DF Khoramandu Sea, Sessions 106 thru 109 - Up on Space Mountain
I have been neglecting this blog again. Since I last posted we have had some temporary player absences, and Bert's player has decided return to gaming in person, so he has left our online group for the foreseeable future*. I wish him well.
We played 4 sessions in October, then we skipped a week due to players being unavailable. After that we played a couple of sessions of Paranoia as a break until all 4 players can return (hopefully back to normal this week). Anyway, here is a summary of the October sessions; my recollection may be imperfect...
Session Dates: 7, 12, 14, and 21 October 2021
Party roster:
Miao Miao, cat-folk swashbuckler, 525 points (PC)
- Jenkins, human servant, 249 points (NPC Ally)
- Father Warian, human priest, 261 points (NPC Ally)
- Alacus, human slinger, ~62 points (NPC volunteer)
Sir Yvor Gryffyn, human knight, 450 points (PC)
Sir Yvor Gryffyn, human knight, 450 points (PC)
- Manuta, human sergeant, 177 points (NPC Ally)
Hemmu Gahrol, half-orc knight, 385 points (PC)
Adam Aesalor, half-orc wizard, 349 points (PC)
When it came time for the group to rendezvous for the Atoep portal, Bert was nowhere to be seen; the halfling had once again disappeared without leaving a message. The party could not wait, so they had to proceed without Bert, whatever might have happened to him. The goblin Guurtsnik also did not accompany the group, but in this case it was cowardice and not even Hemmu expected otherwise from a goblin...
The rendezvous was in a city street at dusk, where sage Okoe Ndudi had predicted the arrival of a portal in an adjacent alleyway. The star-sage of Bekembe being an old man, he was not present himself; in his stead was professor Ugral Vaal from the University of Phessio, Lord Sarrius with his bodyguard, and a detachment of the city watch. Before they entered the portal, Vaal gave the party Ndudi's map of Atoep, a full potion belt, and a scroll**.
The portal in the alleyway appeared to be a circle of glowing red runes. Entering this, the group found themselves inside what looked like a large cavern, the floor of which was liberally dotted with other portals of similar circular red runes. Sir Yvor tried to dig a hole in the cavern floor, using his crowbar, but found it to be like solid rock. It was at this moment that the party was attacked by a horde of corporeal shadows, which were later identified as Demons From Between the Stars (technically not actual demons, but elder things, as they don't originate from the Underworld). Seemingly vulnerable to mundane weapons, these "Demons" are nonetheless quite nasty, with a life-draining touch, and favouring hit-and-run tactics using the darkness as cover. It was a big fight.
Over multiple sessions, the party explored inside Atoep... They wandered different tunnels and chambers, cut through organic "doors", encountered blue mould, fought "flying ghost-brains", threw a bottle of alchemist's fire down a deep shaft, went in circles, got attacked by vines, climbed stairs out onto the surface of Atoep, trekked across the surface until they found another opening, went down into Atoep, fought flying "frutti de mare", found human remains from the star-sage expedition, almost heard voices (which the Curious ignored), and finally found the chamber containing the green humour, where they were attacked by "brainless zombies".
Over multiple sessions, the party explored inside Atoep... They wandered different tunnels and chambers, cut through organic "doors", encountered blue mould, fought "flying ghost-brains", threw a bottle of alchemist's fire down a deep shaft, went in circles, got attacked by vines, climbed stairs out onto the surface of Atoep, trekked across the surface until they found another opening, went down into Atoep, fought flying "frutti de mare", found human remains from the star-sage expedition, almost heard voices (which the Curious ignored), and finally found the chamber containing the green humour, where they were attacked by "brainless zombies".
After defeating the zombies, the group spent some time trying to solve the "puzzle" of how to set fire to the humour. It seemed to involve a lot of trial and error. Once they broke the glowing column open and released the viscous liquid, they tried and failed several times to ignite it. In desperation, Sir Yvor even stuck his arm into the column at the nonsensical "suggestion" of Adam the wizard. They found that skin contact with the humour wasn't funny; the toxic liquid was vicious as well as viscous.
Eventually they realised that a significant amount of fire/heat was required to cause combustion***. Once the humour was ignited, the column was ablaze almost immediately, with the fire spreading outwards across the chamber by the second. The party ran for the exit...
We paused it there. What with the absences and the brief game of Paranoia (the edition formerly known as "XP"), tomorrow's session will be our first game back.
Eventually they realised that a significant amount of fire/heat was required to cause combustion***. Once the humour was ignited, the column was ablaze almost immediately, with the fire spreading outwards across the chamber by the second. The party ran for the exit...
We paused it there. What with the absences and the brief game of Paranoia (the edition formerly known as "XP"), tomorrow's session will be our first game back.
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* As much as I prefer gaming in-person around a real table-top, I am not ready to risk COVID for that. This is a personal opinion. Everyone must make their own choices around balancing the level of risk for themselves and their families during the pandemic.
** The party took these items without enquiring or checking what they were. The potion belt was later found to contain 2 bottles of holy water and 2 bottles of alchemist's fire. The scroll was almost forgotten about entirely, and turned out to be a universal scroll of Lend Energy.
*** I didn't expect it to be a puzzle, much less a difficult one. Generally I am of the opinion that it's more fun if players can solve hurdles themselves, so my NPCs tend not to speak up of their own volition. Eventually if an NPC party-member might know the answer (or figure it out), then I will roll or have them speak; it is less satisfying that way, but better than the game grinding to a complete stop. It is occasionally useful that the servant Jenkins has the Common Sense advantage...
* As much as I prefer gaming in-person around a real table-top, I am not ready to risk COVID for that. This is a personal opinion. Everyone must make their own choices around balancing the level of risk for themselves and their families during the pandemic.
** The party took these items without enquiring or checking what they were. The potion belt was later found to contain 2 bottles of holy water and 2 bottles of alchemist's fire. The scroll was almost forgotten about entirely, and turned out to be a universal scroll of Lend Energy.
*** I didn't expect it to be a puzzle, much less a difficult one. Generally I am of the opinion that it's more fun if players can solve hurdles themselves, so my NPCs tend not to speak up of their own volition. Eventually if an NPC party-member might know the answer (or figure it out), then I will roll or have them speak; it is less satisfying that way, but better than the game grinding to a complete stop. It is occasionally useful that the servant Jenkins has the Common Sense advantage...
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