

SESSION 87: Land Ho! (3DEC18)

            Up the ladder we went. For a good long time, until finally we popped out of the ground. On a mountainside ledge, we looked out across a bizarre forested valley nestled in a titanic fossilized rib cage. The green glow of Carcosa’s moons could not even make it weirder. 

We had hoped to rest the night unmolested but things never work that way. A pride of smilodons showed no respect for our recent escape from the dark depths. 

Moving along, there were some forest mummies and then we saved the bride of Yog-Sothoth. Nara a chained naked purple girl (of totally appropriate fantasy age) was awaiting her sacrifice to the Thing, much like her sister before her. Their father is a real piece of work. We gave her some elastic bands to protect her dignity and moved on. Leaving the fossilized valley, we moved through a rocky mountain pass to the next valley. There were yetis and a strange temple of the purple worm. Working our way into the second valley we discovered a partially buried cylinder. Some digging later, Overmind-731 revealed itself to us. A man-sized brain preparing for the arrival of the Collective. Overmind-731 offered us respite for the evening and we accepted. This turned out to be a safe decision.

 

ROLECALL

Carla the Green Lama of TMB (C7) 88032 xp +10% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

            Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the Lama of GSS (C7) 85868 xp +5% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Hobo Steve the Champion (F7) 84206 xp +5% <120,001> CRT 1d20/IV

            Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)

Raul the Ranger (MD6) 45199 xp <50000> CRT 1d10/III

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, 

Removed one of his own nostrils.

Boris the Dwarven Champion (D7) 91148 xp +10% <140001> CRT 1d16/IV

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face

            Injury: lost 6 teeth                               

Ding-We the Peg-Legged Magician(W6) 68832 xp +10% <80001> CRT 1d8/I

            Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated

Bunny the Sharper (T7) 75630 xp <80001> +10% CRT 1d16/II

            Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand

            The Henchmen

Arnd Cobblestone the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 37265 xp +5% <70001> CRT 1d14/ III

Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY6) 88103 <130001> CRT 1d10/III

            Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Sloth the Clocker (L6) 45007 xp +10% <81300> CRT 1d16/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)

Sasha Plasha the Guide (R6) 37713 xp +10% <50000> CRT 1d10/III

 

RESERVES

Ramrod the Cloned Burglar (T5) 19543 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

            Being cloned 45 days COMPLETED!?!

Rahgnar the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 54462 xp <70001> CRT 1d24/V

            Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)

            Critical Wound:

                        REMAINING RECUPERATION: 0 DAYS

 

Elapsed Campaign Time

202 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation) 

Join us for session Eighty-eight when we ask the questions:

How much further?

How much colder can it get for us?

Tale of the Tape

New recruit: Nara the naked purple girl 

KILLS

Sabre-toothed cats (4)

Mummies (4)

Spawn of Yog-Sothoth

Yetis (4)

LOOT

4115 gp

700 pp

Garnet (500 gp) 

Too Much to Bear (Session 86)

 SESSION 86: What Happens when Adventure Comes a Knockin? (12NOV18)

            

Nothing like having another cold night interrupted by a passing band of giant bug like creatures that were on the hunt for something. The location of our alcove long since forgotten provided safe refuge. The squad of thingies sensed something but could not source out our location, eventually marching on in search or doing whatever they were up to. Eight hours later we were back on the trail making our way north. All was well until the swallows showed up and try to steal some rope. Things are different underground. Not long afterwards, after making our way past some obstacles we met a fairly well dressed bear with a laser pistol muttering to himself – Dr. Ephraim Thontorius. 

“My! No wonder my ancestors left the caves. So uncivilized.”  After noticing our gang and verifying our non-hostile intentions he lowered his pistol and went off on another string of complaints and broken thought:

 “This goes beyond departmental squabbles, of course —I fear Gormontine’s tenure was a dreadful mistake.” 

            “There’s something cold about that man—robotic, even. The nymph-bot coeds never turned his head in the spring. Ah, college—golden days!” 

            “I pray we are not too late—the future of life itself may be at stake.” 

We eventually reign him in and sort out some details. Ephraim is from 2000 years in the future, in search of his co-worker Professor Zabon Gormontine whom is looking for an artifact known as the Nul rod. This Nul rod, ordinary looking but very powerful, must be found and destroyed to prevent the Robot Apocalypse (in the aforementioned future). This crazy talk did raise the question that perhaps Carcosa is not a different place but a when on a shared timeline. We really needed Len’s super science mind to figure this one out. After not providing any solid leads nor offering to assist him, the doctor continued South and we pushed on to the North.

            Our path ramped up to a larger highway heading east-west and we were startled by a 30’ segmented giant coming out of the inky darkness. “Must commandeer magic blade for work purposes. Surrender one magic blade immediately. See Quartermaster in Zsansz for tax credit.” This thing was huge and as luck would have it we had a spare blade. It was accepted without fanfare and the thing began scratching flourishes into the cavern walls as it strolled away. We decided to go in the opposite direction. Finding a bridge over a dry river bed we were finally able to figure out our orientation on our map. Celebrations were cut short a war-party approached from the far side of the bridge. A host of men that had antennas instead of heads being directed by Urethria priestess of Nul and Yithbara inquisitor of Nul. They too were in search of the Nul rod. We didn’t care for the cut of these cultists jib so fighting ensued. The priestess made a hasty escape but we were able to capture Yithbara and only mostly killed him. 

    After this we grabbed our hostage and backtracked sorta looking for Dr. Ephraim. We did not find the Doctor and eventually we interrogated Yithbara. Not really learning anything other than cultist mumbo jumbo. We released him and pressed on down a very tight subpasssge. This lead to some brain bat things and a piece of treasure! Perhaps more interestingly, shortly thereafter we found another chamber and it had a ladder of unknown height that went up. 

            What do we do next? We began to debate our next move

 

ROLECALL

Carla the Green Lama of TMB (C7) 87825 xp +10% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

            Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the Lama of GSS (C7) 85661 xp +5% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Hobo Steve the Champion (F7) 83999 xp +5% <120,001> CRT 1d20/IV

            Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)

Raul the Ranger (MD6) 44992 xp <50000> CRT 1d10/III

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, 

Removed one of his own nostrils.

Boris the Dwarven Champion (D7) 90941 xp +10% <140001> CRT 1d16/IV

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face

            Injury: lost 6 teeth                               

Ding-We the Peg-Legged Magician(W6) 68625 xp +10% <80001> CRT 1d8/I

            Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated

Bunny the Sharper (T7) 75423 xp <80001> +10% CRT 1d16/II

            Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand

            The Henchmen

Arnd Cobblestone the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 37162 xp +5% <70001> CRT 1d14/ III

Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY6) 88000 <130001> CRT 1d10/III

            Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Sloth the Clocker (L6) 44904 xp +10% <81300> CRT 1d16/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)

Sasha Plasha the Guide (R6) 37610 xp +10% <50000> CRT 1d10/III

 

RESERVES

Ramrod the Cloned Burglar (T5) 19543 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

            Being cloned 45 days COMPLETED!?!

Rahgnar the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 54462 xp <70001> CRT 1d24/V

            Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)

            Critical Wound:

                        REMAINING RECUPERATION: 0 DAYS

 

Elapsed Campaign Time

201 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation) 

Join us for session Eighty-seven when we ask the questions:

What’s up with this Nul rod thing?

Will we ever see Dr. Ephraim Thontorius again?

Are we heroes or zeros?

Is the surface just a ladder away?

Tale of the Tape

Will live to fight another day.

KILLS

Mind bats (6)

Cave Swallows (6)

Nul-ites

            Urethria – escaped

            Yithbara – captured and released

            Decapitantes (12) destroyed

LOOT

Diadem charm and gold necklace 75 gp

Wrong or Weirder Turn? (Session 85)

 SESSION 85: Did Things Just Get Stranger? (5NOV18)

            We were in rough shape after battling the ghastly berserkers along with the damnable chill that had been sinking into our bones the last few days. After quickly cleaning up the march continued. Get some distance from the carnage and get some rest was the plan. Again, a little luck, a hidden drow waystation (7b) was discovered once we deciphered a series of phosphorescent clues and markers. It was a luxury suite as far as subterranean military installations go. After resting we stole what was useful and pressed on. 

            The day seemed to be just a little colder than the previous, however that is possible, and made the morning calisthenics more challenging than normal. After travelling for most of the day we rolled into a chamber housing a spider nest. Another challenge without reward, stupid drow have been cleaning up for their spider-friends…Adding insult to injury all our racket attracted a group of margoyles spoiling for a fight – they had just been laid off so they really needed a shoulder to cry on or faces to punch. We went with the punching with swords. 

            Sometime during the next day, we must have crossed some sort of weirdness border. We had no idea San Francisco was right above us, that would have explained a lot. 

First was an impressive piece of statuary. It was a mustachioed being both reptilian and insectoid holding a catch basket. We eventually made donations and this was good. Right after we came to the first of a number of encounters with a centipede like creature moving at a breakneck speed and of indeterminate length crossing our path. This time we waited for a while and yet it kept on going and going and going. We eventually jumped it and continued along. 

Second we came to a keep ostensibly guarding or warding against ‘chaos storms’ issuing forth from the darker depths. The protectors were bat-winged dwarves. They allowed passage after a reasonable toll payment. We could not glean any information as the alarm system went nutty as we crossed the gulf that the keep enclosed. We were sent on our way as the dwarves locked down the keep and hid in their bunkers. It seemed prudent to get some distance, quickly. 

Third, there was a headless corpse sitting atop some giant scale steps that brought us to a well-trodden highway. The fellow had been dead for some time or drained of all fluids, your pick your favourite truth if it helps you sleep at night. Anyways, all his cool stuff was broken but there was a map. 

Four, six and eight more googolpede crossings. Yes, we had to rename it. The thing is preposterously long.

Five, the fortified defense zone and sanctum of the colossal sorcerer. Dude was crazy and not crazy about receiving guests, probably why he had a serious fortified zone. 

Seven, more giant steps. Yes, that is bigger than colossal. 

Nine, finding ourselves on another or maybe the same highway but less well maintained. The day was wearing on and we conveniently found an ancient shelter just off the main passage. The cistern long since dry and preserves lost to the ages. Still it seemed like a good place to rest. 

 

ROLECALL

Carla the Green Lama of TMB (C7) 87334 xp +10% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

            Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the Lama of GSS (C7) 85170 xp +5% <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Hobo Steve the Champion (F7) 83508 xp +5% <120,001> CRT 1d20/IV

            Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)

Raul the Ranger (MD6) 44501 xp <50000> CRT 1d10/III

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4, 

Removed one of his own nostrils.

Boris the Dwarven Champion (D7) 90450 xp +10% <140001> CRT 1d16/IV

            Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face

            Injury: lost 6 teeth                               

Ding-We the Peg-Legged Magician(W6) 68134 xp +10% <80001> CRT 1d8/I

            Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated

Bunny the Sharper (T7) 74932 xp <80001> +10% CRT 1d16/II

            Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand

            The Henchmen

Arnd Cobblestone the Dwarven Swashbuckler (D6) xxxx xp +5% <70001> CRT 1d14/ III

Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY6) 87755 <130001> CRT 1d10/III

            Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Sloth the Roughneck (L6) 40225 <xxxx> CRT 1d16/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)

Sasha Plasha the Guide (R6) 37365 xp +10% <50000> CRT 1d10/III

 

RESERVES

Ramrod the Cloned Burglar (T5) 19543 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

            Being cloned 45 days COMPLETED!?!

Rahgnar the Dwarven Myrmidon (D6) 54462 xp <70001> CRT 1d24/V

            Serious wound: permanent loss of an eye (-1 to missile fire)

            Critical Wound:

                        REMAINING RECUPERATION: 0 DAYS

 

Elapsed Campaign Time

199 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation) 

Join us for session Eighty-six when we ask the questions:

What is that centipede thing and where is it going?

What’s up with flying dwarves?

What is this ‘chaos storm’ that the dwarves were guarding against?

We have a map but where are we?

Who was the decapitated dude that was clutching the aforementioned map?

Has shit just gotten real weird?

What will the ‘shaft to the surface’ actually lead us to?

Tale of the Tape

Nothing to report

KILLS

Cave Spiders (12) 3000

Margoyles (6) 2400

LOOT

Rations and water stolen from Drow Waystation 7b.