Tuesday 21 June 2022

Session 319 - Boss Battle at the Dharga's Heart!

Date: 13 August, 21 p.p.

Moon: Waning Gibbous - Dragon Face
Zenith: Dispater


New Backstory:
- Aemilius Princeps lost a lot of money, incredible amounts of riches in fact, after the Empire was invaded by hordes of barbarians. Once per session, somehow work out the general location of something that used to belong to you.
- Suspiria was starving to death, and when she saw a beggar drop a crust of bread she ate it without any guilt at all. Get maximum health when you eat to heal.
- Dorian made the first romantic move with a lover in the painting dimension and had a long, beautiful, imaginary relationship. Once per session, cause someone to make a romantic advance upon you.
- Swan the Swift confronted the wizard Merlin, who locked him in a coffin for 1000 years before he emerged into the present day! At will, cause a creature to prioritise you.


Events:

--- Final Battle
- They are at the elevator once again. The elevator that will take them all the way up to the final boss room. In the centre, the glowing orb of a Save Point shimmers.
- They hit the orb and their HP is reset! Definitely a pre-boss battle save zone!
- With that, the elevator rises. Up into the beating heart of the Dharga, then up and up further until they finally reach the crest of the flesh-tree. The world is laid out before them. The huge presence of the dormant Fortress-City looms in the centre of the shattered dino-dome. Distantly, the rippling forcefield over New Moondin shimmers.
- Nestled in the huge peristaltic flesh of the tree, arranged evenly around the elevator, are three platforms of black glass, bulging meat, and a wide shallow cup wreathed with grapevines. Upon each is a monstrous manifestation of one of the entities that make up the Dharga - Sir Robyn, Styx, and Dargo himself.
- And finally, also here to pester the party, are the Valkyries! The witch with the boiling cauldron, the hotheaded redhead guy with TWO razor shields now, and bow-wielding prepubescent girl who is totally a thousand years old.

--- Battle is Joined!
- The battle begins, and dice are rolled to generate what happens each round... this time it's the huge Styx being teleported into the central elevator, along with a gang of the dressed-up ratmen and ghouls from below!
-Styx declares that using "programmarie" he can program the Dharga to do whatever you want! No need to destroy it! The party quickly indentify the flaw in this plan - they'd have to trust Styx.
- The anime witch magics Dorian and a skeleton into her cauldron on the black glass zone, bone soup! They take damage from the boiling potion, and random spells begin erupting from the cauldron.
- The skeleton turns to bone-mush, but Dorian uses his demonic power to shlorp out of the cauldron and attack the witch with his stirge-borne mosquito proboscis! The witch is being drained of blood!
- Suspiria begins shaping spells unbound and throwing them into the combat. Magic missiles hit the bow-wielding Valkyrie, despite her position on top of the extendo-lance!
- Celebus is under attack from the other Valkyries AND Styx! Luckily they only destroy one of his companion skeletons.
- Swan finds himself in an embarrassing life-or-death struggle for survival against... a fake ratman. He just keeps bungling the wrestle rolls. Iskander stifles a laugh, decapitates a ghoul-woman, and spins gracefully through the air to combo into the bow-wielding loli cleave her in twain!
- But oh shit she was older than she looked... and was pregnant! Iskander tries to grab the falling foetus, fumbles it, and squeezes it out of his hands like soap. It lands on the metal surface of the shallow cup-platform with a splat.

--- No Funny Business!
- The next round sees Sir Robyn swap out with Styx in the central elevator. He brings with him an ultimatum - Rules Lawyer mode! Only generic abilities can be used, and no funny business like gambits!
- Sir Robyn declares that if the party assist him he can destroy the Dharga. Legally it's not a person, you see. It's the only safe way.
- His raccoons attack, immediately devouring Aemilius' trained goat! Oh no!
- The shield-wielding Valkyrie is extremely annoying for Celebus, since he always blocks the first hit. Celebus wails on him regardless, despite consistently getting blocked by his shield technique.
- Swan flash-steps behind Sir Robyn and slices at his back, while Dorian continues to succ the witch to death as she struggles.

--- Dargo Returns
- Sir Robyn is replaced by Dargo, the origin of the very flesh of the Dharga! Grapevines erupt from where Sir Robyn stood and wriggle over the central elevator.
- Dargo declares that his desire is to be unbound! He will destroy the Thorns! Obvious drawbacks here, but then...
- Sir Robyn zaps Aemilius with an intelligence reduction beam from his platform, while on the central elevator Swan and Iskander do a combo attack on Dargo! Even Suspiria gets a look in, shanking the oozing form with a filleting knife.
- Dorian finally succs the witch into submission. She's bloodless, emaciated, and definitely dead.
- Aemilius tries to mind-control Dargo but is rebuffed. 
- Dorian looks up and realises that Styx has been back on the black glass platform for a few rounds now, and Styx is coming for him! Luckily Styx fumbles and stabs himself!
- Swan hits Sir Robyn with a Jim Beam beam... and makes him more powerful! Sir Robyn loves booze! How did they not realise from all the wine theme!? They neutralise Sir Robyn by passing him the wine cornucopia they found earlier, he's distracted!

--- Bosses Defeated
- Dorian and Styx are having a slugging match over on the black glass platform, with Styx rolling honestly terribly. A lucky between-rounds boss swap lets Iskander and Swan soften up Styx before he's returned to Dorian, who deals the finishing blow!
- The real Styx crawls out of the chest of the big ogre version, congratulating Dorian.
- Aemilius, after several attempts, finally mind-controls Dargo. Great success!
- The bosses are forced to the negotiating table by organised resistance.
- We end undecisively, since the pub is kicking us out early again. The broad choices are Destroy the Dharga with Sir Robyn, Unleash the Dharga with Dargo, or Control the Dharga with Styx.
- Aemilius immediately sees another ending... Merge with the Dharga.
- We decide to make a decision next session, after much between-session discussion...

Total: 6000 exp

Enemies Defeated:
- The Valkyries (750 exp)
- Dharga Entity Sir Robyn (1500 exp)
- Dharga Entity Styx (1500 exp)
- Dharga Entity Dargo (1500 exp)
- Sundry Mooks (250 exp)
Total: 5500 exp

OOC:
Chronicler: Charles
Expedition Leader: Kitty
Quartermaster: Ollie
Vanguard: Tom
Triage: Tim


Exp Totals:
- George / Swan the Swift, Level 7 Barbarian: 71190 (Level up at 128000)
- Ollie / Iskander Fullbeard, Level 6 Fighter: 57461 (Level up at 64000)
- Charles / Celebus Uppytus, Level 6 Necromancer: 57132 (Level up at 72000)
- Kitty / Dorian "Ditto" DeMone, Level 5 Inheritor: 26509 (Level up at 36000)
- Timothy / Aemelius Princeps, Level 5 Halfling: 16104 (Level up at 32000)
Level Up! +1d6 HP! +1 to Domination! +Backstory!
- Tom / Suspiria, Level 3 Magic-User: 4584 (Level up at 9000)
Level Up! +1d4 HP! +1 Mana! +Free Spell! +Backstory!

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