Friday, 31 May 2019

GURPS DF Free Cities Season 2 Session 28: A Needle in a Sexy Haystack

Archer Arrowsmith - Human Scout (272 points)
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)
Quintin Nenno - Dragonborn Swordmage (250 points)
Vaelcor Treehippie - Human Druid (280 points)
        Jahn the Bear - Bear (209 points)

NPCs:
Jenny - Human Cook (62 points)

The Resplendent Bathhouse
Argua, Masha, and Puddin' started searching for the artwork of themselves that would get them out of this alternate dimension; Puddin' went alone to the second floor, but Argua and Masha stayed together on the ground floor in case of patrolling monsters.  Puddin' took closer looks at the theatre where she'd noticed Quintin's fresco, but though there were dozens, if not hundreds of paintings, frescoes, and sculptures, all were of nude elves.  Argua and Masha's exploration of the ground floor found a chamber where elves lined up to go up a backwards waterslide and into the ceiling, but again, none of the art pieces they were looking for. 

Due to the poor timing of their entering this dimension, the party was now forced to forgo sleep, and exhaustion started to take its toll (-1FP per 2 hours).  Still, the search continued on through several resets of the "time loop"; the various areas they searched slowly emptied out as elves went to the concert stage, then they faintly heard the beautiful singing of the in the distance, followed after a time by the screams of the slaughter of the elves.  Argua and Masha combed through a spa complex and sauna, while Puddin' checked through what looked to be a set of hotel suites and a gambling hall, but their goal eluded them.  All the while, they slowly but surely continued to fade away.

Melos 1st 2546, Night: Hot Springs City Ruins, The Ruined Bathhouse
On Quintin's watch, he heard a splashing noise in the water, and though he didn't move closer to investigate, he could faintly see ripples on the surface of the pool 4m away.  A short while later, he heard a clanking off to the left, as though something metal had been knocked off a table.  While Quintin peered off into the darkness past the edge of their feeble lamplight, a decorative gong that Archer had rigged as a noisemaker sounded from behind him, waking everyone but Jenny, and alerting them to its source.

Friday, 24 May 2019

GURPS DF Free Cities Season 2 Session 27: Bathhouse Time Machine

Archer Arrowsmith - Human Scout (272 points)
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)
Quintin Nenno - Dragonborn Swordmage (250 points)
Vaelcor Treehippie - Human Druid (280 points)
        Jahn the Bear - Bear (209 points)

NPCs:
Jenny - Human Cook (62 points)

Melos 1st 2546, Sunset: Hot Spring City Ruins, The Highest Terrace
Quintin tried to see if the park with the spiders and their webs was under some sort of enchantment, but it didn't look magical to him (a theme which would continue).  Trying to make the most of the remaining time before night truly fell, the party headed towards the colossal sparkling building with the shining dome at the very top of the city.

The 30' front arch opened to an overgrown garden courtyard of flowering tropical plants in a variety of shapes and colours, but the party stopped their advance when Puddin's Danger Sense activated.  Vaelcor went in to take a look at the plants, but only found out that the dark blue sunflowers were dangerous when one of them opened slightly and emitted a wave of maple-flavoured pollen which instantly knocked him out.

Puddin' held her breath, ran into the garden, and tied a rope around Vaelcor so that Argua could drag him out.  Vaelcor was slapped awake, and tried to cast Identify Plant but crit failed, and just before he finished casting it, his hands burst into flame for a single point of injury.  The party looked for alternate entrances on the front, and Puddin' spotted some balconies 30' up.  Argua declared this to be a waste of time and ran in, cut the plant down, spreading its pollen everywhere, then went and killed a second one as well.

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

GURPS DF Free Cities Season 2 Session 26: The Ruins of Hot Springs City

Archer Arrowsmith - Human Scout (272 points)
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)

Melos 1st 2546, Dawn: The Rusted Hydra, Hot Springs Island
The party woke in the shadow of the rusted iron hydra statue, having been undisturbed overnight.  They decided to explore new ground on the way to the ruins, and began their trek towards the mountain to their west.  Argua used Weather Sense and realized there wasn't a cloud in the sky; it was going to get very hot, very fast.

Morning: The Old Volcano
As they neared the "mountain", the party realized that it was actually a dormant volcano, going by the jagged rim of the caldera that looked like a broken tooth.  Archer decided that she wanted to try to look for more strange tracks which might lead them to the rod segment, and so the party traipsed around the volcano for the next several hours.

Afternoon
After 4 hours, Archer had found several sets of humanoid tracks, a pair of larger humanoid tracks (ogres, probably), and many, many animal tracks.  All of the non-animal tracks seemed to lead towards the ruined city to the southwest, so the party continued towards it as some animals made qwop qwop qwop sounds in the distance (Argua: "This island goes by Pokemon rules, so they must be Qwopbirds").

Tuesday, 30 April 2019

GURPS DF Free Cities Season 2 Session 25: More Gold Than Anyone Can Carry

Archer Arrowsmith - Human Scout (272 points)
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.

Wednesday, 24 April 2019

GURPS DF Free Cities Season 2 Session 24: Got Your Nose!

Archer Arrowsmith - Human Scout (272 points)
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)
Quintin Nenno - Dragonborn Swordmage (250 points)
Vaelcor Treehippie - Human Druid (280 points)
        Jahn the Bear - Bear (209 points)

NPCs:
Jenny - Human Cook (62 points)

Avandry 43rd 2546, Swordfish Bay, Rand's Retreat
The party took a well-deserved day off to relax (and, from a meta perspective, to spend points).

Avandry 44th 2546, Swordfish Bay, Rand's Retreat
Now that Vaelcor had learned Permanent Shapeshifting (Golden Kujibird), the party concocted a scheme to bamboozle Old Will.  Vaelcor, in bird form, would be given to Old Will in exchange for the intel on the rod segment.  Once they knew where it was, Vaelcor would turn back into a human.  They'd also make sure to set up the meet in a secluded spot, so they could kill Old Will if worst came to worst.

Puddin' and Masha tracked down Old Will at Rand's Place, and made the offer, but the plan immediately encountered a hitch: Will was unwilling to go to a dark alley to make the deal, and told her that the meet would happen in his room, north wall, second floor, instead.  Puddin' objected, pointing out that parading a solid gold bird past a bunch of greedy adventurers wouldn't go well, but Will just gave her a sack to muffle it and told her that the tavern was loud enough that noone would notice, and they returned to the party.

After some debate, Argua stuffed Kuji-Vaelcor in the sack, and the party (minus Jahn, who was left outdoors) headed to the meet; unbeknownst to them, the sack had Delayed Sleep and Numb spells on it, and Vaelcor was knocked out, oblivious to the world.  Puddin' knocked on the door, Will opened it a crack, Puddin' held up a feather as proof, and he invited them in.  The windows were shuttered, though the ramshackle walls didn't filter out the light or noise from outside.  Puddin' took a look around and noticed that there was a fancy armoire which seemed rather out of place in one corner, but nothing suspicious.

Tuesday, 9 April 2019

GURPS DF Free Cities Season 2 Session 23: Across Hot Springs Island

Archer Arrowsmith - Human Scout (272 points)
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)
Quintin Nenno - Dragonborn Swordmage (250 points)
Vaelcor Treehippie - Human Druid (280 points)
        Jahn the Bear - Bear (209 points)

Avandry 39th 2546, Swordfish Bay, Rand's Retreat
Quintin met the party while drinking in Rand's Place, and was brought on to the team thanks to his experience in the ruins, where he'd lost a team to shadows, and his martial and magical abilities.  He told them that the next ship to Hot Springs Island was leaving tomorrow at dawn, and would be landing on the western shore.  They made plans to head to the center of the island, where Vaelcor would be able to cast Beast Summoning with the least penalties and find the golden kujibirds (if they existed).

Avandry 40th 2546, Dawn: Swordfish Bay
The party stocked up on enough rations for a week and a canteen with some holes in it (to hold a poison dart frog, if they could find one) and headed out to the shore, where the Siren's Folly was waiting to ferry adventurers over to Hot Springs Island.  A group of adventurers bypassed the boat entirely with a Fly spell, which gave the party some ideas.  The tent city had emptied out, as dozens of foolhardy treasure-seekers without groups lined up and tried to get somebody else to take them along, but the party decided they didn't need anybody.

Morning: Southwest Coast, Hot Springs Island
After disembarking on a black sand beach, and checking which ways other adventurers went (Argua's "boyfriend" seemed to be going towards the ruins), the party started their way into the jungle and towards the central volcano, with Argua Navigating.  Several hours later, the party arrived at a lake at the base of a colossal waterfall, over 1km tall.  While they circled it, gouts of steam intermittently burst out from the cliff behind the falls.  Argua was interested in investigating it further, but they ignored it instead.

Monday, 1 April 2019

GURPS DF Free Cities Season 2 Session 22: Journey to the Swordfish Islands

Archer Arrowsmith - Human Scout (272 points)
Argua - Half-Orc Barbarian (271 points)
Masha Deathfoot - Human Martial Artist (265 points)
Puddin' Noddington - Gnome Thief (299 points)
        Mahk Strawngmussle - Human Labourer (72 points)
Uncle Ruckus - Human Wizard (250 points)

NPCs:
AA Ron Rogers - Human Agent (??? points)

Avandry 1st-19th 2546, Isserno
The party placed some orders for gear and hung out in and around town; Archer was forced to hire a henchman because shopkeepers kept kicking her out, and got extremely ripped off when AA Ron Rogers, Agent extraordinaire, rolled negative on his Loyalty.  Masha got a Cloak of Blur from the displacer beast pelts she brought back, and picked up the Amulet of Haste that she'd commissioned about a month ago.

Argua headed back to the now rebuilt Shadowmantle Manor to find that a small village had sprung up.  Having no ties to the Shadowmantle name, she renamed it Ashina, and paid more money to expand the village and erect a small keep to guard the lands.  Cost of living is $0 in a domain that PC controls, so Argua stayed around Ashina and made sure that new heraldry was made up: a great axe on a field of ... leopard print.

Puddin' went back to Brunnhilda Bronzespire to find out more specifics about the contracts they'd have to make to get to the Swordfish Islands.  A week later, she was told that they'd be indebted to the Martel Company for $10k each, and would have to pay it off before being brought back to the mainland.  Apparently, several people had made it back with vast riches, but it wasn't clear if they were genuine or just Martel plants.