Session 200 - The Road Home

Two hundred sessions baby! Holy crap! I suppose it's fitting, then, that the party has finally left Dwimmermount. Burdened not with Azoth, as planned, but with glorious purpose.

Styx is on the side of the angels, and POWERLAD's link to Hyper-Jesus is weak but holding.
Can these rival messiahs turn the tide against Shub-Niggurath? We'll find out in this new century of sessions!

POWERLAD convalesces.
Zena gets tongue-tied.
Styx preaches to the converted.

- Charles reveals Zena's new purpose in life

He rubbed his hand up and down the shaft, an expression of statisfaction emerging on his face. "POWERLAD? What are you doing?" came Bertha's voice from the doorway. POWERLAD turned, cloth in hand. "Just polishing my crossbow, babe." - From POWERLAD's Massive Weapon

- Kitty reveals another excerpt from POWERLAD's published works.

Session 200 - The Road Home

Campaign Date:

Sunday, 14 May, 1601

Moon Phase: Waning Crescent

Zenith: Alaunus

Zodiac: Tauros

Treasure and Equipment:

- Blankets and some newly formed Gubers.

Total: 0 exp

Enemies Defeated:

- A few assorted undead (100 exp)

Total: 100 exp

Exploration:

- Nearly 60 miles of travel (200 exp)
- 2 random encounters (100 exp)

Total: 300 exp

Events:

--- Mountainside Hideaway
- We find the party in a hell of a state. Zena is barely holding it together from all this frog poison, and POWERLAD’s a shrivelled husk of what he used to be. The tick disease is throbbing through them both. (50 exp)
- Worse, they’re outside the Dwarf Door and don’t have a Dwarf who can let them in! (50 exp)
- Styx, Andromeda, and the disciples set up a temporary camp on the mountainside until a Dwarf can turn up to let them in. (50 exp)

- During an opportune moment when Styx and Andromeda are out of earshot, Styx talks to her about her feelings for POWERLAD. It gets pretty raw. (50 exp)
- Andromeda’s still hurting and still in love with POWERLAD but she’s in this for the long haul. Maybe being close to POWERLAD is enough for now, you know? She’ll always be in his stories at least. (50 exp)
--- Styx the Chef

- It’s at that moment that the quasi-present Flaming Fury opens the Dwarf door before fading back into the narrative quantum background! How lovely of her! (50 exp)
- Relieved, the party heads in for a last rest before they set off for Moondin once more. (50 exp)
- Since Chef Zena is currently too poisoned to cook, it’s up to Styx! He grabs a variety of ingredients collected from the dungeon - some frog legs, some Venusian greens from the launch chamber, and some Giant Tick husks. (50 exp)

- He declares this dish to be called “Demon in the Deep”, the greens and frogs legs cooked up together with tick innards and served in bowls made from the ticks’ shells. It’s surprisingly delicious! (50 exp)
- Even better, there’s enough to feed everyone! Their resolve is strengthened by this good good food. (50 exp)
--- Full Morning

- The next day, POWERLAD is no longer suffering the effects of severe blood loss! Wonderful! Yet both he and Zena are feeling weaker and more arthritic as the tick disease takes hold. (50 exp)

- Worse, the disease is draining him and preventing him from recovering. He has to keep his dragon-strength powers active to hold onto life. It’s dire. (50 exp)
- Zena’s feeling extra weird… and suddenly realises that she’s got a mutant frog tongue! It can lash out up to 30’, what was in that meal?! At least she’s over the worst of the poison. (50 exp)
- Gathering all the loot and equipment they have into the floating Guber hover-wagon. POWERLAD and Zena are set up on bedrolls and blankets in the car. (50 exp)
- There’s not near enough room in the Guber for everyone, so Styx and Andromeda work together to create a few more Gubers from the stone of the mountain. Convoy! (50 exp)
--- On the Road Again

- The Gubers hover off around the mountain, leaving the curious angels behind. The land stretches before them. Tentacles writhe in the cracks of the dying Earth. The Black Sun bleeds. The horizon flashes with beams of energy from the heavens. There are flies everywhere, and the constant smell of rot. (50 exp)

- Styx swings by Muntberg and finds the place abandoned as before. The god beams have boiled off slowly. Some have boiled back enough to reveal the bodies of those frozen in the beams - the outer layers of flesh rot where they are exposed to air. (50 exp)
- He grabs some blankets for POWERLAD and Zena and gets out of there. He notices fresh tracks from mules and foot traffic but decides to ignore them. (50 exp)
- The cars hover easily over the arms of cancerous tentacles which bulge from the earth. In POWERLAD’s ear, the voice of Hyper-Jesus grows weaker. (50 exp)
- As they enter the long mountain pass that heads to Gush, there are signs of a fight. Lightning-roasted tentacultists lie collapsed in the road. Tracks lead off but are also ignored. No need to get involved! (50 exp)

- The faint sound of music can be heard as they pass the turn-off to Pembrooktonshire. Oshregaal’s party must still be going! Despite Zena’s protestations, they continue on. (50 exp)
- Finally reaching the town of Cound at the other end of the pass, they find it strangely empty. The tiniest flickers of cold pale fire still flicker on the stones of the guard house. (50 exp)
- On the road there’s a split coin purse. An obol and 3 memory chits are inside, but they’re all a bit odd. The Obol turns into a silver coin with Gifflewim’s face on it, and the memory chits seems to have his head spinning in their depths. (50 exp)
- Theories on what happened to Gifflewim are floated, it’s nice to know he’s still around somewhere. (50 exp)
--- An Evening In

- This is as good a place as any to set up camp. The houses show signs of quick exodus, followed by subsequent looting. At least they’re dry inside. (50 exp)

- Overnight, they discuss what to do for Galaxy Johnson’s funeral. His corpse is dessicated and tied up in web. The idea of making him weightless and throwing him into space seems fitting, but maybe not something to do right now. (50 exp)
- The evening passes uneventfully, the wind moaning mournfully outside. In POWERLAD’s fever, he dreams strange dreams once more. (50 exp)
- He’s seeing as Ninhursag sees again. Clouds roil above the Twinned Cities on the horizon. On the other, the great Prime Tentacle is crushing Ereshkigal in a vice grip. Fortress-City Fate is nearby, blasting holes in the tentacle which are swiftly grown over and boiled away. (50 exp)
--- Misty Morning
- POWERLAD wakes up mumbling about tentacles and beams. The tick disease is bad - he’s wasting away. Outside is a constant oppressive drizzle, the type that seems to float everywhere and get every piece of clothing damp. (50 exp)
- Styx takes the opportunity to engage angel flight mode and fly straight up. The water feels wonderful on his green skin. He breaches the cloud layer and prays to Alaunus above. (50 exp)
- Alaunus is nothing like Styx expected - he’s very chatty and supportive! They have a great conversation, Alaunus promising Styx his assistance if he needs it! (50 exp)

- Styx descends on a pillar of blue light, to the adoration of his followers. Back to the Gubers! They need to reach Moondin and Honey Healing before POWERLAD dies of his fever. (50 exp)
--- The Bridge
- Reaching Gush, the refugee camp built around the outside is empty too. Many of the tents have been taken down, others left to collapse on their own. The beams inside the city’s walls have mostly faded and boiled off. (50 exp)
- The bridge across the great river Deeprush awaits. The Gubers zoom up the ramp around the outer walls, every occupant soaked by the ever-present drizzle. Ahead, flashes of light herald angel beams. (50 exp)
- Styx takes the lead, descending through the rain. Beneath him, he sees stasis beams firing out across the bridge. They sizzle off quickly in the drizzle. (50 exp)
- He hails the angels and they stop firing. It’s two of the four-legged beam angels, reporting that they are firing at unknown hostiles on the bridge. (50 exp)
- Styx requests that they “ -- STOP FIRING -- “ and moves forward to investigate. His angelbot walks through the beams without any ill effect. (50 exp)
- Hunkered down behind pillars along the sides of the bridge are a bunch of people. As the blue glow of Styx’s angel’s thrusters approaches them, one calls out in a thick slavic accent - “CYKA BLYAT WHO IS THAT?!”. (50 exp)

- They’re a group of East Unorthodox Clerics and retinue, so Styx calls out to the angels to stop firing and presents the priests to them. The angels stand down. (50 exp)
--- The Holy Tripartite

- The priests introduce themselves as Pavel, Alexei and Grigori. The Holy Tripartite who travelled here from the east before the apocalypse began. They bring with them their retinues, and a bunch of surviving townspeople. (50 exp)
- Styx’s disciples go about gathering rumours and spreading the word of Styx and the Nine High Gods while Styx himself impresses the Tripartite with his talk of speaking with one of the Three Good Gods - Alaunus. (50 exp)
- Styx asks them if they can cure diseases, and they confirm that the Good Gods indeed may grant mercy to the afflicted. There is a faint cry of “No, never! Don’t let them!” from POWERLAD, whose dragon pact forbids diseases from being healed. (50 exp)
- Alexei asks him his faith, and POWERLAD replies that he is a proud Termaxian. The priest recoils, swearing that he will not heal a heretic to the true faith. (50 exp)
- Styx ascends through the rain once more and preaches to the city. Alaunus Himself projects a hologram of his body from the angel’s eye, and emphasises Styx’s words. It’s incredibly effective, and all kneel before the holy sign! (50 exp)

--- The Road to New Rakedin
- The party continues in their Gubers through the ever-present drizzle, leaving the holy men behind. (50 exp)
- In time they come across a fat dead corpse, his stomach burst open, collapsed onto a handcart. In his hand is a large horn overflowing with rotting fruits. (50 exp)
- Some experimentations later reveal this to be a cornucopia, a horn of plenty, constantly filled with fresh fruits. Styx asks Alaunus for guidance, and he proclaims this to be a terrible Chaotic artefact. No good can come of it. (50 exp)
- POWERLAD, meanwhile, has stuffed himself with the food. His belly feels real weird and gassy, but he seems ok for now... (50 exp)
--- New Rakedin

- The Gubers approach the fortified village of New Rakedin. The palisade walls are hung with tattered Duvan’Ku banners. (50 exp)
- Styx breaks the signal flare bone and a vivid flare fires straight up into the sky. The sickly glow bathes the darkening evening and rising corpse-mist in a guttering ghostly light. (50 exp)
- Moans and a ghastly flapping like a flag in the wind are all the response they get… until a horde of zombies stumble from the broken gates of New Rakedin. In the sky, human skins drift towards the green light. (50 exp)
- All the Guber drivers, as one, kick their Gubers into high gear. Fuck that noise! The cars hover away, their occupants taking potshots at the zombies as they go. (50 exp)
- Andromeda knows of a cave nearby where they can lie low. It takes a lot of effort for her to tell the others where it is - it’s a cave where she and the evil POWERLAD used to have to stay and it’s got a lot of bad memories attached. (50 exp)
- She looks down at POWERLAD and sees his condition is getting worse. There’s nothing for it. They need to get to that cave. (50 exp)
- The Gubers rush through the thickening grey-green fog that coils in from the south, following Andromeda’s half-remembered directions.
- They nearly miss it, but Andromeda sees the mouth of the cave looming from the fog in time. They park up outside the cave and take the sick people into the driest part they can find. Zena already seems to be perking up, and POWERLAD’s at least not getting any worse. (50 exp)

-  The ghostly flare gutters out above the trees in the distance, leaving only the rain and the fog and the distant haunting moans of thwarted Dead… (50 exp)

Total: 2850 exp

Misc:

- Better Part of Valour bonus (50 exp)
- Classic Charles bonus (50 exp)
- Diplomancy bonus (50 exp)
- Dramatic Escape bonus (50 exp)
- Fame bonus (50 exp)
- Holy bonus (50 exp)
- I Immediately Regret This Decision bonus (50 exp)
- Long Deliberation bonus (50 exp)
- Masterchef bonus (50 exp)
- Noblebright bonus (50 exp)
- Pundemonium bonus (50 exp)
- Schindler’s bonus (50 exp)
- SpoOoOoky bonus (50 exp)

Total: 650 exp

Party Roles and Individual Exp:

- Remembrancer (Carter / Styx - 100 exp ea)

- Caller (Kitty / POWERLAD)- 100 exp)
- Mapper (Carter / Styx - 100 exp)

- Treasurer (Charles / Zena - 100 exp)
- Quartermaster (Kitty / POWERLAD - 100 exp)

- Guard (Kitty / POWERLAD - 100 exp)

- Tracker (Carter / Styx - 100 exp)
- Art Attack bonus (Charles - 100 exp)
- Artapalooza bonus (Charles - 100 exp)

- Chippo Man bonus (Kitty*2 - 100 exp ea.)
- JÜGBRINGYR bonus (Kitty*2 - 500 exp)

Active Businesses:

- Knickers Gloves Bodices. Risky. 1020sp. (Ratimir)

- Blood Honey Healing 4 U (Co-dependent businesses)

--- Honey Healing. Safe. 1095sp. (Bertha)

--- Blood Honey 4 U. Safe. 10515sp. (Sir Robyn)

Rumours:

- RISEN and the Rebel Dead have rallied around the banner of the dreaded Drakencult of the Poison Dragon!
- Battles between Dead armies are brutal. Any Necromancer who falls has their units subjugated and used against their allies!
- The Last Army was defeated on the slopes of Mt Death Frost. The south is doomed. The Fated Army and RISEN withdrawn, only the Rebel Dead defend the Barrowmaze

Death Toll and Injuries:

-

Exp Totals:

- Kitty / High Priest POWERLAD!, Level 7 Muscle Wizard: 138793 (Level up at 144000)

-- Devotee of Ninhursag, Bond 10 (-50% exp)

--- Andromeda, Level 4 Muscle Wizard: 15718 (Level up at 18000)

---- Devotee of Ninhursag, Bond 6 (-25% exp) - Charles / Zena, Level 7 Fighter: 68375 (Level up at 128000)  

Exp Totals 2 - Styx and the Twelve Apostles:

- Carter / Styx, Level 7 Goblin: 67780 (Level up at 128000)

--- Break, Robo-Armoured Goblin Buddy
--- 5 more Goblin Buddies
--- Ilda, Level 3 Fighter: 7861 (Level up at 8000)
--- Lady Goth, Level 3 Necromancer: 5513 (Level up at 9000)

--- Brandlefaust, Level 1 Specialist: 643 (Level up at 1500)

--- Heriod, Level 1 Elf (Hauntling Glister): 643 (Level up at 3000)

--- Blitzer, Level 1 Specialist: 643 (Level up at 1500)

--- Zam, Level 1 Fighter: 643 (Level up at 2000)

Absent or Retired:

- Tim D / Mortlocke, Level 1 Necromancer: 2043 (Level up at 2250)
- Ollie / Flaming Fury, Level 5 Dwarf: 27855 (Level up at 35200)

-- Devotee of Ereshkigal, Bond 3 (-15% exp)- Suzie / Dumbledorris2, Level 5 Inheritor: 18209 (Level up at 36000) 

- Timothy / RJ, Level 4 Spider Fighter: 14190 (Level up at 16000)

- James / Ratimir, Level 6 Ratman: 33991 (Level up at 48000)   

- Henry / Witchfinder-Sergeant, Level 5 Cleric (Unorthodox): 14963 (Level up at 28000)

--- Erstwhile, Level 2 Muscle Wizard: 3105 (Level up at 4500)

- Andy / Carrie Meleste, Level 6 Termaxian Cleric: 52811 (Level up at 56000)

--- 4 Henchmen Undeserving of Names, Level 0 Bootlickers  

- Ollie / Synthia, Level 5 Inheritor: 24639 (Level up at 36000)

-- Devotee of Ninhursag, Bond 2 (-10% exp)

- Timothy / Sir Robyn, Level 6 Magic-User: 60599 (Level up at 72000)

- Kitty / Bertha, Level 4 Necromancer: 9931 (Level up at 18000)

- Kyle / Gimlass the Brave, Level 2 Dwarf: 2257 (Level up at 4400)

- Ollie / Tremendo Picante, Level 2 Ratman: 2654 (Level up at 3000)

- James / Raaf van Held, Level 4 Fighter: 14838 (Level up at 16000)

- James / William Fox-Shitt, Level 3 Cleric (Zeanist): 4571 (Level up at 7000)