Saturday, February 19, 2011

Wicked! On His Marshal's Secret Service

In our fifth instalment of Wicked! A Fontian Adventure, our villains - Callahan Calamari, Maximilian Facsimile, Potina, Sir Crayon and Thomas Hobbes arrive in Maiandra, only to be swept up in the wake of political upheaval, magical mysteries, and sinister seafood as they seek the location of Trag Boulderfist, the representative of Boss Cromag's cartel in the land of the 1337 and Pwnty.

It wasn't difficult for the group to sift through rumors (and there were rumors aplenty here where everyone worships Typo) about what had happened to the Salty Wench. There were stories alternating between the creative and far-fetched fantasy that described how the tavern had been blown up by the bad guys, that the orcs had invented rapidly expanding soap, that they had been abducted by aliens, and that sinister forces were at work. :o

With few avenues to pursue, the group decided to pay the Marshal of the city, Lord Martlett, a visit. The Marshal's keep was on a high bluff, and though they arrived unmolested, there was a feeling that the group was constantly being watched. They were let into the keep, which was sparsely staffed by servants (and thronging with guards), where they had their audience with the Marshal.

As it turned out, the Marshal was an unusual fellow. He was intelligent, well read, and didn't Hurhurhur like the rest of his countrymen. He was also the spitting image of Alan Rickman, in his Sheriffy aspect. The party was received warmly, and given free run of the keep as the Marshal's esteemed guests for their associations with Boss Cromag, with one sole caveat. They were forbidden to visit the tower in the back of the keep, by the cliff. It was rickety and dangerous, and was due for renovations, the Marshal claimed.

Naturally, being wicked cutthroats, villains and rebels without a clause, the party chose to snoop around the keep, searching for treasure to pillage, items to pilfer, and secrets to score. Callahan discovered that the Marshal had a great interest in arcane matters pertaining to transmutation and stupidity inducing effects, as well as a locked drawer in the library, while Sir Crayon entertained the Marshal at jousts and discussed military strategy to keep him occupied. Potina, of course, pottered around the keep, and discovered a secret passage by the back wall, near the privies.

While the others were at the keep, Maxi was skulking about town, finding out more about the Marshal and the local toot. He managed to corner a hippie hipster in a tavern that proved to be smarter than the average schmoe, and figured out that there was a conspiracy at work - just not the sort that the group had had in mind. There were sketchy individuals in Maiandra, hiding in the shadows wearing black cloaks and unhappy face pins, and these people were supposedly responsible for the sabotage at the Salty Wench. There were even rumors that these folks were part of the Marshal's Secret Service! :o

Returning, the group convened near the secret passage Potina had discovered, and proceeded to traverse it. Following the tunnel under the wall of the keep, they came up towards a trap door, behind which they heard the sounds of machinery and chatty orcs complaining about tight schedules.

Disguised as an orc kid, Potina clambered out of the tunnel, and convinced the orcs in there that she and her companions had been sent to help with whatever they were doing. As it turned out, the lead orc here (there were 3 of them) was Trag Boulderfist himself, and he'd been situated here with his apparatus after the Wench had been blown up, to help the Marshal with a task.

The task, as the group discovered, was the study of the local waters, and the pinpointing of a magical rift that the Marshal suspected was the cause of the stupidity and inbred hurhurhuring of Maiandra's populace. They also pieced together the fact that the Wench had exploded shortly after a visit by several figures in black robes wearing the unhappy face pin.

Armed with this information, they returned to the Marshal, where they offered to help close the rift, to secure both the Marshal's goodwill and very possibly a sizeable reward. The Marshal acquiesced, and offered to provide magical aid to help make the trip down smoother.

Once they were properly girded and provisioned, they decided to make their first descent, from the harbor. It didn't take the party long to swim through the waters towards the gate, which looked like a giant, clam shaped rip in reality surrounded by clusters of twisted coral and hairy seaweed. A cloak the Marshal had provided, which turned Sir Crayon into a manta ray they could cling to, helped them easily navigate the waters. They were also accompanied by Knife, one of the Marshal's warriors in this endeavor.

After studying the rift, Maxi picked up one of the nearby fish, tied a rock to it, and threw it into the rift. At first, nothing happened, but after a few shuddery moments, two large creatures emerged from the rift - frogs with mottled green and red skin, mouths filled with razor teeth, and the arms and legs of humans. After defeating these two creatures, Knife recklessly jumped through the portal, and found himself floating in a black void filled with stars. In the distance, more of the frog creatures were clustered around a large oval rock that seemed like a burnt out star. He withdrew through the portal, and the party decided to beat a hasty retreat when they discovered their magic could not close the rift.

Returning to the Marshal, the party was told that they had likely been through the rift into Limbo, a plane of absolute chaos and confusion, and the Marshal identified the frog creature as a slaad, one of the plane's intelligent denizens. He then suggested that the group should return, and destroy the dead star in the rift, because that was likely what kept the rift open. He also mentioned that crossing the rift was hazardous, and that he could make an oil to stave off the dangers the rift could pose, but that it would possibly attract monsters.

The following day, the party attempted to close the rift again. This time, they descended with greater care, and carefully made their way through the portal after oiling themselves up. Most of them did, anyway. Hobbes didn't, and he realized to his chagrin that he was much changed by the swirling chaotic energies - he was a halfling now, and no longer human.

As the party wondered at the sudden transformation, they began to wonder about what the Marshal had warned about. Maxi smeared a dab of oil on a rock, and tossed it away from him. As it floated through the Limbo plane, something snatched it up and it vanished. Knife shot a crossbow bolt in the direction of a movement he saw, and a creature that looked like a mutated cucumber appeared. It gibbered at the group, and ran away, but was cut down by several crossbow bolts at once. After giving the creature a once over, the party bagged its body and continued forward.

They soon came to the dead star, which they discovered hovered in Limbo and was close to 40-ft wide. They also spied several cocoons dangling from beneath the star, containing sleeping frog creatures.

Maxi smacked one of them, while Knife prodded the star with his knife, and as the creature died, it shrieked and woke the remaining Slaadi. They massed and attacked the party, but were dispatched pretty easily. However, several of them closed and quickly fused, becoming much larger than they previously were. The big slaad then attacked and grabbed Sir Crayon, while the dead star, which turned out to be not so dead afterall, rolled around, revealing beady eyes and a curvy mouth.

It was some primordial titan, and it had secreted the slaadi, and now that it was awake, it was ready to rickroll the party. And it did. It spat clouds of chaotic energy at the group, healing the big slaad and weakening our villains, and proceeded to bowl them over with its bulk. It was also resistant to most of the spells and attacks of the group, and it took all their effort just to stay alive and out of reach.

Just then, a black cloaked figure with an unhappy face pin popped out of nowhere and blasted the titanic goo ball, before disappearing again. It was an opening the party needed, and they laid into the goo ball with their combined range and spell attacks. Potina delivered the death blow with a well placed crossbow bolt, and as the goo ball deflated, they realized the portal, too was going to close.

Rushing through and holding hands, Callahan activated a scroll the Marshal had provided, teleporting the group back to the surface.

Their mysterious benefactor, though... well, that was a story for another time.

So don't miss next week's installment of Wicked! A Fontian Adventure.

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Experience, Loot and so Forth:

Everyone gains 1,500 xp for Session 5.

Items looted from Afro's Corpse
1. Plate Armor +1 - Sold for a share of 100 g each.

2. Heavy Steel Shield +1 - Shield Bonus to AC +3, grabbed by Sir Crayon

3. Cloak of Resistance +1 - Nicked by Maxi.

4. Amulet of Vermin - 1/day summon a Giant Scorpion. Nicked by Maxi.

5. Tunic of Steady Spellcasting - +5 to Concentration checks. Stolen by Callahan.

6. Healing Belt - +2 Heal checks, 2d8 or more healing up to 3/day. Taken by Callahan.

Items given by Marshal Martlett

1. Cloak of the Manta Ray - Turns the wearer into a manta ray when he enters salt water.

2. Wand of Water Breathing (11th level) - 3 charges. 1 charge was used, so 2 charges left.

3. Scroll of Dimension Door (11th level) - 1 charge. Used to teleport out of the water. It's gone! :P

Items found in the corpse of the cucumber

Cutting open the cucumber monster, the party realizes that it's gullet contains the following items:

1. A bag of Tricked Dice - A bag containing 7 six-sided dice made of a curious, chalky material. Whenever you make a reroll using either your Session Reroll or Level Reroll, you may use a Tricked Die to add 1d6 to the result of your Reroll. Regardless of the result, Tricked Dice crumble into dust after being used.

2. A Ring of Feather Falling

3. A gross looking piece of purple gummy - this gross looking bit of space gunk adheres to your upper palate and refuses to go away. The gummy is actually a symbiotic creature called a Gummy Worm. While attached, the host has both his Charisma and Wisdom scores reduced by 2. However, the host is immune to poison. Additionally, 3/day, the host can extend a gummy tendril as a melee touch attack (with a reach of 15-ft). On a successful hit, the target takes 4d6 poison damage (Fort save DC 13 for half).

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