Into the Underhive, which has become a strange faerie realm since the Goblins locked themselves away.
I feel sorry for that poor mantis guy who just wanted to live his life!
Session 284 - The Unreal Underhive
New Backstory:
- Plod was laughed at by other goblins when they found out he was indentured to Sir Robyn. Once per session, cause someone you’ve met before not to act for a round.
- Poison Phil talked a wasteland warlord down from a tense situation. Once per session, de-escalate a verbal confrontation
Valuables:
- 42 shrinking iron rations (2100 exp)
- 26 mantis rations (26 exp)
Total: 2126 exp
Foes Defeated:
- Glass hummingbirds (50 exp)
- Rapacious silkworms (50 exp)
- A big praying mantis (250 exp)
Total: 350 exp
Expedition:
- First party to enter the Underhive (500 exp)
Total: 500 exp
Events:
--- Julgoor’s Bank
- Back in New Moondin after a week or so out in the wastes, the party rests up and heads over to the Goblin Bank to see what’s going on with the place after the fall of Styx. Turns out Julgoor’s in charge now, and the goblins have mostly retreated into the Underhive and locked themselves away. Also it’s getting real crazy down there.
- After a bit of banter and an art sale to Julgoor, who of course is willing to buy any valuables the party has, they decide to go investigate the mysterious Underhive themselves. Julgoor lets them through the intricate wrought iron gate and into this strange new dungeon…
--- Bloodsuckers
- Inside the place is… vast! And sunny! And full of greenery! Space itself is warped. Clockwork weather winds and shifts on the ceiling a vast distance overhead, paths wind through dense gardens ahead, and songbirds sing somewhere in the trees.
- They first come to a semicircular amphitheatre with shadow puppets rusting on a stage. Soon they notice something very strange - their own shadows are moving weirdly! Messing about with the shadow puppets causes one’s shadow to try try to tear away!
- They move along, following the garden path to a fragrant herb garden. They gather some herbs which Niamh identifies as paralysis herbs… and as she does so she sees a little glass hummingbird flutter down from a nearby tree and hover near her hand. She lets it close… and it sips on her blood!
- Loads more birds flutter down and swarm her, soon draining her of enough blood to make her pass out! The rest of the party run to her aid!
- Poison Phil accidentally gets hit by a load of birds and Plod’s goblins when he fumbles a Gambit, but despite this and other setbacks the glass birds are soon crushed! Phew!
- Some of these herbs are psychedelic. Phil takes some and sees this place in the past… it used to be densely packed earth and rock, naturally! Niamh trips out on some other herb.
--- Choo choo!
- They continue on into a garden with ponds full of lilypads and fish. Plod makes Goblina try all the fish, which shrink down into little objects when taken from the water. Each has a different effect, giving her drunkenness, spiderclimb and… poison! Thankfully she survives, but when a weird icy train track complete with little child-sized fish-train arrives from one of the ponds she’s bundled into it and sent off down the tracks!
- They follow on through a hole in the hedge and find Goblina dead, her train crashed into a hole! This area has more shadow puppets, but this time there are willowy skeletons on chairs watching the stage. They’re not animated skeletons though, thankfully.
- In the hole the little train crashed into they find some food! Lovely! Mini iron rations that expand into a larger meal when you hold them in your hand. Very good.
--- Silk
- They travel onwards, careful not to annoy their animate shadows, and come to a grove of trees draped with interwoven strands of silk. It’s dead cold, but thankfully Plod’s rune-workings help them warm up.
- Plod and Niamh go to gather the silk and find that it’s really sticky! They’re stuck fast! Silkworms descend from the sticky silk above to attack them! Plod’s surviving goblins help him out but get stuck themselves, while Andromeda bites Niamh to heal her with her vampire bite!
- Plod chucks oil on the tree which poor Niamh is stuck to and Poison Phil lights it with a flintlock spark. The whole thing goes up in flames! Niamh jumps away, lightly scorched, and the silkworms are cooked alive!
--- Axel the Axlotl
- They continue deeper and come to a cemetery. The ground warps and waves like an ocean. Atop a mausoleum is a great pale amphibian who introduces himself as Axel and seems pretty chill. Par for the course here really.
- Since everyone’s a little the worse for wear, they decide to camp here under Axel’s watchful eye. Time itself seems to slow as they settle down to camp. Poison Phil cooks up a meal from canned bread, goblin flesh, devil-carp, and some of those silkworms from before. He calls it - wait for it - a Diet of Worms. Very good.
- Andromeda talks to Axel during the night. Apparently there are tall goblins here who come out at night, play drums and harps, always going deeper into this strange place and always trying to get taller. She asks if he’d like to join them going deeper but he demures - if he leaves the cemetery he’ll turn back into a little lizard and he doesn’t want that!
--- Mantis Man
- In the morning they encroach further into the gardens, coming to a garden blooming with rare orchids in greenhouses. One of the greenhouses has been painted over on the inside, so naturally they go to check the place out!
- They smash their way in and find a small house with an odd long bed and a kitchenette. They check the fridge and find it’s got some weird chilled bug things in there. Suddenly Poison Phil feels something grab him from behind and drag him out of the broken window of the door!
- It’s a massive mantis! Poison Phil garnishes himself with paralysis herb as the great insect loudly asks who these people are who’ve broken into his home!
- Andromeda wrestles it off Poison Phil with a crit and pins it while Plod’s goblins smash at its thorax! I say! After lots of wrestling Goblina finally finishes it off. That poor mantis.
- During the fight he mentioned that he’d gone out to bury his wife, so naturally our heroes butcher the dead mantis for meat and then dig up his dead wife to butcher her too.
- Poison Phil drinks a mystery potion he had on him and discovers he can see into people’s pasts. He looks into the mantis’ past and sees that it was just a normal mantis that came into the hive from the normal world, then became a big smart mantis. Now it is a big dead mantis.
- With far more to explore, we finish for the night. Next time, more weird underhive!
Total: 7000 exp
Roles:
Remembrancer: Charles (100 exp)
Expedition Leader: Kitty (100 exp)
Cartographer: George (100 exp)
Paymaster: Charles (100 exp)
Quartermaster: -
Vanguard: George (100 exp)
Triage: -
Chef: George (100 exp)
OOC:
- Art Attack bonus (Charles - 100 exp)
- Artapalooza bonus (Charles - 100 exp)
Exp Totals:
- Kitty / Andromeda, Level 8 Andromedan Vampire: 174362 (Level MAX)
- George / Poison Phil, Level 4 Fighter: 11543 (Level up at 16000)
- Charles / Plod, Level 4 Goblin: 8958 (Level up at 16000)
Level Up! +1d6 HP! +1 Goblin Buddy! +Backstory!
Level Up! +1d6 HP! +1d6 Healing Pool! +1 Faith! +Backstory!
