Tuesday, 23 May 2023

Session 342 - Magnificent Sbeven

Date: 16 May, 22 p.p.

Moon: Waning Gibbous - Dragonside
Zenith: The Allfather


New Backstory:
- Strangers from another LARP in Fate tried to join Julian's game, but he scared them away. +1 Strength Score.


Events:

--- Preamble
- The party discusses how they're going to deal with these big golems that live in the pyramid and come out every so often to extort food and booze from the inhabitants of the goblin settlement of Splug.
- While the others get to work planning, Philipides (aka Poison Phil) persuades some of the inhabitants to trade places with the crew of the airship, hoping that they'll be able to kickstart some sort of monetary system at the very least. He also investigates potential trade routes back to the wheatlands - crossing the sludgy bloody mud of the Deeprush's riverbed will need some specialised transport via the big crabs (?) they saw on the flight over. He sends the airship Jonathon Toast off to the Wheatlands to get some food and beer as an offering to the golems.
- Julian asks about crab-based weapons, and lo and behold there's a crab-based armourer in town! He's Joseph Crabman and he's happy to make some armour. He's slightly baffled when asked about payment, why would he charge someone for something they need?
- While convenient, this is symptomatic of a greater problem - Julgoor's greed-powered fast travel system doesn't work without capitalism. Maybe he can bodge together something with mercantilism, but that's the minimum. How are they going to get these gobbos to accept a free market??
- Julian's atrametal knife is damaged, so he stabs a random goblin! Other goblins freak out and flee, but watching hobgoblins are mollified when it turns out it was necessary to fix the knife. They all kind of share their goblin minions and make more if necessary so it's not a huge deal. They also mention that they cull their bud-goblins occasionally because there have been problems with the minions getting infected with the Idea of Thorns.
- Sydney does some favours for the town while the armour is getting made, like digging latrines and recolouring houses with his spells. He also climbs the pyramid to get the lay of the land, and in the mountains in the north spots man-sized figures flying about. Vampires?
- The moon progresses to a New Moon while they wait, and the elf-soul Aximander soon takes over Julian's body. He casts his new spell Reknit Essence on himself, and becomes stronger but clumsier. Interesting. This does burn off his mana though, and Julian finds himself with a confusingly different body!
- They realise Sbeven the Golem has gone home into the pyramid at some point.

--- Ambush
- The airship returns with a supply of beer and wheat, hurrah! It's time to plan an ambush.
- Since these golems have to come out of the pyramid to punish the inhabitants in the case of a missed offering, it's time to plan an ambush! 
- The sky is clear on the day of the ambush, and the party get to work drawing runes to push away the cloud of dust that comes with the golems, and a pit created by a Transform-Air glyph. Jojo is granted some "willing" bud-goblins as sacrifice fodder, and Sydney preps his Hallucinatory Terrain spell which he likes to use to turn an area into the surface of the sun. Amimander uses his moon-gained Magic Aura to enchant his crab-spear.
- They wait... and wait. The day drags on. The sun beats down until finally slipping below the horizon.
- At sundown they hear Sbeven's voice echoing out over the town, saying "hey where's the beer??". The townfolk assembled cry, "there is no beer!"
- The golems attack! Bursting from the building in front of the pyramid in a dust storm!
- Sydney casts his terrain, blinding pretty much everybody! A rock trap is triggered at the top of the pyramid, sending rubble crashing down over the attackers! Sbeven lets out a cry of "Bonathon! No!" as a golem is crushed!
- Jojo sacrifices the goblins and casts Summon, bringing forth a beast from chaos itself! It's made of shadow and swirls down at the crushed Bonathon, ripping his shadow to shreds!
- The other golems flee and fall back, abandoning the corpse of their beloved brother Bonathon.

--- Ewok Party
- A grand bonfire is built in the square and the goblins and various other inhabitants celebrate! The party loot Bonathon's body and find a bunch of old tax receipts in his bag, partially singed.
- Later in the night, they hear a sound from the rock pile that crushed Bonathon. It's Sbeven, trying to bring the corpse back inside. Phillipides shoots one of Sbeven's three heads and tells him to fuck off, which he does.

--- Into the Pyramid
- After a long night of celebration and feasting, the party regroup. It's time to enter the pyramid!
- The moon has waned fully into a New Moon. Aximander is at his strongest!
- They enter the pyramid whose entrance is very much unguarded. Within they find it hollow. Circuitboard channels and vaccuum tubes line the inside, and muddy footprints lead to a smaller pyramid within. The air thrums with static.
- The entrance is behind a giant stone portcullis hinged at the top so it swings. It's very heavy.
- Jojo casts one of her new spells - Grape Change! She transforms into a grape and is tossed through the bars of the portcullis, transforming back on the other side.
- There doesn't seem to be a way to raise it from this side, and there's the sound of snoring from ahead...
- She investigates along the corridor... and the ground gives way beneath her! It's a pit trap! A loud gong rings and the floor crumbles! Thankfully she has Web prepped and webs herself to the side of the pit before she falls the full 20ish ft to the corpse-strewn floor below!
- "FEE FI FO FUM!" a big voice booms, and a golem with a huge nose emerges from the huge door at the other end! He's swiftly followed by two more giant guards, one with huge eyes and one with huge ears!

--- Giant Mess
- Jojo blasts Blinding Beams at the one with big eyes, blinding him! Aximander gets between a torch and the giant, extending his shadow out to meet the giant's shadow... the shadows start chatting.
- Jojo climbs out while the golems start throwing rocks. Jojo is hit by one rock which explodes into a cloud of dirt, while the other hits the portcullis and makes it swing open! The next rock, slung by Big Ears, crits her and sends her flying out the open gate!
- The golems laugh and summon more projectiles, big clods of dirt forming into heavy chunks of hard mud.
- Sydney casts his Slippery Slope spell, which projects all the way along the corridor and under the golems! They're not expecting this, and slip-slide swiftly towards the pit!
- Aximander stabs one a they slide in and fall into the pit... which is conveniently tall enough for them to stand up in and reach over the top! It's like they planned to not accidentally kill themselves in a trapped thoroughfare!
- Jojo shoots the Big Eyes Guy in the eyes and he dies! "Not Babriel!" cries a golem!
- The other two golems are willing to talk to save their lives, and Aximander bargains with the giant under a True Name Oath. His arcane smooth talking winkles the giant's True Name out of him for the price of his life, and they make an oath - the party will be allowed to leave so long as Julian Polidorus never returns.
- Julian's true name, crucially. Aximander is, after all, not Julian.
- The party withdraws, somewhat damaged by the ordeal. As they leave they see the surviving giants dragging the body of Babriel from the pit and begin taking him apart...

Total: 6000 exp


Foes Defeated:
- Two giants, Bonathon and Babriel. (1500 exp)
Total: 1500 exp


OOC:
- Chronicler & Cartographer: Carter
- Expedition Leader: George
- Paymaster & Chef: Kitty
- Quartermaster & Vanguard: Ollie


Exp Totals:
- Carter / Sydney, Level 6 Magic-User: 52677 (Level up at 72000)
- Ollie / Jojo Fullbeard, Level 5 Muscle Wizard: 29321 (Level up at 36000)
- George / Poison Phil, Level 5 Fighter: 17288 (Level up at 32000)
Level Up! +1d8 HP! +1 to Hit! +1 to Crit! +2 to Saves! +Backstory!
- Kitty / Julian & Aximander, Level 3 Languid Wastrel: 4795 (Level up at 9000)
Level Up! +1d6 HP! +1 Mana! +Free Spell! +2 to Saves! +Backstory!

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