Session 327 - A Time Jump In Reality Only

Date: 21 August, 22 p.p.

Moon: New - Dragonwane
Zenith: Minerva

New Characters:
- Supply Teacher Mark who is a Spider-Kid, failed chalk-cutter, and apprentice teacher.

New Backstory:

- Peter Parabolus had a wounded wasteland dog, which he took home and cared for. +1 to Beast morale.
- Iskander resisted the hottest summer his homeland had ever seen. +1 to Con.

- Iskander had the best moment of his life when he went back to see his father who loved him so much. Once per session, cause someone who trusts you to become immune to fear and morale checks for ten minutes.

Events:

--- Celebus: Reanimator

- Down in the whirring depths of Fortress-City Fate, the party are standing around debating what to do about the dark Dwarfs talking in the guttural tongue of the Dwarven Arcology of Ur-Darghab.

- Swan the Swift and Supply Teacher Mark show up, having somehow evaded the perils of this mechanical maze! They join Celebus, Dorian Demone and Jojo Fullbeard. Also joining them, a whole theatrical troupe who are trying their best to stay at the back.

- Celebus has collected a few Last Breaths by now and wants to reanimate a Dwarf skeleton for shenanigans. They decide to walk back to the room with all the Dwarf corpses because obviously. On the way they nearly run into a mechanical angel with contra-rotating plates... but something shifts and it's simply the shadow of a Dward scuttling past.

- They reach the room of dead Dwarves and Celebus achieves his achievable dream by animating a Dwarf corpse as a skeleton. There is one weird thing though... a gem drops out of the skeleton's belly.

- To their surprise it seems all these Dwarves have gems in their bellies! They must have swallowed them! The Dwarf corpses are all gutted and the gems taken.

--- Are These Dwarves Tough or Just Lucky?

- They remember the lift they saw before, and decide to find whatever shadowy key might unlock it and let them skip some levels. They do remember that there is that one room with the shadowy dwarf behind a shadowy desk with a shadowy key around his shadowy neck... but it's full of cosmic horrors beyond their comprehension so maybe they keep that as a backup.

- Alas, on the way back to where they began some other shadowy Dwarves happen upon the party and move in to attack! The Dwarves extrude tendrils of shadow that attack the shadows of our heroes. Worse, it saps their strength!
- Swan is berated by Jojo who invented the "obvious" fact that the solid Dwarf is the true shadow, and to damage these guys they need to mime attacking the shadows on the ground with their shadow weapons. We say the word shadow a hell of a lot.
- Supply Teacher Mark shows off his spider prowess by fighting from the ceiling in this narrow corridor. Dorian uses the hell out of his Axe of Ridiculous Wounding despite knowing that it will the later damage his joie de vivre. Celebus makes his giant snake skeleton chuck that very same snakes' animated skin at the foes, then scurries around grabbing the black odium of the dying Dwarfs' Last Breaths.
- The Dwarves are slowly slowly worn down, not helped by some absolutely appalling rolls by combatants on all sides. But at last, finally, they are dead and lootable for their stomach gems and also an interesting-looking book about some sort of War of the Roses. Hmmm.

--- Eldritch Fear of a Plump Helmet
- Exploring further, they find a pair of doors with what look like short toilet door signs. Trying the bearded female side they discover... a dorm! The true toilet lies within. There are also, to the surprise of all, female Dwarfs in there?!
- Jojo casts Summon and it goes about as well as one might expect.
- Later, after having run across half the map, being chased by a whole theatrical troupe who were possessed by the smoke spores of a Plump Helmet Demon, we wonder once more about why Summon is such a fun spell to use.

- During their flight from the Demon they happen to absorb a couple of living shadows into shields their bearing Take-Light glyphs. Pretty good move!
- Finally they hide in an abandoned Smithy, hiding behind the door as the possessed theatre troupe prowl past along with a similarly possessed dog. Dorian expands, clutching the whole party in her goopy skin, and turns invisible just in time to evade the sight of the possessed.

--- Reasonable Chance of Ooze

- Having basically turned this part of the level into a possessed mushroom versus shadow dwarf battle royale, they move away from the deliciously yeasty smell of Plump Helmet smoke and towards a place which they haven't yet explored.
- Signs, such as the smell of poop and the loud gurgling from the walls, point to this being the inevitable Ooze Zone. However... to suspicion and delight... at the end of the hallway, glimmering in the dark, is an enormous floating ruby.

Total: 5000 exp

Loot:

- 28 Dwarven Belly-Gems of Various Types (2800 exp)

- Book #116: Ur-Darghab, City of the Deeps (100 exp)

- Book #234: The Wars of the Roses (100 exp)

Total: 3000 exp

Monsters Defeated:
- A hefty serving of Dwarf-Shaped Shadows (400 exp)
- A large smattering of Shadow-Shaped Dwarves (1000 exp)

- A gaggle of mushroom-possessed theatrical types (200 exp)
Total: 1600 exp

Exp Totals:

- George / Swan the Swift, Level 7 Barbarian: 73210 (Level up at 128000)

- Charles / Celebus Uppytus, Level 6 Necromancer: 64236 (Level up at 72000)

- Kitty / Dorian "Ditto" DeMone, Level 6 Inheritor: 49319 (Level up at 72000)

- Ollie / Jojo Fullbeard, Level 4 Muscle Wizard: 11755 (Level up at 18000)

- Tim / Supply Teacher Mark, Level 2 Spider-Kid: 2020 (Level up at 4000)

Level Up! +1d6 HP! +Mysterious Spider-Powers! +Backstory! +Saves!