Date: 20 January 1626
Zenith Deity: The Scorned
Moon Phase: New Moon
Moon Face: Dragon Face
Moon Phase: New Moon
Moon Face: Dragon Face
New Backstory:
- Nieval the Good had perfectly planned the conversion of an entire village to the Quizlist faith, getting them each to touch a Marlingspike as it surged with rainbow energies. They were all taken, body and soul, into wherever one goes when they touch a spike. Task failed successfully. +2 AC and Saves for 10 minutes when a plan goes awry.
- Havarti Honeybun was horribly lost in the Veins of the Earth when... lo! A party of friendly strangers took her in! Once per session, cause a helpful stranger to somehow appear.
Events:
--- Into the Hidden Passage
- Well-rested and well-fed, our heroes enter the cave once more. They head swiftly for the pentagram puzzle room and discover that it's reset in their absence! It's quick work with the levers to reopen the way.
- Ghost Snels tears the golden statuette of Santa-if-he-had-tentacles-for-a-beard into 6 pieces, his fingers digging into its strangely fleshy surface. The revealed inner surfaces drip with salt water. Everyone gets a piece, how lovely!
- They ensure that the way out is accessible even if the door closes (smart) and head down the stairs beyond. The bas reliefs go from old timey pre-Christian winter motifs to an undersea theme. Seaweed, deep sea fish, things that squirm and writhe.
- Ahead, an archway to the next room. To the side, a big round metal door is rimed with ice. If it wasn't iced over you'd be able to sort of roll it aside into the wall cavity. Sulphur gets to work with the fire rune on his weapon, melting it away.
--- Spike-Bellied Revenants
- Hidra investigates the dark way forward. Eyes glow blue-white and a voice groans out something in Old Norse. Luckily almost everyone speaks Old Norse for some reason - maybe it's just standard schooling here? - and they understand its meaning - "Merry Solstice!"
- The beings come forward into the light. They are zombies of some sort, tight skin stretched over old bone, and spikes protrude from their bellies like they swallowed a ball of spines. A sixth one follows and walks over to Hidra, it's his weekly free zombie!
- Hidra strikes one with the Black Blade of the Dardanelles to see if the belly thing is a separate entity to the revenant, and VWOMP! The whole guy disappears! Clearly one entity by the sword's reckoning.
- This angers the revenants! Hidra tries to kick the spikes out of one's belly, fails, and after a series of 1s and 20s it works! The body explodes into ice and leaves the spiky thing - a sea urchin - on the floor. Hidra punts the urchin into another revenant to give it competition!
- The others run in, Havarti dropping from her ghost-eater hyena on the ceiling, the others swarming in behind.
- Nostradama smites a zombie with holy power. Ghost Snels cracks his great whip. Sulphur abandons the door-unfreezing quest to attack them too.
- Several urchins hit the floor, crackle... and EXPLODE! The party is blown back by the sea mine sea urchin explosion.
- Havarti invokes her backstory and wishes for a helpful stranger to emerge.
- A dark figure with a black dagger appears in the shadows of the archway. It gestures, and the remaining revenants follow it into the gloom.
- A dark figure with a black dagger appears in the shadows of the archway. It gestures, and the remaining revenants follow it into the gloom.
--- I Don't Like Em Putting Chemicals in the Water
- Sulphur melts away the last of the ice and sees that there are handprints sunk into the metal to help you roll it. The only weird thing? The hands are webbed...
- War stories and legends of old are told to those who know not of the accursed Frog Monsters.
- War stories and legends of old are told to those who know not of the accursed Frog Monsters.
- They go through and find a collapsed tunnel forward which will take time to clear. Everything is moist.
- In clearing the rubble, they find the corpse of a small person dressed as a christmas elf. Hidra takes its bells.
- The route, now clear, slopes downwards. They follow and come to a side tunnel that leads to a big pool of algae-covered water. Ghost Snels dips his hands in to gather some delicious algae and... SSSSSSS! It's actually acid!
- Ghost Snels and Nieval poke around in the acid with a pole and recover a couple of books from the bottom of the pool, written on thin leaves of stone. They are Book #180 "Other Histories" and Book #182 "The Brass Hell". Nieval is excited about the latter until Ghost Snels informs him that it's just the name for the megadungeon under/inside Fortress-City Fate.
- Havarti draws a Repel Water rune and repels the acid away, allowing them to collect some of the acidophilic algae for testing purposes.
--- Can't Take You Anywhere
- They go back into the sloping tunnel and find the end. A pitch black pool. A huge gnarled and rusty iron circle on the back wall, thankfully unpowered. In the centre of the pool, a plinth upon which a golden statue squats hideously.
- Havarti rides her ghost-eating hyena up the walls until they dangle over the statue. She uncoils a rope, ties it to the harness, and starts to lower herself down.
- Havarti rides her ghost-eating hyena up the walls until they dangle over the statue. She uncoils a rope, ties it to the harness, and starts to lower herself down.
- Sulphur reaches down to test the black liquid and discovers that it is oil.
- GRAAAERGGGHH!
- Sulphur sees the frog monster leap from the water just in time! He steps back, grabs a handful of teeth from the pouch at his waist, and punches it straight down the frog monster's throat!
- GRAAAERGGGHH!
- Sulphur sees the frog monster leap from the water just in time! He steps back, grabs a handful of teeth from the pouch at his waist, and punches it straight down the frog monster's throat!
- It detonates, tearing the frog to shreds! An octopus floats out of its ruined corpse.
- Simultaneously, Havarti has grabbed the idol. There is a clunk. Everyone goes "ah..."
- Holes in the ceiling drop fiery debris, igniting the oil in a great WHOOOOSH of heat! Havarti is on fire! Sulphur staggers back from the burning pool! The hyena HOWLS in dismay!
- Havarti swiftly disrobes as the hyena flees back towards the way out, her burning clothes falling into the flaming oil below. Sulphur stops, drops and rolls. Those further up the tunnel are harmed by smoke inhalation as the acrid fumes wash upwards!
- Amphibious Assault Vehicle: Fr0G
- Lightly crisped frog monsters leap from the burning oil as Nostradama heals Havarti's wounds with holy light. Nostradama watches in horror as one leaps at Sulphur and swallows him whole before diving back under the flames!
- Battle is joined as everyone attempts not to get swallowed. It quickly becomes evident that these frogs are long dead, merely amphibious exo-suits for the octopuses controlling them from within!
- Hidra whips an octopus out of a frog's mouth and into his hand, where he crushes it.
- Inside the frog, Sulphur is in deadly battle with the octopilot which is trying to strangle him. He has an idea and purses his lips, smooching the octopus right on its beak. As the prophecies foretold, the octopus dies, leaving Sulphur in alleged control of the frog. Alas, without eight limbs it's only partially controllable.
- Sulphur hears more of them coming from inside the frog-suit, so surfaces, jumps out of the mouth, and tells everyone to run! He tooth-bombs the first wave of reinforcements, and everyone flees with the idol!
- Dungeon-Doku
- They escape, grabbing christmas elf clothes from the corpse as they go. Havarti is grateful to have any clothes at all really!
- Havarti inspects the statue. This is a proper 100% A-Grade Cthulhu Statue. It's mad valuable, and after a brief scuffle Ghost Snels divides it up like the other one.
- They exfiltrate all the way out to the entrance and cook a meal of the strange acid-resistant algae, leftover jollof rice, and nice fresh octopus. They call it "Dungeon-Doku" and it's quite nice!
Total: 7000 exp
Foes Vanquished:
- A few Urchin-Bellied Revenants (225 exp)
- Several Octopus-Controlled Frog Monsters (100 exp)
- Several Octopus-Controlled Frog Monsters (100 exp)
Total: 325 exp
Treasures Gained:
- Book #180: Other Histories (50 exp)
- Book #182: The Brass Hell (50 exp)
- Golden Cthulhu Statue (20 000 exp)
Total: 20 100 exp
OOC:
- Carter the Chronicler
- George the Expedition Leader
- Charles the Paymaster
- Kitty the Vanguard
- Zoë the Chef
100 exp/level/job
Exp Totals:
- Kitty / Sulphur, Level 6 Boo-gilist: 63813 (Level up at 72000)
- Zoë / Nostradama, Level 6 Cleric of Nonanism: 54869 (Level up at 72000)
- Carter / Hidra, Level 6 Fighter: 36014 (Level up at 64000)
*LEVEL UP!* +1d8 HP! +1 to Saves! +1 to Hit! +1 to Crit/Fumble! +Backstory!
- Charles / Nieval the Good, Level 6 Specialist: 36056 (Level up at 56000)
- George / Ghost Snels, Level 5 Denialist Cleric: 34614 (Level up at 36000)
- Ollie / Havarti Honeybun, Level 5 Halfling: 19948 (Level up at 32000)
*LEVEL UP!* +1d6 HP! +1 to Saves! +1 to Mind Control! +1 to Cooking! +Backstory!
