Session 73: Your Face or Your Morals?
6/2/24-6/7/24, rest 6/8, active 6/9
PC: Gwendolyn, Alex, Legany, Aldric, Argon
Hench: Amadayo, Mahin, Madrof, Steve, Godfrey, Arthur, Sally
Riding high off of their victories in the Trials of the Scourge, Team A was snowed under with job offers and potential quests. Many old hooks from patrons Redcorn and Bigtoe were hanging out there but the group wasn’t happy with the travel that those would require. They chose to run something nearby which meant working for the perfectly hospitable Lord Tyring.
Argon (new dwarf Earthforger) joined the group late due to traffic but jumped right in, partying hard with Aldric at The Bender Inn where the paladin and Legany were both local celebrities. Gwendolyn played some tunes but otherwise there were no urban encounters. This bit of time allowed Alex to arrive from Bellport so they could jump off towards a mission.
To the north of Arete was an unknown wood rumored to be “cursed.” Peasants wouldn’t go near it. Lord Tyring wanted it investigated and threw in a treasure map leading to a modest score to sweeten the deal (for a cut of course).
Travel to the forest was pretty uneventful. Once they entered, the party observed that it was very old and undisturbed. Aldric detected no evil or chaotic forces near them. After a while, they found themselves in a heavily obscured area with unfamiliar vines draping down. The Naturalists in the party quickly kept anyone from touching anything and investigated, discovering a weird strand of belladonna. After some time spent harvesting the dangerous plant, they moved on.
Two dead hill giants blocked the party’s path just shy of the location on their treasure map. They’d yet to see anything indicating the forest was cursed, but this was certainly alarming. They could tell that there had been a battle but couldn’t place any details other than the giants had been poked all over. With nothing else to go on, they sent their assassin hench Mahin and Legany to sneak up and inspect the clearing ahead.
A long crevasse ran from west to east across a long meadow. As the scouts crept closer, they could tell it was lined with sharp crystalline stones of an unfamiliar brown nature and had a ramp at one end that led into the ground. The group formed up and descended into the earth.
Mahin was sent again to scout ahead, this time at a large cavern at the end of the entry corridor. His Sneaking ability saved him from being discovered by two stone giants covered in the same crystalline features as the walls. He crept back and reported that they seemed to be lounging or guarding the way.
Dwarves speak giant so Argon hollered out to talk to them. Initial reaction wasn’t bad so the giants demanded the spokesman show himself so that they could speak face to face. Argon (wisely?) chose not to approach alone so the whole party cautiously entered the room. Some negotiation was attempted to bribe their way past, but that was declined out of hand by the giants, the initial amounts being much too low for the powerful creatures.
The group then attempted to back out of the room, claiming that they had left their wallets with the horses. The giants didn’t care for that and attacked. The fight was a tough one but not out of the party’s power level by any means. Legany led the charge to meet the giants while Aldric flanked out to provide a target for the known stone-tossers. Argon used his ceremonial magic to create some obstacles to hinder the thrown rocks and after a few rounds, the party emerged victorious with no casualties except to their healing magics.
There was a deep pool in the room that the dwarf was able to guess had some further underwater tunnel. Mahin scouted it out and confirmed the theory but suspected it was too long to swim through unaided. The adventurers carried on deeper into the cavern seeking treasure and glory.
The passage narrowed with larger crystalline structures growing sharper before finally letting out into another very large chamber. The group crept along the side to inspect it, revealing a waterfall into a wide pool and a large statue in the center. A flexing man, 12’ tall and made of apparently solid bedrock, stood on a wide platform of unknown metal. The figure was covered in slimy, hanging algae that the Naturalists identified as unpleasant but not particularly dangerous.
Lots of inspection and lore checks went into the statue, revealing it to be exquisitely crafted, standing on some kind of pressure plate or other mechanism, and very heavy. The Earthforger created a crude duplicate of it nearby, trying to mimic its craftsmanship. Argon was an art aficionado and was opposed to any plan suggesting that they damage it. Which was the plan, after Aldric detected evil from it.
They wrapped rope around the figure and gathered around to stab it with as many magic weapons as they could. 1 2 3 and stab, which elicited a flash of light and a warning burst of electrical damage for some measly amount. Scratching their heads, they opted then to use rope and the duplicate statue as a pivot point to topple the thing to the ground.
This released the pressure plate and an exploding trap that did a whole bunch of damage to the first few ranks of the team. Gwendolyn the Goat had her face melted off and everyone else was super hurt, but the figure was released from some kind of stasis. He was a bit condescending to the party but acknowledged their help. He had a particularly canine cast to his face, wore some suit of plate armor, and was clearly technologically advanced.
After tapping on some thing on his wrist that emitted ghostly figures that hovered in front of his face, he let the party know that he was soon to be magically whisked away. They quickly requested a reward, which he pondered and asked what their primitive culture might consider rewarding. Naturally precious metals and gems were blurted out. When he disappeared in a blink, in his place was a bunch of wire and spare bits of this and that of silver, platinum, and gold.
Beat to hell and with a bag in hand, the group left. They didn’t find the target of their treasure map but they had some treasure to ease their pain. They fell back to a fortunately hidden little cave that they suspected would allow them to rest without interruption. Unfortunately, it chose now to cave in on them as they were preparing to camp, dealing a ton of damage to Alex and Amadayo and trapping some of the members inside. Quick work with healing skills and magic saved lives and they camped there.
Travel back to Arete was easy going, where the melted-faced Gwendolyn sought repairs to her mortal wounds. The Patriarch Halifax of Hextor would happily correct this misfortune, if the bard would agree to join Tyring’s household on terms that had already been offered by the Patron. Gwendolyn agreed and Aldric of Ehlonna groaned. The face was fixed, healing was passed out, and the party split the loot. Argon tried to offer tribute directly to Tyring’s castellan but was rebuffed as a subhuman monster due to a horrible reaction check. He was escorted off the property and may or may not be under surveillance by the authorities.
Musings:
Overland travel in ACKS II is interesting. One observation that I have right now is that unusual terrain results may be too common. 40% of the encounter table in Unsettled lands is a terrain encounter, 30% monster, 30% no encounter at all. These are sometimes challenges in their own right, so they can develop into interesting play, but it can also be a bit of a drag to generate repeatedly assuming you don’t already have all POIs and terrain features generated for every hex your party is traveling through.
We’ve only been playing for a few months, so we’ll see how it continues to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment