Argua - Half-Orc Barbarian (271 points)
Masha Deathfoot - Human Martial Artist (265 points)
Puddin' Noddington - Gnome Thief (299 points)
Mahk Strawngmussle - Human Labourer (76 points)
NPCs:
Jenny - Human Cook (62 points)
Player Absent (In the Nega-Zone (Mostly)):
Quintin Nenno - Dragonborn Swordmage (250 points)
Vaelcor Treehippie - Human Druid (280 points)
Jahn the Bear - Bear (209 points)
Avandry 46th 2546, Night: Hot Springs Island, Kujibird "Island"
On Archer's watch, the sound of combat broke out nearby, and when she investigated, she saw a group of 20 fire imps strafing a patrol of a dozen ogres with fireballs a half-dozen meters past the lava river. The ogres were throwing what weapons they had at the imps, but were clearly incapable of dealing with the airborne threat. She returned to the camp and woke up the rest of the party, who decided to assist the ogres.
They readied the crossbows they had taken from the bodies in the jerky fields first, but by the time they got back to the fight, the ogres were starting to retreat, yelling at the imps in a strange language, which was neither the Common tongue nor Giant. While sneaking into a concealed firing position, Masha crit-failed Stealth and knocked a small tree into the lava river, giving their position away. Archer fired an arrow at one of the imps and hit, but it passed through its fiery body inflicting only minimal damage ("Riiiiight" "Full retreat!").
The party retreated back to the camp, which Argua had Camouflaged when setting it up, and heard another ogre shout after they'd turned their backs. They waited, weapons ready, for the imps to show up, but none did. After twenty minutes at high alert, the party went back to sleep.
Avandry 47th 2546, Dawn: Volcanic Jungle
The party continued to the northeast, up the side of the volcano, and stumbled upon a 30' wide strip of obsidian shards, running perfectly straight for several kilometers northeast to southwest. Sections of the obsidian "highway" were covered in a rust-coloured moss, and the edges were flanked by clusters of bushes that were growing 4" red-orange peppers. Argua investigated the peppers, and with Naturalist found that... they were spicy and likely edible; Puddin' shoved three peppers into her pouch, "for later".
Argua then went to go check out the moss on the trail but walked over a patch she hadn't seen, which instantly burst into flame. She was surprised but unharmed, and they decided to stay off of the obsidian highway. Archer decided they were close to the area where the rod would have been, and decided to try to find "unusual" tracks.
Morning: Volcanic Jungle
Archer, with Argua's help, found many, many animal tracks, and several noteworthy ones:
- Several large humanoids (determined to likely be ogres) heading northwest
- Multiple groups of humanoids (probably adventurers) travelling all over the place
- One set of large humanoid prints beside several four-legged tracks, all of which had been burned into the jungle floor (ogres and hellhounds?)
As they had found nothing conclusive, the party continued further up the volcano, following the obsidian highway to keep themselves oriented. An hour later, Puddin' spotted some man-sized, red-orange snakes with four legs and two arms, carrying golden four-tined spears walking down the highway towards them. The party retreated into the jungle before they could be spotted, and decided to try to speak to the snakes, so Puddin' was sent out to talk.
The snakes hissed back and asked what they were doing here, raising their spears aggressively. Puddin' replied that they were heading up the volcano and looking to make camp for the night, which prompted the snakes to ask "Do you ssseek the great Ssssssvarku?". Pudidn' said they didn't. The lead snake narrowed its eyes and shouted "Then die!". Masha and Argua charged out of the jungle where they were hiding, up along the edge of the obsidian highway, while Puddin' ran back into the jungle and Disappeared.
Archer stepped into the open but failed her Fast-Draw, and the snakes stepped forward onto a patch of rust-coloured moss, which burst into flame, but they didn't seem to be bothered. One thrust its spear in Argua's direction and a fireball shot out of the tip, hitting her in the torso. The others continued the volley of fireballs, but one missed Argua, another was dodged by Masha, and the last one's spear malfunctioned, just shooting harmless sparks and light smoke. Archer finished readying her bow and loosed an arrow at the front snake's eye, but it dodged.
The arrow continued on and hit another snake, doing less damage than expected, though the snake did start "bleeding" gouts of flame, which ignited the arrow. Masha jumped across the obsidian shards, which would slow her down, but missed her sick flying kick. Argua ran onto the highway, igniting another patch of moss, but again, her Tough Skin stopped her from being burned. Three snakes retreated and attacked Masha, but the first two missed, and the third was critically dodged, turning its spear in its hands.
The snake with the malfunctioning spear backed up more and switched to a longer reach, as Archer missed another shot. Masha landed a kick on one snake, and the fiery "blood" from the wound burned her foot, but, like Archer's shot before, the blow seemed to have less effect than expected. Argua charged in but missed her swing with her great axe, and two snakes retaliated with stabs, one of which narrowly missed her vitals. From back in the jungle, Mahk shouted "Should I get the crossbow?", but he was told to stay back.
The snakes backed up more and positioned their foes between themselves and Archer, causing her to miss a shot fired on the run. Masha kicked the wounded snake some more. Argua finally landed a deceptive attack to a fresh snake, and the snakes continued their missing streak until the one with the longer reach stabbed Argua with its spear, followed be another which hit, capitalizing on her now halved dodge, and sent her into the negatives.
Mahk shouted "I'm gettin' the crossbow!", Archer hit the wounded snake with a deceptive arrow, and Masha wore its defenses down with a trio of rapid kicks before Argua slammed her axe into its neck, sending it twitching to the ground. The other three snakes balked at the sight of their wounded ally and tried to run away; two made it, but one was downed with a pair of arrows from Archer. Archer stabbed one unconscious snake in the eye, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke and flame.
Archer stepped into the open but failed her Fast-Draw, and the snakes stepped forward onto a patch of rust-coloured moss, which burst into flame, but they didn't seem to be bothered. One thrust its spear in Argua's direction and a fireball shot out of the tip, hitting her in the torso. The others continued the volley of fireballs, but one missed Argua, another was dodged by Masha, and the last one's spear malfunctioned, just shooting harmless sparks and light smoke. Archer finished readying her bow and loosed an arrow at the front snake's eye, but it dodged.
The arrow continued on and hit another snake, doing less damage than expected, though the snake did start "bleeding" gouts of flame, which ignited the arrow. Masha jumped across the obsidian shards, which would slow her down, but missed her sick flying kick. Argua ran onto the highway, igniting another patch of moss, but again, her Tough Skin stopped her from being burned. Three snakes retreated and attacked Masha, but the first two missed, and the third was critically dodged, turning its spear in its hands.
The snake with the malfunctioning spear backed up more and switched to a longer reach, as Archer missed another shot. Masha landed a kick on one snake, and the fiery "blood" from the wound burned her foot, but, like Archer's shot before, the blow seemed to have less effect than expected. Argua charged in but missed her swing with her great axe, and two snakes retaliated with stabs, one of which narrowly missed her vitals. From back in the jungle, Mahk shouted "Should I get the crossbow?", but he was told to stay back.
The snakes backed up more and positioned their foes between themselves and Archer, causing her to miss a shot fired on the run. Masha kicked the wounded snake some more. Argua finally landed a deceptive attack to a fresh snake, and the snakes continued their missing streak until the one with the longer reach stabbed Argua with its spear, followed be another which hit, capitalizing on her now halved dodge, and sent her into the negatives.
Mahk shouted "I'm gettin' the crossbow!", Archer hit the wounded snake with a deceptive arrow, and Masha wore its defenses down with a trio of rapid kicks before Argua slammed her axe into its neck, sending it twitching to the ground. The other three snakes balked at the sight of their wounded ally and tried to run away; two made it, but one was downed with a pair of arrows from Archer. Archer stabbed one unconscious snake in the eye, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke and flame.
Puddin' went to steal the other snake's golden quadrent, figuring it was 6lbs of solid gold, but the body was still scorching hot, and burned her left hand bad enough to cripple it. Archer stabbed it in the eyes and it, too, puffed away. Now that the snakes were gone, the party was able to steal the quadrents without getting burned (Mahk used one to hold his sack, hobo style, while Puddin' took the other). Vaelcor stepped out of the Nega-Zone for a minute to heal the wounded, and they continued up the volcano.
Afternoon: The Volcano
Near the top of the volcano, the party entered a clearing that contained a plaza of polished black stone, with four 50' golden statues at the points of the cardinal directions and a 20' black steel brazier in the center. The clearing had a good view above the jungle, all the way to the ocean, and each of the statues depicted the same fanged, idealized male efreet in different poses and garb. One was a mighty wizard, his hands flickering with magical fire, another was a great ruler, carrying an ogre(?) child and reaching out with the other arm to aid someone.
The third was an armoured warrior, raising his sword to the heavens, and the last was a thoughtful scholar, sitting on a boulder and writing in a book with an enchanted quill that moved back and forth. Puddin' decided to investigate the statues and had just determined that they were solid gold when a voice in her head asked her what she thought of his statues. She spoke out loud that they were "pretty good", and the voice continued, saying "Yeah, I was kinda going for a different thing for each because they each represent a different aspect of myself, right? Oh, and don't worry about the voice in your head, you're not crazy. Probably."
The voice asked what they were doing on "his volcano", and Puddin' replied "Leaving, because I'm clearly hearing imaginary voices" and left the plaza, at which point the voice stopped. Argua, who was still in the plaza, then heard the voice, who, after complimenting her for being a big, tough gal, asked what she thought of the statues. The voice thought his statues were pretty great, and that the leader best showed what he really wanted, which was to help the world, you know? He liked helping adventurers in particular, because they liked doing stuff and getting paid, and he had money and stuff that needed doing.
Puddin', now pretty far away, asked if anybody else was hearing "ghosts", but Argua ignored her and told the voice that she liked the warrior statue the most, which the voice agreed was pretty badass. She thought that it would be better if it was wielding an axe, but the voice thought swords were cooler, and they'd have to agree to disagree. The voice then contacted Archer and Masha, who were also still in the plaza, claiming that they seemed cool, which caused Archer to loose an arrow at one of the statues at random. This got her a reprimand from the voice, because those labourers worked really hard on those statues, man.
The voice, dropping Archer from the conversation, then told Argua and Masha about the ogres, who were being "just, like, total dicks, man", and said that there was one really bad witch ogre he wanted dead. If they killed her, he'd give them 1000 gold coins ($100k). Argua tried to "turn off her mind ears" and ask the party if they should ask about the "special item" they were looking for, but the voice heard anyway and asked what it was, saying he had lots of gold statues, booze, oh and magic items, adventurers like magic items, right?
Argua told the voice that the item they were looking for was "special beyond special" and very cool, but money was good too, because she was building a town. The voice replied that that was rad, and he liked building stuff too: he had a brass tower for himself and a fire tower for his dudes that they liked. There was also a black tower, but he wasn't a fan. Argua told him that they were looking for a gold magic rod, and the voice claimed to totally have it around here somewhere; if they killed the ogre witch, he'd give them the rod, some money, and he'd throw a huge party in their honour!
Masha asked where the witch lived, and the voice let them know that they were looking for a mud hut with silver thatching on top of a 20' obsidian outcropping in the jungle to the east. Argua wanted to know if there'd be more ogres there, but the voice wasn't sure. The voice also didn't know what had caused the obsidian highway, though he claimed that the ogres couldn't have made it, as it had already been there when he got here. When they were done killing the witch, they could get back in contact by coming back to the gate to his place further down the volcano, through a grand entrance with a golden 'S' on the floor.
There'd also be a bunch of salamanders (the snakes with golden spears) and some giant spiky black dudes standing guard. Masha asked what the 'S' was for, and the voice apologized for not introducing himself earlier as Svarku the Magnificent, True Lord of This Island and the Greatest Efreet Ever to Live. The party were put on edge, having heard the usual tales of evil efreets granting wishes with a terrible ironic price, but, wanting to be certain, Argua asked if Svarku could grant wishes. He responded that he could, but pointed out that it was not cool to ask that, because it was reinforcing negative stereotypes.
Svarku also warned "the big gal" to watch out, because the ogres were kidnapping women like her; his theory was that the ogres were dumb and thought big women were ogres. He let them know that he was looking for allies, had big plans, and paid well, so they could consider this an audition for future jobs. Masha wondered if Svarku had other adventurers working for him already, and he relayed that he had some people doing jobs for him, but they kept dying, and nobody was going to be able to help them with this.
He also went on a bit of a rant about how lots of adventurers just assumed the efreet in the volcano was the "bad guy", and they tried to kill him and take all his shit or whatever. That was lame, and Svarku asserted that he and the party were out here making a difference, making a better place, while those other greedy losers just wanted money. They asked why Svarku couldn't take care of the witch himself, but he claimed to be "just, like, so busy you guys. Totally swamped".
The party said "they'd get around to it", and started down the volcano to the east. Archer asked if ogres could see in the dark, and Puddin' replied that she'd once heard that ogres had night vision but were blinded by bright lights.
Sunset: Heavy Jungle
Argua led the party on a search for the witch's silver-thatched hut, and found it after only several hours. The obsidian outcropping had a spiral walkway around the outside, so they'd have no problem getting to the witch, provided she was there. For now, though, the party made camp and rested, about 1km away from the outcropping.The third was an armoured warrior, raising his sword to the heavens, and the last was a thoughtful scholar, sitting on a boulder and writing in a book with an enchanted quill that moved back and forth. Puddin' decided to investigate the statues and had just determined that they were solid gold when a voice in her head asked her what she thought of his statues. She spoke out loud that they were "pretty good", and the voice continued, saying "Yeah, I was kinda going for a different thing for each because they each represent a different aspect of myself, right? Oh, and don't worry about the voice in your head, you're not crazy. Probably."
The voice asked what they were doing on "his volcano", and Puddin' replied "Leaving, because I'm clearly hearing imaginary voices" and left the plaza, at which point the voice stopped. Argua, who was still in the plaza, then heard the voice, who, after complimenting her for being a big, tough gal, asked what she thought of the statues. The voice thought his statues were pretty great, and that the leader best showed what he really wanted, which was to help the world, you know? He liked helping adventurers in particular, because they liked doing stuff and getting paid, and he had money and stuff that needed doing.
Puddin', now pretty far away, asked if anybody else was hearing "ghosts", but Argua ignored her and told the voice that she liked the warrior statue the most, which the voice agreed was pretty badass. She thought that it would be better if it was wielding an axe, but the voice thought swords were cooler, and they'd have to agree to disagree. The voice then contacted Archer and Masha, who were also still in the plaza, claiming that they seemed cool, which caused Archer to loose an arrow at one of the statues at random. This got her a reprimand from the voice, because those labourers worked really hard on those statues, man.
The voice, dropping Archer from the conversation, then told Argua and Masha about the ogres, who were being "just, like, total dicks, man", and said that there was one really bad witch ogre he wanted dead. If they killed her, he'd give them 1000 gold coins ($100k). Argua tried to "turn off her mind ears" and ask the party if they should ask about the "special item" they were looking for, but the voice heard anyway and asked what it was, saying he had lots of gold statues, booze, oh and magic items, adventurers like magic items, right?
Argua told the voice that the item they were looking for was "special beyond special" and very cool, but money was good too, because she was building a town. The voice replied that that was rad, and he liked building stuff too: he had a brass tower for himself and a fire tower for his dudes that they liked. There was also a black tower, but he wasn't a fan. Argua told him that they were looking for a gold magic rod, and the voice claimed to totally have it around here somewhere; if they killed the ogre witch, he'd give them the rod, some money, and he'd throw a huge party in their honour!
Masha asked where the witch lived, and the voice let them know that they were looking for a mud hut with silver thatching on top of a 20' obsidian outcropping in the jungle to the east. Argua wanted to know if there'd be more ogres there, but the voice wasn't sure. The voice also didn't know what had caused the obsidian highway, though he claimed that the ogres couldn't have made it, as it had already been there when he got here. When they were done killing the witch, they could get back in contact by coming back to the gate to his place further down the volcano, through a grand entrance with a golden 'S' on the floor.
There'd also be a bunch of salamanders (the snakes with golden spears) and some giant spiky black dudes standing guard. Masha asked what the 'S' was for, and the voice apologized for not introducing himself earlier as Svarku the Magnificent, True Lord of This Island and the Greatest Efreet Ever to Live. The party were put on edge, having heard the usual tales of evil efreets granting wishes with a terrible ironic price, but, wanting to be certain, Argua asked if Svarku could grant wishes. He responded that he could, but pointed out that it was not cool to ask that, because it was reinforcing negative stereotypes.
Svarku also warned "the big gal" to watch out, because the ogres were kidnapping women like her; his theory was that the ogres were dumb and thought big women were ogres. He let them know that he was looking for allies, had big plans, and paid well, so they could consider this an audition for future jobs. Masha wondered if Svarku had other adventurers working for him already, and he relayed that he had some people doing jobs for him, but they kept dying, and nobody was going to be able to help them with this.
He also went on a bit of a rant about how lots of adventurers just assumed the efreet in the volcano was the "bad guy", and they tried to kill him and take all his shit or whatever. That was lame, and Svarku asserted that he and the party were out here making a difference, making a better place, while those other greedy losers just wanted money. They asked why Svarku couldn't take care of the witch himself, but he claimed to be "just, like, so busy you guys. Totally swamped".
The party said "they'd get around to it", and started down the volcano to the east. Archer asked if ogres could see in the dark, and Puddin' replied that she'd once heard that ogres had night vision but were blinded by bright lights.
Sunset: Heavy Jungle
Avandry 48th 2546, Dawn: The Witch's Hut, Hot Springs Island
After much debate, the party decided to talk to the witch first (and maybe trade their gold spears, to show that they were "enemies" of Svarku and his salamanders, who the ogres hated), rather than ambush and murder her. When discussing what they'd do if the ogres tried to kidnap her, Argua replied that she'd "just say no, because [she] already [had] a boyfriend". They decided to bring Mahk and Jenny along, and Argua remarked that while they were planning on talking first, if an opportunity came up to kill the witch by "pushing her into her own oven", they should take it.
At the base of the spiral ramp, three ogres with no lips and strange skeletal smiles stood guard, two carrying obsidian axes and the third a whip. Puddin' announced that they were here to trade, and the whip ogre held up a hand and grunted. After looking up and over his shoulder for several seconds, he gestured for them to follow him up the ramp. The ogre brought them to the silver-thatched mud hut on top of the outcropping where a larger ogre (also with no lips) stood guard with an obsidian axe, and led them inside to a table surrounded by rough stools, four ogre-sized and some smaller, but none small enough for Puddin', who would have to stand.
From behind a beaded curtain, a tendril of silver hair emerged, and, without entering the room, the witch asked for everyone to take a seat. Puddin' offered to trade the peppers they had found earlier, but the witch turned her down, stating that she did not trade with their kind, though other ogres under the chieftain Glavrok may. Further, she somehow knew that they had come here after speaking with the efreet, and asked why. Masha played it cool and said they were just exploring and were not really interested in getting involved, but the witch didn't seem to buy it.
The witch asked if they had come to kill her and her sons, and Puddin' denied that they had. After a moment of silence, she called out her lie, and Argua stated that they could just get into a big fight if she wanted, but they'd prefer not to. The witch informed them of why Svarku wanted her dead: the efreet had enslaved her people to mine crystals in the volcano, and they had revolted after he had killed most of their women and children. She continued that they were in the moral right, as slavery is obviously evil, and asked that they either not interfere, or perhaps join the ogres.
Argua asked about the ogres kidnapping women, but the witch denied it, though nobody was sure if she was lying (even Luck didn't help Puddin' with default Detect Lies). The witch asked why they were on the island in the first place, and Puddin' replied that they were looking for a magical artifact. The witch said it was probably in the elven ruins (corroborating Old Will's intel, or coincidence?), and told them that they should just go over there and ignore the conflict between Svarku and the ogres.
She then told them that they were free to go, but would be killed if they returned to within ten feet of the outcropping. The party figured that this was more than fair, and started back across the island towards the elven ruins.
Morning: Volcanic Jungle
The party trekked back around the volcano, and crossed the obsidian highway again, allowing them to reorient themselves. On their way, they discussed if they wanted to take a side in the ogre-Svarku conflict, but only Argua really had a strong opinion: she wanted to help Svarku because he was cooler and had more money.
Afternoon: Mountainous Jungle
The party thought they were going into the "swamp" with the fog, but stumbled into the clearing with the obsidian hydra they'd discovered on their first trip to the island. Argua brought up that they'd been ignoring the "real side quest", to start a union and disrupt the Martel Company, and that Puddin' still owed her a blood oath. Puddin' responded by Disappearing into the jungle for a while; Argua let her go, but was upset that she hadn't kept her promise.
Sunset: Mountainous Jungle
As the party followed a river west, they came across a pair of 2', brick red birds with serrated beaks and a singe large horn on their foreheads. Argua noticed that the birds were badly wounded, and the birds squawked and started a threat display, causing orange powder ("Cheeto dust?") to shake off their wings. Argua made a tough Naturalist roll and noticed that the birds looked to be infected with mange or some other kind of parasite, and figured that the "powder" was likely the eggs of those parasites. Argua suggested using these birds as biological warfare against the ogres, but the others turned her down.
Shortly, they came across a clearing with a rusted iron seven-headed hydra atop a 30' basalt pillar, its mouths open to the sky. Rainbow-coloured flowers bloomed thickly around the pillar, and the party decided to camp here for the night.
Notes:
I gave the players access to Vaelcor's spells a few times (Shape Earth to get off the island and various healing spells) because they had planned this expedition while counting on having a character who could heal and get them back over the lava river.
Archer shouldn't have been able to accept help from Argua, as she has Paranoia. We thought it had a self-control roll, but it doesn't.
I had the flaming moss reduce metal DR to 1/5, but that was probably too harsh. I will try out 1/2 in the future.
We had to look up the density of gold, to determine how much the 50' solid gold statues were worth. 1200lbs per cubic foot and $25k/lb gives $30M per cubic foot, a truly outlandish amount of wealth (in my current Domain system, getting a max-level holding with all available features would only run you a "paltry" $10M). The statues all together are probably worth billions.
There was some discussion of asking Svarku how to kill the salamanders better, and it's probably a good thing they didn't, as they seem to be working for him. Once the session was over, somebody realized that they had been openly carrying the golden spears at the statue plaza, but he either didn't notice or didn't care.
The party were able to get some advance knowledge on the Night Axe ogres by reading up on the intel they'd purchased from the Martel Company back in Swordfish Bay. It doesn't mention anything about night vision, but apparently none of them have lips.
XP was 2:
1 for combat (the salamanders)
1 for exploration
Edit: MVP went to Masha
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