Tuesday 28 November 2017

Session 159 - Dies Eye-Ray

Session 159 - Dies Eye-Ray

Campaign Date:
Monday, 23 November, 1600
Moon Phase: First Quarter
Zodiac: Scorpio

New Characters:
- Friar, a Magic-User who happened to be wandering around in the Barrowmaze and came to see what all the boss fight fuss was about.
- Clarence Eclair, a cartographer and scholar briefly Charmed by Seraph on the day of her martyrdom

New Backstory:
- Seraph fought in a small-scale Termaxian rebellion over on the continent after being radicalised. (+1 Str)
- Bertha's mother, dying of some charnel disease, told Bertha the secret that shattered her world... "There's no money left, you'll have to become a prostitute". (+1 Wis)
- Ratimir was in the midst of a bank robbery with a gaggle of fellow rats when he was wounded. He told his friends to go on without him... but they all got gunned down. Ratimir spent agonising hours slowly crawling through the bodies and hid in a fountain until the heat was off. (While fleeing, can grant your Flee die result to another)

Enemies Defeated:
- A Beholder (1500 exp)
- 4 ghouls (200 exp)
- 2 shambling shrubs (1000 exp)
- Seraph's executioner (10 exp)
- 90 so-called innocents (0 exp)
Total: 2710 exp

Treasure and Equipment:
- Your lives! And briefly a potion.
- The spell Tear the Veil Asunder
Total: 0 exp

Exploration:
- Travelled around 40 miles (140 exp)
- Explored 3 dungeon rooms (60 exp)
Total: 200 exp

Events:
- In the Barrowmaze, a deadly battle for survival against the mighty BEHOLDER stands on a knife edge. Sacrifices will have to be made if anyone is going to make it out alive... (50 exp)
- In Fortress-City Fate, amidst the billowing steam and groaning metal of a brass city undergoing some strange metamorphosis, Seraph asks passers-by if they've heard of a certain library containing a certain forbidden book of extreme heresy. (50 exp)
--- Team Barrowmaze

Inline images 1

- We zoom back into the fight that was left on a cliffhanger last time. An eye-of-many-eyes BEHOLDER chained above a swirling pit of souls, several yellow-clawed GHOULS striking in to attack the PARTY who cower by the double doors. (50 exp)
- Nix is compelled to attack her friends, aiming a supremely deadly punch right at Randy... but in that split second before caving in his face she stops. Randy's her friend! The Charm is broken! (50 exp)
- Unfortunately the ghouls don't have such compunctions about ripping Randy to shreds, and he's swiftly savaged by their poisonous claws. He barely survives. (50 exp)
- One of Ratimir's rats is scurrying around on the Beholder's head, disrupting one of its attacks, but it still blasts out with two other eye beams. A scintillating yellow ray hits poor Randy, who is immediately stunned. (50 exp)
- The other beams out and hits Galaxy Johnson with a sleep beam... but Elves don't sleep! Go go space alien! (50 exp)
- Galaxy Johnson parries many ghoul-blows, swinging under the guard of one and stabbing in with his pick. Nice! He gets hit a couple of times, but Elves are immune to ghoul poison for weird legacy reasons. It's good to be him! (50 exp)
- Friar, a Magic User, turns up at the back of the group and is immediately trusted by all. (50 exp)
- Galaxy Johnson dives back to shut one half of the door. He nearly falls over Ratimir, who managed to fuck up a gambit and told his rats to "go for the eyes!" without telling them which eyes. He writhes on the ground, trying to get his rats to stop trying to blind him. (50 exp)
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- Just in time, Bertha cuts through with a powerful Subjugate Dead. She can see the spirits whirling from the portal... and by the way they swirl she can make out where everyone is! She can almost see again! (50 exp)
- All four of the ghouls freeze mid-attack... and turn around towards the Beholder. It doesn't have time to fight back as they fall upon it with their paralysing claws! (50 exp)
- It tries to fight back, stunning one and turning the other to stone, but is overcome by the stunning poison flowing through its veins. It drops down into the pit and into the maelstrom, bouncing on the chains. (50 exp)

Inline images 10

- Bertha uses her soul-sight to enter the room and investigate the Pit of Souls. She sees the statue of Cyrus Carnithrex Maximus in full armour, throttling a tentacle. She also sees the the pit is surrounded by magical writings... it's a spell! (50 exp)
- POWERLAD shows up finally and is horrified to see that Bertha has been blinded... and by one of his own crossbows no less! (50 exp)
- A couple of large motile shrub monsters begin crawling out of the pit. Nix and Bertha's ghoulfriends run in to attack as they crest the edge of the pit. (50 exp)
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- Friar blasts one of the crawling shrubs with Faerie Fire, outlining it in vivid violet and making it easier to hit. (50 exp)
- Together with Friar, Bertha and POWERLAD begin tearing pages out of one of Bertha's books and take rubbings of the carven spell. (50 exp)
- One of the ghouls kicks a shrub into a pit. Hardcore. (50 exp)
- Ratimir sends his rat swarms into glorious battle, and the other shrub squishes one. Just one. (50 exp)
- The rubbing is complete! Everyone disengages, Bertha led by POWERLAD. They flee for the exit... and they make it! To my very great surprise, the blatant TPK-to-be has ended with no deaths! (50 exp)
--- Team Seraph
- Seraph wanders the streets of Fate, halo radiant, asking if anybody's heard of the Library of Jumurak, (50 exp)
- Nobody really has, but she is approached by a skeezy looking guy who asks her if she's interested in a plan for a "change of management" in Fate. If she is, head to Wizzbang Will's and ask for Slim. (50 exp)
- She declines for now and heads to the grand Library of Fate to hunt for information. She's already bought citizenship, so flashes her ID card to access the library. (50 exp)

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- She heads to the history of Fortress-City Fate section and begins looking stuff up, discovering that the Battlefortress is human-pilotable, and can be piloted by a single person at that! (50 exp)

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- Satisfied for now, she decides to hit up Wizzbang Will's place and investigate. On her way out, she Charms a scholar to research Fortress-City Fate for her, but then tells him what she's done for a weird "I've dominated your psyche but we can still be friends right?" vibe. (50 exp)
- She heads for Wizzbang WIll's on the transport links, arriving to find a garishly coloured drug shop/drug den with a bored guy tending the shop. She asks for "Slim", and is blindfolded and led through a few doors until she gets to Jimmy's office. (50 exp)

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- It's Slim Jimmy! But he's like 85, real real old. And of course, Seraph doesn't know him herself. He explains that there's a plot to depose the Fated Queen, expose her as an Elf, and blame her for all the apocalyptic shenanigans. (50 exp)
- As he speaks, there is a faint yell from outside, and later a door banging. He perks up at the noises, looking oddly at Seraph as he does so, but these are ignored. (50 exp)
- Seraph agrees to be the figurehead of the rebellion, preaching Termaxianism, and says she will need to understand what's going on with the city is she is to help take it over. (50 exp)
- Slim Jimmy nods and says "alright then", and suddenly armed guards burst into the room! "Get down on the ground!" (50 exp)
- "I apologise. You must understand that the security of the city is paramount in these uncertain times" says Jimmy as he presses a button and his chair falls backwards into an escape hatch in the wall. (50 exp)
- The guards tell Seraph she's under arrest for sedition, and Seraph complies. She is cuffed and frogmarched through the streets. She blesses beggars as she goes along, an innocent angel arrested by brutal guards. (50 exp)
- As the cathedral looms in the distance, Seraph tries one last thing - popping the last two of those weird mushrooms that originally turned her into an Elf! One turns her hair bright yellow, the other makes her trip balls! (50 exp)
- She fades out into a riot of noise and synesthesia. She hears a thousand voices murmering, hears those voices cheering and shouting, feels rough hands sit her down. There is a moment when someone says "are you alright?" (50 exp)
- There is a loud imperious voice. A cavernous voice. A hundred cries of shock and anger and elation. There is a basket, and she sees the weave at the bottom of it. She's lying on a bed looking into a basket woven of basket of woven of weave. (50 exp)
- There is a sharp steel sound. She is suddenly standing, looking at herself, as the blade of a guillotine descends treacle-slowly towards her neck, She has cast Comes the Godhead, and her yellow hair writhes through the air like a nest of serpents. (50 exp)

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- The blade touches the back of her neck and she is eclipsed by a burning white orb of holy fire. The flash of bright energy evaporates everything for 50' around, annihalating the guillotine, the platform, the executioner, the priests, and nearly a hundred people in a wide circle. (50 exp)
- The Fated Queen, from the balcony of the Church of Nine Corners, looks on in horror as Seraph ascends to Martyrdom. (50 exp)
--- Team Barrowmaze
- Back in Helix, the party settle down for a well-earned rest. Bertha checks out the rubbings, discovering that the spell is called Tear the Veil Asunder and requires at least a hundred Necromancers, a full lunar cycle, and the deaths of a hundred of the Necromancers involved in the ritual. It tears a hole into Death, which is presumably what keeps the tentacles down when you use the spell. (50 exp)
- Bertha and POWERLAD head to the wizard's tower to ask that weirdo wizard about cures for blindness. (50 exp)
- He only knows that Clerics have spells for restoring blindness, and also has a bunch of randomised potions that he forgot to label and will sell on the cheap. (50 exp)
- Ratimir buys a potion, chugs it down without reading the label, and becomes temporarily powerful! He draws a ton more rats towards him before the potion wears off, creating a large rat army! (50 exp)- Bertha tries to persuade the wizard to teach her the spell that made him immortal, but he refuses rudely. Too many immortal wizards around, donchaknow. (50 exp)
- Mildly annoyed, the party debate what to do next. A whirling flock of crows flies overhead, screeching "Resist the final dogma!" and similar. The party flag him down to ask him what's going on. (50 exp)

Inline images 7

- "Cyrus has initiated the Final Dogma!" he caws, "It's the order to kill all mankind and raise them as Dead for the final battle for all creation!" (50 exp)
- Seeing as that's fucked up, Cardinal Scream has gone rogue. He's got no real plan other than to save as many lives as possible, damn the consequences. (50 exp)
- He flies off again, and after a vote to see what they should do next, the party decide it's time to hit up the Gravity Dragon and see if they can help wake it up to defeat the tentacles. (50 exp)
- On their way, they see distant Dead marching to murder mankind, and a patch of ground where worms writhe out of the very earth. (50 exp)
- They reach the floating mountain of the gravity dragon. Winged figures swoop around the heights, waterfalls flow upwards, and a whole lot of floating boulders form a climbable spiral all the way up to the mountain itself . (50 exp)

Inline images 9

- The climb ends at a natural dungeon entrance on the underside of the floating mountain - a cave of shiny and reflective mirrored black rock. The reflections that reflect and reflect and reflect from the surfaces seem to move after, and before, you do. (50 exp)
- Also weird, gravity shifts 90 degrees as you climb up into the entrance. You can look straight ahead and be staring directly down towards the ground. (50 exp)
- The party start moving towards some muffled voices, and gravity suddenly inverts! POWERLAD casts Featherfall quickly, and the party land safely and softly on the ceiling. Spooked, they continue. (50 exp)
- Reaching the source of the voices, POWERLAD recognises who it is... Banjo Fishwick! More specifically, like ten Banjo Fishwicks all hanging out together! (50 exp)
- POWERLAD speaks to them, and they ask where his wife is. "Right here, actually" he says, pointing to Bertha. The Banjo Fishwicks are shocked, he's an anomalous POWERLAD! (50 exp)
- One of them excitedly agrees to guide the party to the head of the gravity dragon. An anomalous POWERLAD! What a cool surprise! (50 exp)
Total: 2500 exp

Misc:
- AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa bonus (50 exp)
- Absolutely Disgusting bonus (50 exp)
- Aggressive Negotiations bonus (50 exp)
- Balls to the Wall bonus (50 exp)
- Best of Intentions bonus (50 exp)
- Bookworm bonus (50 exp)
- Brutal Kill bonus (50 exp)
- Classic Charles bonus (50 exp)
- Diplomancy bonus (50 exp)
- Dramatic Battle bonus (50 exp)
- Dramatic Rescue bonus (50 exp)
- Fame bonus (50 exp)
- Henchman Abuse bonus (50 exp)
- Heresy bonus (50 exp)
- High as Fuck bonus (50 exp)
- I Immediately Regret This Decision bonus (50 exp)
- Leave a Man Behind bonus (50 exp)
- Long Deliberation bonus (50 exp)
- Noblebright bonus (50 exp)
- Michael Bay bonus (50 exp)
- Mind Control to Major Tom bonus (50 exp)
- Poison is OP bonus (50 exp)
- Pundemonium bonus (50 exp)
- Pyrrhic Victory bonus (50 exp)
- Split the Party bonus (50 exp)
- SpoOOoOOOoOooky bonus (50 exp)
- This! Is! Sparta! bonus (50 exp)
Total: 1350 exp

Party Roles and Individual Exp:
- Remembrancer (Charles / Galaxy Johnson - 100 exp)
- Caller (James / Ratimir - 100 exp)
- Mapper (Fraser / Nix - 100 exp)
- Treasurer (Fraser / Nix - 100 exp)
- Quartermaster (Kitty / Bertha - 100 exp)
- Guard (Kitty / Bertha - 100 exp)
- Tracker (Kitty / Bertha - 100 exp)
- Chippo Man bonus (Fraser*2 - 200 exp)
- JÜGBRINGYR bonus (Kitty, Fraser, Tom - 500 exp ea.)
- Art Attack bonus (Charles, Tom - 100 exp)
- Artapalooza bonus (Charles - 100 exp)
- Attacco d'Meme bonus (Tom - 100 exp)
- An Hero bonus (Tom - 200 exp)
- Awesome Death bonus (Tom - 500 exp)
- Lonely Death bonus (Tom - 500 exp)
Rumours:
The Witch Queen has taken over an old tower that the sea once claimed, at low tide you can just see the tops of the spires.
- The Dead cannot see through the sheer life energy of a tree! Hide behind one and they cannot find you.

Active Businesses:
- Bone Alone. Wild. 318sp. (Zena's Stake: 212sp, Carrie's Stake: 106sp)
- Honey Healing. Safe. 2014sp. (Nix's Stake: 1679sp. Bertha's Stake: 335sp)

Death Toll and Injuries:
- Seraph was executed for crimes against the state, destroying everything around her with holy fire as her final act.

Exp Totals:
- Fraser / Nix Neckbiter, Level 7 Barbarian: 64252 (Level up at 128000)
*DING!* +1d8 HP! +2 rolls on the Barbarian Levelup Table! +backstory!
--- Randy, Level 1 Hench-Dwarf: 1297 (Level up at 2200)
- Charles / Galaxy Johnson, Level 4 Elf (Alpdrucke): 12649 (Level up at 24000)
*DING!* +1d6 HP! +Saves! +1 level 2 spell/day! +free spell! +backstory!
- James / Ratimir, Level 4 Ratman: 6934 (Level up at 12000)
- Kitty / Bertha, Level 3 Necromancer: 6731 (Level up at 9000)
- Tom / Seraph Dawnstride, Level 2 Elf (Living Saint): 3973 (Level up at 6000)
*EXECUTED*- Tom / Clarence Eclair, Level 2 Specialist: 2940 (Level up at 3000)*DING!* +1d6 HP! +2 skill points! +backstory!
- Imran / Friar, Level 1 Magic User: 1040 (Level up at 2250)
Absent or Retired:
- Andy / Carrie Meleste, Level 5 Cleric: 25557 (Level up at 28000)
- Kitty / POWERLAD!, Level 6 Muscle Wizard: 53279 (Level up at 72000)
- Yuri / Bjorn Gunnerson, Level 2 Barbarian: 2278 (Level up at 4000)
- Sunni / Larry's Legends, Level 1 Extras: 758 (Level up at 1500)
- Fraser / Tippin, Level 1 Ratman: 1458 (Level up at 1500)
- Charles / Zena, Level 6 Fighter: 41566 (Level up at 64000)
- Tom / Meteor Power Shower, Level 2 Barbarian: 3061 (Level up at 4000)
- Nix's Retainer
--- Huz, Level 0 Hireling
- Tom / Spicy Mac, Level 2 Halfling: 3457 (Level up at 4000)
- Eleanor / Mugg, Level 2 Fighter: 2357 (Level up at 4000)
- Kyle / Gimlass the Brave, Level 2 Dwarf: 2257 (Level up at 4400)
- Amar / Amar's Cleric, Level 1 Cleric: 1413 (Level up at 1750)
- Henry / Henry's Next Character: +2084 exp
- Ollie / Tremendo Picante, Level 2 Ratman: 2654 (Level up at 3000)
- James / Raaf van Held, Level 4 Fighter: 14838 (Level up at 16000)
- Eglė / Bob, Level 1 Dwarf: 434 (Level up at 2200)
- Ollie / Andromeda Spiderbite, Level 5 Muscle Wizard: 19872 (Level up at 36000)
- Will / Cecil Fulbright, Level 5 Cleric (Termaxian): 15063 (Level up at 28000)
- James / William Fox-Shitt, Level 3 Cleric (Zeanist): 4571 (Level up at 7000)

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