Session 231 - End of Innocence
Date:
14 years after the End.
14 years after the End.
December
Characters:
Salvage:
- A mass of good quality bone (1000 exp) - Pearl's obol (1 exp) - Pearl's mask (100 exp)Total: 1101 exp
- A mass of good quality bone (1000 exp) - Pearl's obol (1 exp) - Pearl's mask (100 exp)Total: 1101 exp
Murder:
- Dr Hook (100 exp)
- Swarms of Imps (50 exp)
- 15 quadruped demons (750 exp)
- Pearl, a Demon of Envy (250 exp)
- A mob of skeletons (250 exp)
- Singular Thay in verbal combat (750 exp)
- The Bone Giant (1500 exp)
Total: 3650 exp
- Dr Hook (100 exp)
- Swarms of Imps (50 exp)
- 15 quadruped demons (750 exp)
- Pearl, a Demon of Envy (250 exp)
- A mob of skeletons (250 exp)
- Singular Thay in verbal combat (750 exp)
- The Bone Giant (1500 exp)
Total: 3650 exp
Events:
--- Something’s Not Right
- Andromeda, DJ, Grumpy, and the rescuees return to New Moondin. As they approach there’s a strange feeling of pent-up energy, like the build-up before a thunderstorm.
- Nevertheless they enter and conduct a bit of town business. DJ takes the rescuees to his chicken shop, feeds them up, and hires them on. They meet up with Red and Damnation Snels, the latter of which has been spending the last few months running his Denialist Brotherhood protection racket with great success.
- Andromeda, DJ, Grumpy, and the rescuees return to New Moondin. As they approach there’s a strange feeling of pent-up energy, like the build-up before a thunderstorm.
- Nevertheless they enter and conduct a bit of town business. DJ takes the rescuees to his chicken shop, feeds them up, and hires them on. They meet up with Red and Damnation Snels, the latter of which has been spending the last few months running his Denialist Brotherhood protection racket with great success.
 |
| STONKS |
- They hear talk of a string of murders that occurred in their absence. All seemingly randomly targeted, and all victims were killed by hooks…
 |
| a fine vintage |
- Grumpy immediately declares a Grudge against Doctor Hook and senses that he’s in the Burning Bush pub! That was easy! DJ bemoans how easily this murder mystery was solved.
- The party converges on the pub and Grumpy detects that the good Doctor is on the second floor. DJ climbs to the roof so they can do a cool bust-in-the-window thing… and sees Pearl shooting past in her angel-mech-suit yelling that the demons are attacking!
--- Tower Defence!
- The demons are coming for the pub! Waves come from four directions, and the team scrambles to defend the pub whilst also wondering why the demons are bothering to come here. Is it Pearl? The original Zulu? Or some other reason?
- With a few minutes to set up before the demons come in, DJ chucks some lamp oil in a choke point and Red sets up to duel them when they reach the door. Pearl forms a beam-turret on the roof, covering the road to the south.
- The party converges on the pub and Grumpy detects that the good Doctor is on the second floor. DJ climbs to the roof so they can do a cool bust-in-the-window thing… and sees Pearl shooting past in her angel-mech-suit yelling that the demons are attacking!
--- Tower Defence!
- The demons are coming for the pub! Waves come from four directions, and the team scrambles to defend the pub whilst also wondering why the demons are bothering to come here. Is it Pearl? The original Zulu? Or some other reason?
- With a few minutes to set up before the demons come in, DJ chucks some lamp oil in a choke point and Red sets up to duel them when they reach the door. Pearl forms a beam-turret on the roof, covering the road to the south.
- Grumpy takes over the pub kitchen precipitating some disappointed grumbles from the lunchtime crowd, and cooks up a drug cocktail he hopes will dissociate the imbiber so much that they split off from their hot version.
- Andromeda heads upstairs to find Dr Hook - she hasn’t forgotten why they came here. Damnation Snels has a brief chat with Pearl - he’s extremely suspicious that she’s an Envy demon - before heading inside.
- Andromeda heads upstairs to find Dr Hook - she hasn’t forgotten why they came here. Damnation Snels has a brief chat with Pearl - he’s extremely suspicious that she’s an Envy demon - before heading inside.
--- Against the Demons
- The demons attack! A mix of glossy black imps with exaggerated sexual characteristics and bounding black-masked quadrupeds! Pearl locks down the south road, destroying the waves of imps with beam-fire, while DJ chucks a blunt onto the oil to defend the north and west!
- The imps pop in the flames, but the quadrupeds bound through and begin climbing the pub towards DJ. The flames lick up the sides of the pub, threatening to burn it down again!
- Red stands in the doorway of the pub, fighting off imps and quadrupeds alike, earning her self-given title of World’s Greatest Duellist!
- Something grey and smoky flies out of an upstairs window and lands in a cart across the road - it’s Andromeda’s Void Pet.
- A single quadrupedal demon has managed to make it onto the roof with DJ, and he hammers futilely at it with his ball-peen. Even in this hyper-real dramatic combat zone he can’t hit anything with it!
- Grumpy dives out of the kitchen window and into the street, drawing attention away from Red and slashing in with his rune-glaive.
- A barrel of spirits smashes out of the window into the street and…
- The demons attack! A mix of glossy black imps with exaggerated sexual characteristics and bounding black-masked quadrupeds! Pearl locks down the south road, destroying the waves of imps with beam-fire, while DJ chucks a blunt onto the oil to defend the north and west!
- The imps pop in the flames, but the quadrupeds bound through and begin climbing the pub towards DJ. The flames lick up the sides of the pub, threatening to burn it down again!
- Red stands in the doorway of the pub, fighting off imps and quadrupeds alike, earning her self-given title of World’s Greatest Duellist!
- Something grey and smoky flies out of an upstairs window and lands in a cart across the road - it’s Andromeda’s Void Pet.
- A single quadrupedal demon has managed to make it onto the roof with DJ, and he hammers futilely at it with his ball-peen. Even in this hyper-real dramatic combat zone he can’t hit anything with it!
- Grumpy dives out of the kitchen window and into the street, drawing attention away from Red and slashing in with his rune-glaive.
- A barrel of spirits smashes out of the window into the street and…
--- Against Dr Hook
- As the demons start to attack outside, Andromeda goes door-to-door on the second floor of the inn, kicking each one down as she goes. The first is to the Chieftain Suite where Original Zulu lives in a mire of depression. The next couple are empty.
- When she kicks down the door into Dr Hook’s room, she finds a terrifying scene - an old man strapped to the bed covered in hook-scars, Dr Hook on the ceiling giggling and gloating and then, when he sees Andromeda, disappointed to be interrupted.
- He drops to the ground and starts monologuing, which earns him a hammer to the face from Andromeda! The lightning from her hammer sizzles over him, but he counters her next attack and slashes her in the side.
- As the demons start to attack outside, Andromeda goes door-to-door on the second floor of the inn, kicking each one down as she goes. The first is to the Chieftain Suite where Original Zulu lives in a mire of depression. The next couple are empty.
- When she kicks down the door into Dr Hook’s room, she finds a terrifying scene - an old man strapped to the bed covered in hook-scars, Dr Hook on the ceiling giggling and gloating and then, when he sees Andromeda, disappointed to be interrupted.
- He drops to the ground and starts monologuing, which earns him a hammer to the face from Andromeda! The lightning from her hammer sizzles over him, but he counters her next attack and slashes her in the side.
- Snels charges in through the door to back her up, missing his pistol-shot at close range and getting hook-shanked for his trouble. Dr Hook is a blur, dodging and counter-attacking against their blows.
- With Snels taking his attention, Andromeda heals herself and sics her Void Pet on him! Dr Hook’s too quick though, somehow catching the pet in his hooks and throwing it out the window! It lands in a cart across the street, unhappy.
- Snels uses his Gambit miracle to force both himself and Dr Hook to crit fail! It’s a bad one for Dr Hook, whose hooks are torn clean off the stumps of his hands!
- Andromeda follows up with another hammerblow, smacking him in the face and sending him hurtling back into the wall. The lightning stuns him!
- With Snels taking his attention, Andromeda heals herself and sics her Void Pet on him! Dr Hook’s too quick though, somehow catching the pet in his hooks and throwing it out the window! It lands in a cart across the street, unhappy.
- Snels uses his Gambit miracle to force both himself and Dr Hook to crit fail! It’s a bad one for Dr Hook, whose hooks are torn clean off the stumps of his hands!
- Andromeda follows up with another hammerblow, smacking him in the face and sending him hurtling back into the wall. The lightning stuns him!
- Together they drag him to the window of the Chieftain Suite and throw him down into the fire. He burns up! No regeneration for you!
- Snels realises he’ll need spirits to firebomb the hordes below and - wow wouldn’t you know it - there’s a barrel of spirits right near the door! They should have seen it!
- He chucks the spirits down into the street and…
--- Michael Bay Bonus
- He fires his gun at the barrel and the explosion is enormous. Grumpy quickly switches his runes to Repel Fire and a glowing field erupts around him, protecting himself and Red from the detonation! Demons are vapourised, but somehow the buildings to either side are only aethetically scorched.
- DJ, on the roof, sees Pearl’s hand emerge from her turret formation with a beam rifle in hand and headshot the demon he was struggling so hard to kill. It turns to dust and blows away.
- Snels realises he’ll need spirits to firebomb the hordes below and - wow wouldn’t you know it - there’s a barrel of spirits right near the door! They should have seen it!
- He chucks the spirits down into the street and…
--- Michael Bay Bonus
- He fires his gun at the barrel and the explosion is enormous. Grumpy quickly switches his runes to Repel Fire and a glowing field erupts around him, protecting himself and Red from the detonation! Demons are vapourised, but somehow the buildings to either side are only aethetically scorched.
- DJ, on the roof, sees Pearl’s hand emerge from her turret formation with a beam rifle in hand and headshot the demon he was struggling so hard to kill. It turns to dust and blows away.
--- Aftermath
- As the smoke clears, rain begins to fall. Thank goodness! Maybe the pub won’t burn down after all!
- Snels sees his Denialist Brotherhood turn up moments too late. Led by Suffer-Not-The-Demon-To-Live Shepard, this protection racket is here to actually protect people now. Dead people don’t pay the bills, after all.
- Snels is very misogynistic to Pearl who scornfully replies that she doesn’t need his approval. He seems surprised that she doesn’t become a man, for some reason.
- Andromeda suddenly remembers the old man tied to the bed! She runs inside and frees him. He’s very grateful and gives her the few obols he has on him, which she uses to buy him a drink. So lovely!
- Grumpy brings Original Zulu the drug concoction he prepared earlier. He hopes that this potent mix of dissociatives and hallucinogens will somehow sever the link between Original Zulu and her perfect version. OG Zulu isn’t in the right emotional space for it at all.
- She quickly gets locked into a depressed, dissociated drug spiral. Locked deep in the k-hole, scratching at her own skin. Andromeda and Red trip sit, calming her down and keeping her level, while Grumpy starts theorising what extra stuff he should add to the cocktail.
- Just when things seem to be settling down, Zulu screams! An enormous spider is here! It’s true - a spider-priest has arrived to talk to Red. They keep Zulu calm while the spider delivers its message - Sir Robyn is back in the form of a giant spider calling itself Sir Arachnachus.
- Now it’s Red’s turn to freak out. Sir Robyn? Back? Here? The others try to comfort her, and suddenly there’s a flash from outside!
--- Attack on Titan
- Outside, through the dramatically pouring rain, an enormous 10-storey-tall titan can be seen striding in towards New Moondin! It’s enormous, muscles rippling, and its head is incongruously the head of a chicken!
- Grumpy brings Original Zulu the drug concoction he prepared earlier. He hopes that this potent mix of dissociatives and hallucinogens will somehow sever the link between Original Zulu and her perfect version. OG Zulu isn’t in the right emotional space for it at all.
- She quickly gets locked into a depressed, dissociated drug spiral. Locked deep in the k-hole, scratching at her own skin. Andromeda and Red trip sit, calming her down and keeping her level, while Grumpy starts theorising what extra stuff he should add to the cocktail.
- Just when things seem to be settling down, Zulu screams! An enormous spider is here! It’s true - a spider-priest has arrived to talk to Red. They keep Zulu calm while the spider delivers its message - Sir Robyn is back in the form of a giant spider calling itself Sir Arachnachus.
- Now it’s Red’s turn to freak out. Sir Robyn? Back? Here? The others try to comfort her, and suddenly there’s a flash from outside!
--- Attack on Titan
- Outside, through the dramatically pouring rain, an enormous 10-storey-tall titan can be seen striding in towards New Moondin! It’s enormous, muscles rippling, and its head is incongruously the head of a chicken!
- Pearl blasts through the streets of the town and boosts towards it in a burst of light from her thrusters! The titan’s eyes flash and a beam of energy blasts towards New Moondin, but Pearl is there! She defends with a spinning shield, breaking the beam into multiple smaller beams which explode harmlessly around the town.
- It’s some proper anime shit, and Andromeda rolls up a joint to disbelieve. When it kicks in, the epic battle above fades away, replaced by pouring rain. It’s not real!
- Emergency lighting snaps on across the city, and a warning siren blares out. It might not be real to her, but it sure is for everyone else. Denialists armed with silver weapons and heavy armour fight against the waves of demons pouring in - their weapons are perfect against the threat and despite many close calls they keep getting miraculously saved when the camera pans away.
- With Pearl stuck in the middle of a God of War-style QTE to everyone but Andromeda, the party jog towards the outskirts of town as quick as they can. As they pass Julgoor’s Honey Healing, the demon himself ducks out to ask them what the hell they’re playing at!
- He confirms that Pearl’s an Envy Demon and tells them to get her the fuck out of here. He’s got a hard enough time sharing Greed with Japhet without another demon in the mix. When Grumpy challenges him over this - surely Envy demons don’t compete for sin with Greed Demons - Julgoor claims that a person cannot sin in every direction at once. It’s inefficient.
- Grumpy is extremely irritated when Julgoor makes a comment about him being wonderfully predictable and pretty much only defined by Pride and Greed.
- They set off running towards the epic battle. Andromeda sets her jaw. One way out.
--- Amicicide
- They’re close now. The Titan looms above, Pearl being forced back then recovering and slashing into its regenerating muscle, unable to stop the great monster. Skeletons march in loose formation around its feet.
- Even Andromeda can see it now, although the Titan is bereft of muscle and is instead made of bone. It’s the huge skeleton from the dungeon!
--- Amicicide
- They’re close now. The Titan looms above, Pearl being forced back then recovering and slashing into its regenerating muscle, unable to stop the great monster. Skeletons march in loose formation around its feet.
- Even Andromeda can see it now, although the Titan is bereft of muscle and is instead made of bone. It’s the huge skeleton from the dungeon!
- Red, hearing this, tries to jam her sword into the muscle to test whether it’s “real” to her. It is, and she’s dragged along next to its ankle. From Andromeda’s perspective, it looks like an ankle formed from many many other bones. A skeleton made of skeletons!
- Andromeda finds someone who ran away this session - Pearl! She sees Pearl, wearing no angel-tech armour, furtively scuttling around the side of a building. The others can still see her fighting overhead.
- Andromeda follows and confronts her. Pearl is shocked that she can be seen! She tries to talk Andromeda down, saying that this is all necessary and part of a deal,
- It’s no good. Andromeda shatters Pearl’s spine with a hammerblow, then climbs on top and wraps her hands around her throat. Pearl dies, mouthing "why?".
- Andromeda finds someone who ran away this session - Pearl! She sees Pearl, wearing no angel-tech armour, furtively scuttling around the side of a building. The others can still see her fighting overhead.
- Andromeda follows and confronts her. Pearl is shocked that she can be seen! She tries to talk Andromeda down, saying that this is all necessary and part of a deal,
- It’s no good. Andromeda shatters Pearl’s spine with a hammerblow, then climbs on top and wraps her hands around her throat. Pearl dies, mouthing "why?".
- Andromeda peels back Pearl’s breather mask and finds a pale pink demon mask behind it. Pearl feels thin and thick-jointed under her clothes. She begins to boil away, turning to grey mist, as Andromeda weeps over her corpse.
--- Illusions Shattered
- With Pearl’s death, the illusion is destroyed. The bone ankle of the bone giant replaces the raw muscle of the Titan, and the top of the giant is lost in the dense rain falling from above
- The lithe androgynous egg-headed form of Singular Thay appears through the rain, asking who killed Pearl and why?? The skeletons around the feet of the giant, real despite the illusions, march in to attack.
- Andromeda comes forward, drying her eyes, and declares that it was her before smashing a skeleton to pieces with her hammer. It’s very effective!
- Snels tries to stab Thay in the head… and it goes right through! Grumpy tries with his glaive and it sticks into Thay’s body, but doesn’t harm them even though the glaive harms everything.
- Singular Thay shrugs and evaporates as the enormous hand of the bone giant slams down on the party - it was a trick to keep them in the way of the hand!
- The huge palm slams down into the earth, crushing skeletons and shattering DJ’s hotbox helm as he leaps away. Snels survives literally miraculously on 1 HP due to his faith.
--- Illusions Shattered
- With Pearl’s death, the illusion is destroyed. The bone ankle of the bone giant replaces the raw muscle of the Titan, and the top of the giant is lost in the dense rain falling from above
- The lithe androgynous egg-headed form of Singular Thay appears through the rain, asking who killed Pearl and why?? The skeletons around the feet of the giant, real despite the illusions, march in to attack.
- Andromeda comes forward, drying her eyes, and declares that it was her before smashing a skeleton to pieces with her hammer. It’s very effective!
- Snels tries to stab Thay in the head… and it goes right through! Grumpy tries with his glaive and it sticks into Thay’s body, but doesn’t harm them even though the glaive harms everything.
- Singular Thay shrugs and evaporates as the enormous hand of the bone giant slams down on the party - it was a trick to keep them in the way of the hand!
- The huge palm slams down into the earth, crushing skeletons and shattering DJ’s hotbox helm as he leaps away. Snels survives literally miraculously on 1 HP due to his faith.
- Grumpy jumps atop the hand, having taken minimal damage from its fall, and runs up the arm as it rises. Singular Thay projects themselves next to Grumpy as he runs up the arm, trying to talk.
- The others fight the skeletons below, Red taking a nasty shot to the head from the bow-wielding skeletons who have no compunctions about shooting into melee.
- While Snels and Andromeda heal up Red and DJ, DJ uses ABDUCT on the bone giant! It begins rising into the air, bathed in cold light from above!
- The surprise rise throws off the bone giant’s next slap attack and it misses everyone on the ground, thank fuck!
- Andromeda runs back to Pearl’s boiling-off body and finds her obol - a locket that has Pearl’s face on one side and Andromeda’s face on the other.
- Grumpy, running up the bone giant’s arm, manages to reach the shoulder. Singular Thay’s ghost-projection appears before him no matter how many times he tries to kill it.
- Singular Thay doesn’t go into specifics, saying that this was all just part of a deal. All they want is Last Breath and some Necromancer ritual bits they can’t get anywhere else, honest.
- Grumpy declares, “come back when you’re ready to talk like an adult!” and the illusion reels back! What a one-liner! The bone giant tries to brush him off, but Grumpy avoids with a wild rope swing and lands back on the collarbone!
- While Snels and Andromeda heal up Red and DJ, DJ uses ABDUCT on the bone giant! It begins rising into the air, bathed in cold light from above!
- The surprise rise throws off the bone giant’s next slap attack and it misses everyone on the ground, thank fuck!
- Andromeda runs back to Pearl’s boiling-off body and finds her obol - a locket that has Pearl’s face on one side and Andromeda’s face on the other.
- Grumpy, running up the bone giant’s arm, manages to reach the shoulder. Singular Thay’s ghost-projection appears before him no matter how many times he tries to kill it.
- Singular Thay doesn’t go into specifics, saying that this was all just part of a deal. All they want is Last Breath and some Necromancer ritual bits they can’t get anywhere else, honest.
- Grumpy declares, “come back when you’re ready to talk like an adult!” and the illusion reels back! What a one-liner! The bone giant tries to brush him off, but Grumpy avoids with a wild rope swing and lands back on the collarbone!
- Outplayed and out-bantered, Singular Thay says “fuck it” and disengages the giant’s skull. The skull flies away into the rain… and once Abduct wears off the whole rest of the giant skeleton begins to fall apart.
- Below, the skeletons begin to flee! They run away into the rain, pursued by insults from the party.
--- Grumpy Falls
--- Grumpy Falls
- Grumpy suddenly realises that being over 10 storeys up is a terrible place to be when the thing your standing on starts falling apart!
- He falls like a stone, plummeting from above! A rippling corona of plasma blasts up from below, sent by Andromeda, healing him! DJ casts Abduct as he comes into range, softening the fall. Grumpy slams into the mud at less than escape velocity… and survives!
- The giant’s massive bones split and splinter as they fall, scattering into their component bone pieces, a white rain. The party get under cover, and note that this much bone has got to have value to the Necromancers!
- Distantly they see the white shape of the skull flying off through the rain, and a distant voice that might be saying, “this isn’t the last you’ve seen of me, heroooooeees!”
Total: 3550 exp
- He falls like a stone, plummeting from above! A rippling corona of plasma blasts up from below, sent by Andromeda, healing him! DJ casts Abduct as he comes into range, softening the fall. Grumpy slams into the mud at less than escape velocity… and survives!
- The giant’s massive bones split and splinter as they fall, scattering into their component bone pieces, a white rain. The party get under cover, and note that this much bone has got to have value to the Necromancers!
- Distantly they see the white shape of the skull flying off through the rain, and a distant voice that might be saying, “this isn’t the last you’ve seen of me, heroooooeees!”
Total: 3550 exp
Team Bonus:
- AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa bonus
- Aggressive Negotiations bonus
- Antagonist Antagoniser bonus
- Balls to the Wall bonus
- Best of Intentions bonus
- Classic Charles bonus
- Dramatic Battle bonus
- Dramatic Rescue bonus
- Enmity Inciter bonus
- Fame bonus
- Holy bonus
- I Immediately Regret This Decision bonus
- Kill It With Fire bonus
- Long Deliberation bonus
- Michael Bay bonus
- Pundemonium bonus
- Pyrrhic Victory bonus
- SpoOoOoky bonus
Total: 900 exp
- AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa bonus
- Aggressive Negotiations bonus
- Antagonist Antagoniser bonus
- Balls to the Wall bonus
- Best of Intentions bonus
- Classic Charles bonus
- Dramatic Battle bonus
- Dramatic Rescue bonus
- Enmity Inciter bonus
- Fame bonus
- Holy bonus
- I Immediately Regret This Decision bonus
- Kill It With Fire bonus
- Long Deliberation bonus
- Michael Bay bonus
- Pundemonium bonus
- Pyrrhic Victory bonus
- SpoOoOoky bonus
Total: 900 exp
Individual Bonus:
- Chronicler (Carter / Grumpy - 100 exp)
- Expedition Leader (Kitty / Andromeda - 100 exp)
- Cartographer (Carter / Grumpy - 100 exp)
- Paymaster (Charles / DJ - 100 exp)
- Quartermaster (Timothy / Red - 100 exp)
- Vanguard (Kitty / Andromeda - 100 exp)
- Triage (Timothy / Red - 100 exp)
- Chef (George / Snels - 100 exp)
- JÜGBRINGYR bonus (Tim, Charles, Kitty - 500 exp ea.)
- Art Attack bonus (Carter, Charles - 100 exp ea.)
- Artapalooza bonus (Carter, Charles - 100 exp ea.)
Death Toll: - Pearl, the gunslinger who turned out to have been an Envy Demon, strangled by Andromeda.
- Kitty / Andromeda, Level 6 Laddite Cleric: 34151 (Level up at 56000) - Tim / Red, Level 5 Fighter: 29951 (Level up at 32000) - Charles / Dustin Johnson, Level 5 Intergalacticist Cleric: 23901 (Level up at 28000) - George / Praise-God-For-He-Gave-His-Only-Son-So-That-We-Might-Be-Saved-From-Damnation Snels, Level 5 Snelsman Cleric: 22939 (Level up at 28000) - Carter / Granite "Grumpy" Ironjaw, Level 4 Grudgesmith Dwarf: 14308 (Level up at 17600)
No comments:
Post a Comment