SESSION 147: Across the Basilisk Hills Until We Find Something
Mission: Find the roc's nest and get super rich. A couple of weeks back the gang were attacked by a pair of gigantic predatory birds. They were able to slay the male but the female escaped and flew hard to the west by northwest to a distant range of mountains. He who is full of ideas and few solutions - Ding-We, was certain this was a path to riches. With barrow maze fading from memory our gang needed direction and this was good as anything else. We won't mention why they didn't simply get their longship on some water and make their way back to the Land of a Thousand Towers.
Day 6 Continued (14.23:07003) – Cloudy. Looking to the west we could see our final destination along the horizon, a line of broken black teeth. Sasha figured another couple of days to reach the Blood River and another three days after that to reach the mountains barring any further explorations. We were presently a couple of days behind schedule. Saff extra didn’t care, there was something in the air making her wackier than normal – if that was possible. Our three rescues suggested that we diverge a bit and stop at the stronghold of Liwil the home of the Basilisk Knights and what many considered the end of the road. After some debate in respect to the travel schedule it was agreed that an investigation was warranted. The ride across the hills was pleasant and trouble free.
Arriving at Liwil we are introduced to a true borderland settlement. A remnant order of knights maintaining this corner of the wilderness long after the diminishment of a once greater kingdom. Due to the small population and the infrequency of hobos our traveling companions are quickly recognized and allow us easy passage through the front gate. We check into the only tavern, the Knight and Stone, for an afternoon repast and accommodations for the night. The food was utilitarian and the evening will be spent in a common room but will still be a nice change from the road or a dank dungeon.
The party fragments, some stay to eat and drink while two groups go out to investigate the local resources. First, we visited the stable as was strongly recommended by our companions and upgraded ten of our horses to Basilisk Hill Ponys (see below for info). The stablemaster Jengifu San described the horses as smaller than warhorses but sure-footed found wild in the hills, capturing them as foals and training them to accept saddle and rider, and to bear the sounds and smell of war.
Of most interest and presumably why Saff was extra goofy was the presence of a dryad tree inside the walls. The dryad was not home, which does seem odd, but Saff did not really care she just wanted some fae tree time. Some equipment and herbal remedies and were acquired but we didn’t really have a chance to interact with the knights. Their tower had a small active garrison that we did not really garner the interest of and so we just passed on by.
We did learn of some of the strange politics though. An emissary was camped outside the gate and was a satyr. He was known as Wen-fan and represented Summer’s End a domain in Faery, and its leader, Countess Lorrandir of the Waning Days, to establish diplomatic relations and strike an alliance between the two domains. It seems that out in the borderlands one can make strange allies. Neat, and there were other interesting tidbits but we were just passing through.
Day 7 (14.23:05007) – Cloudy. The evening passed uneventfully. With the coming of morning we prepared to once more return to our roc hunt. Two of our new companions decided that they would join our mob, Dolec and Jogar. Frehdes however remained frigid and said she would be staying in Liwil to chart her own course in life. Smell ya later!
With that we mounted up and rode from town. Next stop the Blood River? We had learned that much of the surrounding lands are ripe with beastmen except for the NW because it is weird. Good enough for this pack, into (back to?) the weird we shall go. The morning was uneventful aside from a plateau rising into view ahead of us (14.23à13.22). As we got closer we could see some sort of weird event going on atop the plateau. This must be the aforementioned weird. This was also enough provocation for further inspection. We left the new guys and a few others with the horses and directed them to meet us on the other end of the plateau . Bunny was overjoyed to be leading another expedition towards something that just was not normal…
The plateau was scaled . The top of the plateau was relatively flat, with knee-high grass and the occasional copse of trees. We didn’t give much of a look (details most certainly overlooked) as something interesting caught our eye. What first appeared to be a group of hobos camping turned out to be weathered statues of a group of five hobos around an aged camp.
Ding-We was convinced that a doom had befallen this group. He came up with the ‘A+’ plan of de-stoning the female that appeared to be wizard. Well, Mr. Peg-Leg learned a little bit of a lesson regarding his ‘classist’ bias. Stone to flesh. Her body returned to a fleshy state and collapsed. Ding-We then was assaulted by an unseen force. He was not ready. The force was the soul of Ul’So the wizard he had just thawed out. Whatever doom befell this group way back when was recognized by the wizard just in time to jar her soul in some receptacle. Unfortunately, this meant that she has spent many decades trapped and aware of her predicament. Ul’So is now stark raving mad and in control of Ding-dong. This led to some really electrical shenanigans. We were really not prepared for Dinger to start trying to murder the lot of us. Nara fell to the ground going into death throes. Someone in the nick of time remembered that we had acquired a potion of vigour in Liwil. Administering the potion stabilized her long enough for Bimbles to provide further aid. Things were really going in Evil-Ding-We’s favour and then Carla came up with the idea, in the nick of time, that only evil possesses folks so dispel evil may be helpful. It was. Ul’So was cast from Ding-We (his collapsing to the ground totally confirmed it) and returned to her now not petrified body rather than wherever her soul had launched from. Biff acted with what had appeared to be unusual speed and insight. In reality he had been planning to do this to possessed Ding-We but didn't act with immediacy. Biff charged the wacko wizard and launched her off the top of the plateau - SPLAT!
With the smell of burnt flesh thick in the air we grabbed a quick breath before making our next move.
ROLECALL
Carla the Green High Priestess of TMB (C9) 231115 xp +10% <200001> CRT 1d12/III
Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm
Bimbles the Patriarch of GSS (C8) 190355 xp +5% <200001> CRT 1d12/III
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed arm
Hobo Steve the Superhero (F8) 187286 xp +5% <240,001> CRT 1d24/V
Brain Damaged: reduced mental capacity (tough night on the town)
Rahgnar the Dwarven Superhero (D8) 152123 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)
Raul the Voyager (MD8) 169382 xp +10% <240000> CRT 1d12/III
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -4,
Removed one of his own nostrils.
Ding-We the Peg-Legged Sorcerer (W9) 385132 xp +10% <470001> CRT 1d10/I
Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated, runs at ½ rate (peg required)
Bunny the Thief! (T9) 216918 xp <280001> +10% CRT 1d20/II
Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand
Ramrod the Cloned Magsman (T8) 92941 xp +5% <160001> CRT 1d20/II
Serious wound: Bad Back (-1 stone CC)
Scars: Neurological damage to hip, noticeable limp
Missing six teeth talks with a lisp
The Henchmen
Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Mad Ribbits (FY7) 152516 xp <200001> CRT 1d10/III
Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed guts
Sloth the Bopper (L7) 135460 xp +10% <178800> CRT 1d20/IV or 1d6/G (vs. s, m)
Mental Illness: Mummy-a-phobic
Nara the Nearly Naked Purple Swami Girl (P7) 76552 xp +5% <125000> CRT 1d6/I
Biff Bartley the Half-Orc Blackguard (HO7) 71997 <120000> +5% CRT 1d12/II
Sasha Plasha the Warden (R7) 76972 xp +10% <100000> CRT 1d10/III
Dolec Da (F3)
Jogar the Nine-Fingered (T4)
‘BOB’ the Deadly Shade (N7) 59275 <90000> +5% CRT 1d16/II
Felix Ignatius Hemlock the previously Skeletal Sleuth (I7) 42208 <80001> +5% CRT 1d16/II
Mason the Canon of Yrrrg. (C6) 40211 <50001> CRT 1d10/III
Yasser Imaphat the Djinn (D4) 30372 <32501> CRT 1d6/II
Gurn Hammerhand the Dwarven Swordsman (D3)
Wendul the Thaumaturgist (W5)
RESERVES
Charles in Charge the Myrmidon (F6) 45913 <64000> +10% CRT 1d16/IV
REMAINING RECUPERATION: 9 DAYS
Critical Wound: Punctured lung (-2 CON)
Mostly DEAD. (-1 CON) -ADJUSTMENT REQ’D
Boris the Dwarven Lord (D9) 319718 xp +10% <400001> CRT 1d20/IV
REMAINING RECUPERATION: 14 DAYS
Serious wound: permanent loss of CHA -3, carved up face
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed arm
Wound: Bad leg (-5’ MV)
Multiple Injuries: lost 20 teeth, drools a lot CHA -1
Serious Injury: Brain Drain -2 INT
Elapsed Campaign Time
329 days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation)
Join us for session One-Hundred-and-Forty-Eight when we ask the questions:
Knights and the fair folk, that was weird right?
How many more days will this take?
Tale of the Tape
Basilisk Hill Pony. AC 7 [12], HD 2+2 (11 hp), Att 2 x hoof (1d4), THAC0 17 [+2], MV 150’ (50’), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (F2), ML 9, AL Neutral, XP 35, NA 0 (0), TT None
The warhorses raised by the Basilisk Knights can carry 300 pounds at their normal movement and double that at half their move rate. When ridden by Knights on patrol they are equipped with all leather barding that grants an AC of 6 (instead of the 5 from standard barding), weighing 40 pounds. They are also hardy, requiring 75% of the normal feed required by a warhorse.
KILLS
Ul’so the insane wizard
LOOT
Potions: speed, growth
Stout hickory wand of Some Luck - once per day, when used as a focus to cast a spell, allows her to reroll one variable effect (damage, duration, number of targets affected, etc.) and take the better of the two results
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