Missing Sequences: Brine Lord Cassidy's Tomb

Showing posts with label Brine Lord Cassidy's Tomb. Show all posts

Sunday, 18 February 2024

The Strong Arm of the Abyss (Session 240)

SESSION 240: The Bubbly Brine of Blood

The demonic forces were not done with our rag-tag band.

Day 162 (Continued II -12.20/0605): The swarm began to arrive, birthing from the three throbbing red portals. Fortunately demons do not understand ‘orderly’, the portals were choked with magnathas. Chaos for the log jam! So much so only one could squirm free of the logjam at each. This was very fortunate as fighting a lone octo-spider was challenging and three immediately began to gum up our group with their gelatinous cords. As the front-liners did their best to hold the line the spell casters went about dispelling the portals and successfully knocked out two. This resulted in only a single further magnaths escaping the Sanguine Fathoms. Just to keep the gang honest, all the racket had finally attracted the attention of Cassidy’s other bride – Luraina the Handmaiden. She entered the chamber without observation and silently slid her way towards Mason and Bimbles. She reached out with her tentacles at the two clerics. She hit Mason and he burned (Whomever knows fear burns at the touch of the Handmaiden, one could say but it seems dangerously close to infringement). His flesh bubbled and began to openly ooze out a purplish ichor.

Luraina was a horrific creature appearing to be coddling a purplish sack. The bottom half is a bulbous dark ooze that slides across the seafloor, while the top half resembles a half-rotted female with several reddish barnacles clinging to her corpse. Her long hair dances in the water, her arms are purplish tentacles with three pronged claws; a silvery pendant around her neck is the only thing of beauty upon her.

Mason had a deep feeling of dread that he was not far from becoming her ooze minion. Bimbles tried to turn her but she just laughed at his feeble display of devotion.

At the other end of the fight, Carla and Chorda were out of the fight as they had been wrapped up in sticky thread. The fighters however were getting their blows in. The third portal had been dispelled so it appeared to only be a matter of time until the magnathas were eradicated! Charles began ramping up his heroic deeps around now. Gaining advantage over the spid-octopi allowed Charles to charge, to the back, and smite the wretched oozing undead handmaiden of Abyzou. Luraina was able to melt Mason once more and the Captain’s weapon was fastly stuck to her slug-like lower body. Charles and Franz did not seem to care they were in for the game as she was a vile undead thing. Mason fell back holding his bubbling face. Back up front, Steve and Rhags finished up with the spidery abominations and turned their attention to getting Carla and Chorda out of their sticky situations. This gave Charles enough time to finish things as he sundered the Handmaiden of Abyzou. The battle complete.

As the skin suit drifted abstractly through the blighted waters the gang turned their attention to the mirror. Standing like a monolith at the terminus of Ding-We’s parted water. It was the Dephizar Mirror the source of all contamination, a great mirror (10’ tall) surrounded by strange spined shells of whirling light blues, purples, and dappled with yellows and angry oranges. It was near perfect, except for a missing piece at the apex. Looking into it, was a coagulating sea of blood pushing against what was more window than mirror. He hobos deliberated. Chorda used this time to disappear, this would not be noticed until he was well and long gone. The horrific medallion found in Luvous’s sarcophagus likely was the perfect fit for the missing piece. They decided that reuniting the medallion with the mirror was totally the best thing to do (I said, “sure fill your boots…”). It was not the best thing to do. They came up with an indirect method of placing the missing piece using a pole and some of the sticky spid-octopus gunk.

The portal was now open.

Good job, prepare for your reward.

Bubbles erupted from the shell spines and the mirror began to glow a brilliant yellow light. A chorus of twisted clicks, whistles and pulsed sounds, similar to an army of whales, reverberated throughout the chamber.

They were dumbfounded by the cacophony and the something crawled out. A demonic entity, stretched and slender with elongated limbs ending in thick serrated claws controlled by a frog-like head with a grizzly maw of broken glass. Nine feet tall it was and far faster than expected when its attention came to our hobos. Stepping into our world as its flesh ruptured releasing a tarry blood substance. It grinned in a grotesque way. Then it was upon the front line with supernatural speed. This was an unrelenting emissary of Chaos. Much like the Handmaiden this Farastu demodand was a sticky MoFo. It laid down some serious physical damage but it was not the first adversary that was grossly outnumbered by our hobo elite.

Once more, it was just the gang and the mirror. Ding-We and Carla resorted to debate. Charles would commit his final heroic deed as the others blathered. He brought forth his shield and charged. Just before impact the Screaming Eagle shield let forth one more screech before being sundered as it obliterated the portal to the Sanguine Fathoms, “There we go. Now let’s loot this joint and get the hell out of here!”. The non-debaters gave a cheer and then they all got to work chipping out the spoils from the barnacle varnished walls and floor. The loot was good.

The treasure was quickly stowed away for later assessment as the hobos wanted to get the hell out of the water as soon as possible. They moved as quickly as they could back to the mess hall. The journey was completed.

Back onto dry land, sure it was a tomb but it was currently mostly dry.

The tide was coming.

Next, they will make a run to their chamber of pictures to rest prior to getting the hell out of here. Destination the surface world.

Easier intended than done, you will see.

ROLECALL

Carla the Green High Priestess of TMB (C10) 313941 xp +10% <400001> CRT 1d12/III

Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm

Bimbles the High Priest of GSS (C9) 276643 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) 289416 xp +5% <360,001> CRT 1d24/V

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

Rahgnar the Dwarven Superhero (D8) 210405 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 Sorcerer (W9) 463664 xp +10% <470001> CRT 1d10/I

Critical Wound: Left leg obliterated, runs at ½ rate (peg required)

Bunny the Thief! (T9) 257448 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) 176755 xp <200001> CRT 1d10/III

Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen

Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed guts

Mason the Lama of Yrrrg. (C7) 60920 <100001> CRT 1d10/III

Charles in Charge the Myrmidon (F6) 59051 <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) 43871 xp +10% <64000> CRT 1d20/IV

Missing five teeth

Captain Alamend Strender the Swashbuckler (F5) 25020 <32000> +5% CRTXXX

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: 32 days (from day 600)

Elapsed Campaign Time

604 (630) days at beginning of session (also applies to recuperation)

Join us for session Two-Hundred-and-Forty-One when we ask the questions:

What about the jellyfish?

What about Abyzou’s minions?

Is our ship still intact?

What nightmares await us on the Sunless Sea?

Has anyone noticed just how repulse Marginal Mason has become?

Tale of the Tape

Exploration Below the Blighted Sub-Hex

Location hex: 12.20

KILLS

Magnatha (4)

Luaina the Handmaiden

Farastu (Tarry) Demodand

LOOT

Silver locket infused with pearl and a platinum chain 2000 gp

10,347 cp - discarded

5,210 sp

3,225 gp

657 pp

Pink pearl necklace (400 gp)

two topaz gems (50 gp ea)

diamond (300 gp)

three pieces of jade (25 gp ea)

Suit of human-sized abalone shell armor (light, AC 5)

Sea Horse Statuette (magic)

Wand of Fireballs (8 charges)

Staff of Healing (23 charges)

Shield +2 that’s shaped like a crab

Potion of Invisibility

Ring of XXXXX

Spear +2 made entirely of a ensorcelled swordfish bill.

Thursday, 15 February 2024

Abyssal Waters (Session 239)

SESSION 239: The Source -- Getting Wet Beneath the Brine Lord's Tomb

The blood red waters await. At the end of the journey is Abyzou, demon lieutenant of the Sanguine Fathoms.

Day 162 (Continued 12.20/0605): It was finally time. The hobos were ready to make the plunge and it would be done via the flooded chamber east of the mess hall. The hike was smooth and easy. Readied with potions, kelp bladders and magic. They descended the steps into the chamber until the front line stood before the waters edge. Here goes nothing.

They dropped into the hazy red waters. Most certainly Abyzou’s zone of influence. It was in fact the lair of a magnatha, a gross amalgam of octopus and spider infused with a healthy demonic influence. The thing was currently elsewhere, not far but keenly aware of the murderhobo presence. Our goobers were having a tough time seeing mush in the hazy waters. They did notice something wiggling in the back of the chamber but decided to investigate the larger of two corridors behind them instead. All surfaces of this aquatic world were treacherous. Covered in Abyssal barnacles secreting their vile shellac entombing all other life, it was a marine graveyard. Travel was painfully slow. About 30 minutes later it attacked. Resembling an 8’ long, part spider/part octopus creatures from the Sanguine Fathoms dimension with a heard covered in transparent skin, revealing sparkly veins and flashes of synapses, like a mini-universe. Eight spindly, 3’ long legs near its head spin a sticky gelatinous cord that is dragged by it’s legs. The magnatha attacked.

The aquatic realm was clearly its home and our gang were at a disadvantage, at least they had a numeric advantage. The demonoid worked from the shadows just beyond observation and reach of the hobos. Tossing sticky threads and blood hungry barnacles. Steve eventually used his free movement to engage the abomination and entangled it in a melee that it would not survive.

The hazy waters of the Sanguine Fathoms had waned so they turned around to return to the original chamber. Returning, this time they actually investigated the chamber. The movement had been caused by a Histrix that had been embedded into the wall with spider-thing webbing and barnacle shellac. It used telepathy to plead for its life, “Release me. Kill demon. Revenge. Kill demon. Help you. Free me!”. Lucky for the evil seahorse-man, Chorda, the mob suspected they needed as much help as they could raise. “Deeper into the blood waters. Must go”, Chorda gestured to the two corridors going southward. The gang choose the southwesterly one. No comment came from the Histrix whom fell into the back of the line. The tunnel went aways until forking they turned hard south and came to a larger barnacle laden chamber. Dead and dying creatures affixed in cruor barnacle cementation. “Close now. Go deeper”, was Chorda’s contribution. The waters were good and hazy now. Another passage at the back of the chamber led closer to the final destination. It was absolutely choked with abyssal barnacles slowing movement even further to avoid setting the things off. It took a half hour before they successfully navigated the passage. It opened into a large chamber, they had to take Chorda’s word for this because visibility was markedly limited,red barnacles cling to every rock surface, expelling their gooey slime across bones of their victims (sea life and several histrix bones) and releasing their bloody concoction into the water

. A cacophony of clicks and muted growls reverberated through the waters of the chamber. “We here. It here too. Maybe others”, Chorda readied his spear.

They moved closer.

A string of bubbles appears ahead, generated by hundreds of tiny limbs rapidly molding the slimy barnacle goo into some sort of translucent giant-sized skin suit. The tiny limbs were just a portion of the abomination that was Abyzou. It was like a cross between clam- worm, seahorse, with spider-like components haphazardly affixed. The limbs seemed to grow larger, smaller, increase in number or decrease as the creature worked. Two histrix worked beside it, and beyond them, was a great mirror (10’ tall) strongly radiating whirling colours of light blues, purples, and dappled with yellows and angry oranges.

The she-demon reared up with the interruption making an unnerving trumpeting noise revealing a mouth on a long snout and a second maw of jagged death that exploded from her torso. The Histrix brought forth tridents and moved to attack. There would be no negotiation. Ding-We had a trick or two up his sleeve. The first was to haste mighty Dolec as Steve largely unimpeded due to his armor of free action. The Histrix swung in along the sides looking to pierce the softer hobos behind the tanks as Abyzou fell back committing to Abyssal magics to call forth what was presumed to be three portals of glowing blood red. Steve’s advance was slowed by the treacherous rough terrain of the barnacle encrusted floor. Rhags and Dolec did their best to keep up (10’ behind). The demon continued its ritualistic magic allowing Ding-We to pull his second trick – part water. Producing a water free channel straight to the demon. This allowed the three tanks, and Chorda whom had swum behind the enemy, to get into melee with Abyzou. The Histrix servants were not faring well as Bunny and Captain Alamend provided support for the clerics. Abyzou opened up like hell (or a bloody abyssal abyss) came to earth. Clawed arms exploded from its body buffeting her four attackers and then followed up with a paralyzing bite upon the hasty Dolec and then attempted to swallow Rhags with its colossal torso mouth. Dolec was dropped but Rhags was able to keep his shield in pace to prevent being consumed. Following this Evelyn the Lure made her presence known as she sang an enchanting rhythmic diddy.

A shapely dark-haired woman wearing a sea shell crown and a flowing pure white nightgown. Only when angry does her face contort to rage revealing pointy sharp teeth, long nails, and flesh rot. Her hair sways wildly about her face as if it has a mind of its own. Sha was clearly angry and very ugly.

Bimbles and the Captain complied with the mesmerizing and dropped to the ground. Carla and Bunny turned to deal with Evelyn. Her timing was not perfect if she wanted to support her team as Steve and Rhags to sacrifice defence to deal as much damage as possible to the demoness. The gambit worked Abyzou dissolved into reddish black cloud before simply disappearing. Steve turned around and charged the rotting lady known as the Lure. She gave him a potent punch in the throat draining him of vitality before his counter sundered the wretched creature.

They all grabbed one breath before the portal things started strobing and releasing deep rhythmic notes. Things were coming forth and they have tentacles and spider-like legs – more magnatha were coming.

And they thought the first one was bad enough, here comes a whole bunch…