Working on my taxes this weekend made me think of this class Weird Adventures post: "Death & Taxes."
Nobody in my game ever ran afowl of the Taxmen. Maybe next campaign.
1 hour ago
Monday, February 22, 2016
Taxman
Working on my taxes this weekend made me think of this class Weird Adventures post: "Death & Taxes."
Nobody in my game ever ran afowl of the Taxmen. Maybe next campaign.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Blackmoor College for the Adventuring Arts
I've been enjoying The Magicians on SyFy, but between it and Harry Potter, I wonder why magic gets all the good schools? There are three other core classes after all.
I'm envisions a fantasy wainscot in the modern world where kids with aptitudes in any of the adventuring arts get trained to save the world
I've mused on modern monster fighting before and the existence of dungeons in the modern world (and so have others), but a school for training adventurers is an angle I had never considered. I think it adds an interesting additional element.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Outlaw Velocipede Gangs of Azurth
 |
| art by humei YE |
In the eastern plains of the Country of Yanth in the Land of Azurth, there are nomads with an unusual mode of travel. These rovers have tamed giant, fast moving arthopods of an unusual sort: the velocipede (as they are called) possesses not a single leg for locomotion, but instead have wheels in place of the usual limbs. It would be quite appropriate to assume some thaumaturgy is responsible for this state of affairs, though the origins of the velocipede are obscure. The nomads keep the breeding and handling of these beasts likewise cloaked in secrecy, presumably to hold the advantage of velocipede-assisted high speed travel for themselves.
The nomads tend to be dispersed in bands or gangs, typically with some totemic banner to unite them. They accessorize their gang livery with things like horned helmets, long hair, and exuberant mustaches. A boy is not counted a man among them until he has tamed his first velocipede, and a woman who wishes to be respected and viewed as equal is well to do likewise. While it would be unfair to say the rovers are universally bandits or raiders, few are at all adverse to these vocations, and they all look down upon the farming or commerce engaged in by more settled folk. The velocipede riders will sometimes hire themselves out as escorts or mercenaries, at least for a time. They will not kill a bard or minstrel, though they will certainly frighten or tease one whose music doesn’t meet their raucous tastes.
Velocipedes: are large creatures, with ability scores like carrion crawlers, though not the attacks other than bite. Their speed on their 6-10 (depending on size and age) wheels is 50 ft. They have a trampling attack similar to a warhorse. They make sputtering noises like Speed Buggy, which their riders claim to understand.
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| Children's toy based on stories of Velocipedes, bearing little resemblance to the real creature |
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Wednesday Comics: Storm: The Last Fighter (part 3)
My exploration of the long-running euro-comic Storm, continues. Earlier installments can be found here.
Storm: The Last Fighter (1979) (part 3)
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Martin Lodewijk
Now in the control room of the Palace of Death (really an alien spacecraft) Storm sits down to see if he can figure out the controls--over the objections of the superstitious Guardian who decrees his actions as blasphemy. Soon, he discovers how to restore power. With safety and all the synthesized food they can eat, the other champions feel like they're in heaven. Storm has conquered the Guardian's god.
He finds them a way out, too. A shuttlecraft:
They survivors fly back to Soamandrakisal. The city folk come to greet them and celebrate Storm's victory for Soamandrakisal, but he brushes them aside. His only concern is freeing Ember.
The vengeful Guardian has other ideas:
Storm hears Ember's cries within the god-thing's maw and realizes she's still alive. While Asverze goes after the treacherous Guardian, Storm impetuously dives in after Ember. He slides down the god's esophagus until:
At first, they think they can wait for those above to throw down a rope, but they've irritated the monster's stomach lining, and its acid production increases. They've got to get out; if they can't go up, they'll have to go downward. Things get sort of weird:
When finally they come to rest, they're in a cave with me trace of He-Who-Must-Be-Fed. They exit the cave and find themselves in the valley surrounding the Palace of Death. Ember wonders what happened, Storm has a kind of farfetched sounding theory:
Before they can hash that out further, the shuttlecraft comes flying over head. The Guardian is at the controls, but Asverze has got him by the throat, trying to kill him for betraying Storm. They crash right into the Palace of Death and it all goes up in a huge explosion. The surrounding mountains are shaken. Storm and Ember get out of the valley just in time before a rockslide closes off the entrance.
Ember sees a heard of dagger-horned deer creatures ahead, and our heroes are pretty much back where they started.
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Martin Lodewijk
Now in the control room of the Palace of Death (really an alien spacecraft) Storm sits down to see if he can figure out the controls--over the objections of the superstitious Guardian who decrees his actions as blasphemy. Soon, he discovers how to restore power. With safety and all the synthesized food they can eat, the other champions feel like they're in heaven. Storm has conquered the Guardian's god.
He finds them a way out, too. A shuttlecraft:
They survivors fly back to Soamandrakisal. The city folk come to greet them and celebrate Storm's victory for Soamandrakisal, but he brushes them aside. His only concern is freeing Ember.
The vengeful Guardian has other ideas:
Storm hears Ember's cries within the god-thing's maw and realizes she's still alive. While Asverze goes after the treacherous Guardian, Storm impetuously dives in after Ember. He slides down the god's esophagus until:
At first, they think they can wait for those above to throw down a rope, but they've irritated the monster's stomach lining, and its acid production increases. They've got to get out; if they can't go up, they'll have to go downward. Things get sort of weird:
When finally they come to rest, they're in a cave with me trace of He-Who-Must-Be-Fed. They exit the cave and find themselves in the valley surrounding the Palace of Death. Ember wonders what happened, Storm has a kind of farfetched sounding theory:
Before they can hash that out further, the shuttlecraft comes flying over head. The Guardian is at the controls, but Asverze has got him by the throat, trying to kill him for betraying Storm. They crash right into the Palace of Death and it all goes up in a huge explosion. The surrounding mountains are shaken. Storm and Ember get out of the valley just in time before a rockslide closes off the entrance.
Ember sees a heard of dagger-horned deer creatures ahead, and our heroes are pretty much back where they started.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Presidents Days Past (and Future)
It's Presidents Day once again! Check out these classic holiday related posts:
Delve into the ahistory of the teen president Prez.
Take a look at a trio of sinister presidents who will never be honored.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
The Otus Pantheon
Blame Chris Kutalik. He did a post Sunday about imagining a pantheon based on Erol Otus strange evocative illustrations in Deities & Demigods. This is what I came up with:
Click to check it out in its enlarged "glory." The domains provided are for 5th edition.
Click to check it out in its enlarged "glory." The domains provided are for 5th edition.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Wednesday Comics: Storm: The Last Fighter (part 2)
My exploration of the long-running euro-comic Storm, continues. Earlier installments can be found here.
Storm: The Last Fighter (1979) (part 2)
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Martin Lodewijk
With Ember in a cage hanging over the mouth of a mostly- buried, giant god-thing, the implicit threat is clear: Storm is to be the city's champion and fight for the throne of the Palace of Death. Or else.
A guide leads Storm from the city and on a several day's trek across the desert. They come to a mountain range and take a very narrow pass through it that looks like it was cut by intense hit. As they emerge on the other side, some sort of giant turtle monster approaches--only to get sliced in half by an energy beam. The guide says the gods punish large animals that try to approach. He leaves Storm at the Valley of Bones. Only champions are allowed to go further.
Storm follows the path across the bones and soon sees the "Palace of Death" before him:
Storm moves closer and finds the other champions waiting for him.
The old man says he's the Guardian of the Palace. Now that Storm has arrived they can begin. The Guardian will guide them through the traps and perils to the place where the last champion died the previous year. From there, he will observe their progress and be able to report the knowledge gained in their respective demises to the champions the following year. Storm asks how long has this gone on, and the Guardian tells him it has been thousands of years. The current guardian is the 615th.
He leads the champions single file along an invisible but torturous path to the "palace." One champion decides to walk directly there; he's disintegrated for his impatience. The rest make it to the ship. Once inside, they pass through a series of traps: portals that grow hot if you don't pass through quickly enough, hypnotic-patterned walls, checkerboard floors that have to be tread on in a certain pattern, and more. They lose two more champions reaching the point that marks the extent of the Guardian's knowledge.
The first champion sent into the next room falls through a trapdoor into lava. Storm is next up; the Guardian counted the steps and tells Storm when to jump. Asverze [Skarla in the Titan Books version], the only female champion, is sent first into the next room. She finds herself facing a duplicate.
Storm realizes the ship's computer is generating a hologram to match her moves, He rushes into the room over the Guardian's protests to add another element to the equation. Forced to fight shifting opponents, the duplicates' movements get slower and they eventually disappear.
From that point on, Storm leads the way using his new understanding of the palace to guide them. The Guardian decries this all as blasphemy, but nobody listens. Passing through the traps, they find an escalator with skeletons of ancient crew scattered about. They take the escalator to the control room--and the "throne" of the Palace.
TO BE CONTINUED
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Martin Lodewijk
With Ember in a cage hanging over the mouth of a mostly- buried, giant god-thing, the implicit threat is clear: Storm is to be the city's champion and fight for the throne of the Palace of Death. Or else.
A guide leads Storm from the city and on a several day's trek across the desert. They come to a mountain range and take a very narrow pass through it that looks like it was cut by intense hit. As they emerge on the other side, some sort of giant turtle monster approaches--only to get sliced in half by an energy beam. The guide says the gods punish large animals that try to approach. He leaves Storm at the Valley of Bones. Only champions are allowed to go further.
Storm follows the path across the bones and soon sees the "Palace of Death" before him:
Storm moves closer and finds the other champions waiting for him.
The old man says he's the Guardian of the Palace. Now that Storm has arrived they can begin. The Guardian will guide them through the traps and perils to the place where the last champion died the previous year. From there, he will observe their progress and be able to report the knowledge gained in their respective demises to the champions the following year. Storm asks how long has this gone on, and the Guardian tells him it has been thousands of years. The current guardian is the 615th.
He leads the champions single file along an invisible but torturous path to the "palace." One champion decides to walk directly there; he's disintegrated for his impatience. The rest make it to the ship. Once inside, they pass through a series of traps: portals that grow hot if you don't pass through quickly enough, hypnotic-patterned walls, checkerboard floors that have to be tread on in a certain pattern, and more. They lose two more champions reaching the point that marks the extent of the Guardian's knowledge.
The first champion sent into the next room falls through a trapdoor into lava. Storm is next up; the Guardian counted the steps and tells Storm when to jump. Asverze [Skarla in the Titan Books version], the only female champion, is sent first into the next room. She finds herself facing a duplicate.
From that point on, Storm leads the way using his new understanding of the palace to guide them. The Guardian decries this all as blasphemy, but nobody listens. Passing through the traps, they find an escalator with skeletons of ancient crew scattered about. They take the escalator to the control room--and the "throne" of the Palace.
TO BE CONTINUED
Monday, February 8, 2016
Three Worlds: A Strange Stars OSR Excerpt
From the pages of the upcoming Strange Stars OSR, here are three worlds detailed in Stars Without Number style:
BOREAS
Tags Seagoing Cities, Zombies
Enemies Animated bioroid beast, Vrzemko Koprdazak xenophobic local kommissar, Zyta Hrenj paranoid ranger
Friends Scientist Jarka Lissik seeking communication with the Cold Minds, Local trader Balok Zek
Complications Transport breakdown out on the ice, Dead from a sunken warship animated by the Cold Minds
Things Container of weaponized microorganisms; Exclusive trade contract with the uldra
Places Ranger station beneath the ice, The subsurface levels of a trading settlement
Tags Seagoing Cities, Zombies
Enemies Animated bioroid beast, Vrzemko Koprdazak xenophobic local kommissar, Zyta Hrenj paranoid ranger
Friends Scientist Jarka Lissik seeking communication with the Cold Minds, Local trader Balok Zek
Complications Transport breakdown out on the ice, Dead from a sunken warship animated by the Cold Minds
Things Container of weaponized microorganisms; Exclusive trade contract with the uldra
Places Ranger station beneath the ice, The subsurface levels of a trading settlement
Tags Desert World, Local Specialty
Enemies Crazy bot-breaker Haxo Ysgar; Robber gang
Friends Merc Faizura Deyr working for the bot-breakers, Free trader supplying bot-breakers
Complications.Von Neumann machine swarm, A malfunctioning giant robot
Things Hidden entrance to the mysterious planetary substructure, A forgotten, ancient giant bot
Places A shanty town; A junkyard
PHOBETOR
Tags Local Tech, Flying City, Badlands World
Enemies Industrial spy disguised as a technician, Dark dream-dealer Arden-Decima
Friends Customer interface specialist Soren-Tertia, Short-duration reverie designer Alex-Quintus
Complications A loosed frumious bandersnatch, Wealthy BASE-jumpers wingsuit-flying to the planet’s surface
Things An experimental dream drug product, A captured art-monster, weaponized dream-tech
Places The sky city of Eidolon, An ancient underground vault
Tags Local Tech, Flying City, Badlands World
Enemies Industrial spy disguised as a technician, Dark dream-dealer Arden-Decima
Friends Customer interface specialist Soren-Tertia, Short-duration reverie designer Alex-Quintus
Complications A loosed frumious bandersnatch, Wealthy BASE-jumpers wingsuit-flying to the planet’s surface
Things An experimental dream drug product, A captured art-monster, weaponized dream-tech
Places The sky city of Eidolon, An ancient underground vault
Friday, February 5, 2016
In Space No One Can Hear You Scream
This illustration will likely head (appropriately) the monster/NPCs chapter. Currently, that chapters contents include stats for Algosian torture cultists, Caliban cannibals, Hyehoon Eden Seeker terrorists, Eratoan assassins, and of course, three colors of ssraad--among others.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Strange Stars W,X, and Y
Over at the Fate SF blog, John Till (author of Strange Stars Fate) is in the final lap of his "Strange Stars A-Z." This week, he's covered:
W for "Woon Academies"
X for the nongendered pronouns "Xe-Xem-Xir"
and Y for a "Yantran Holiday"
Check these out--and the older entries!
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Wednesday Comics: Storm: The Last Fighter
My exploration of the long-running euro-comic Storm, continues. Earlier installments can be found here.
Storm: The Last Fighter (1979)
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Martin Lodewijk
In the desert foothills of the Bahamas (the ocean waters had again seeped underground, or either last volume’s flood was very localized), Stom wrestles a deer-like creature to the ground, then he and Ember (Carrots in the last story) cook it over a fire. Storm again tells her about Jupiter’s Red Spot and his journey to the future. His story is met with incredulity by a man who has somehow managed to sneak up on them, riding what looks like a giant, crawling shrimp.
He them to join his troupe; he thinks Storm could be a star attraction. Storm and Ember decline. To persuade the, he opens a wicker basket and releases two bat-insect creatures--flix. Storm jumps the man and puts him in a headlock, but it’s too late:
Storm, too, is fitted with a flix, and the man (Tchell) leads them to meet Master Cush1 and his Travelling Show of “monsters, marvels, minstrels, and magic.” Cush is immediately impressed with Ember, thinking she’d bring a high price in the East, but when she tells him what she thinks of that idea, he realizes he’ll have to reconsider: Maybe she could be a gladiator?
Cush sees Storm's potential as a fighter. He gives him a tryout against Barledoon2, an imposing mohawked gladiator. Storm surprises Barledoon with his agility and martial arts and knocks the big man down. Cush doesn't know what to make of all this; it looks like acrobatics more than fighting. He calls for swords. Barledoon gets the better of Storm here. Cush tasks Barledoon with turning the acrobat into a fighter.
Over the next few weeks, Barledoon trains Storm in swordsmanship. Whenever he’s not training, he still has the flix on him, and he’s told the telepathic creatures can even sense thoughts of escape! Soon, they seen the walled city of Soamandrakisal3 where they are to perform. The crowds turn out to watch as the troupe parades into town.
That night, Barledoon is chosen to fight the champion of the city in the arena. He seems fatalistic about it, which Storm doesn’t understand, given that Soamandrakisal’s champion looks like a complete amateur. Barledoon takes a drink offered him with Master Cush’s compliments, then enters the arena. Barledoon’s movements are sluggish, and he’s quickly killed.
Storm can’t believe it. Tchell reveals that Barledoon was drugged so he would lose to the city’s champion, so Cush could stay in the good graces of the city’s leaders. Barledoon knew he was going to his death. Storm is so incensed, he knocks the champion down even as Cush is praising the man to the crowd. Storm misses Cush saying the champion will “travel to the Valley of Bones and bring back the power of the Palace of Death.”
Cush tries to stop Storm, but to no avail. The champion gets a drop kick out of the Captain Kirk handbook and is knocked out. The crowd starts to turn ugly. Cush, thinking quickly, tells them that his traveling show acquired Storm and trained him for this moment—to be a worthy champion for Soamandrakisal. The town leaders buy it, and Storm (under threat of Ember’s life) is the new champion. Though he’s given a place of honor the rest of the show, all he thinks about escape.
That night, Cush exhorts his troupe to pack up quickly so they can get out of town before things go bad. They aren't fast enough:
The town father and his retinue of soldiers want to know what will motivate their reluctant champion to complete his task and return to Soamandrakisal with the powers of the Palace of Death. Cush assures him he has a way.
The next morning, the man lays out Storm’s mission—and its potential deadliness to him: He must be Soamandrakisal’s champion and fight against the champions of all the other cities to achieve the throne of the Palace of Death, and Soamandrakisal can rule the world. The man takes Storm on a little walk to a temple:
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Martin Lodewijk
In the desert foothills of the Bahamas (the ocean waters had again seeped underground, or either last volume’s flood was very localized), Stom wrestles a deer-like creature to the ground, then he and Ember (Carrots in the last story) cook it over a fire. Storm again tells her about Jupiter’s Red Spot and his journey to the future. His story is met with incredulity by a man who has somehow managed to sneak up on them, riding what looks like a giant, crawling shrimp.
He them to join his troupe; he thinks Storm could be a star attraction. Storm and Ember decline. To persuade the, he opens a wicker basket and releases two bat-insect creatures--flix. Storm jumps the man and puts him in a headlock, but it’s too late:
Storm, too, is fitted with a flix, and the man (Tchell) leads them to meet Master Cush1 and his Travelling Show of “monsters, marvels, minstrels, and magic.” Cush is immediately impressed with Ember, thinking she’d bring a high price in the East, but when she tells him what she thinks of that idea, he realizes he’ll have to reconsider: Maybe she could be a gladiator?
Cush sees Storm's potential as a fighter. He gives him a tryout against Barledoon2, an imposing mohawked gladiator. Storm surprises Barledoon with his agility and martial arts and knocks the big man down. Cush doesn't know what to make of all this; it looks like acrobatics more than fighting. He calls for swords. Barledoon gets the better of Storm here. Cush tasks Barledoon with turning the acrobat into a fighter.
Over the next few weeks, Barledoon trains Storm in swordsmanship. Whenever he’s not training, he still has the flix on him, and he’s told the telepathic creatures can even sense thoughts of escape! Soon, they seen the walled city of Soamandrakisal3 where they are to perform. The crowds turn out to watch as the troupe parades into town.
That night, Barledoon is chosen to fight the champion of the city in the arena. He seems fatalistic about it, which Storm doesn’t understand, given that Soamandrakisal’s champion looks like a complete amateur. Barledoon takes a drink offered him with Master Cush’s compliments, then enters the arena. Barledoon’s movements are sluggish, and he’s quickly killed.
Storm can’t believe it. Tchell reveals that Barledoon was drugged so he would lose to the city’s champion, so Cush could stay in the good graces of the city’s leaders. Barledoon knew he was going to his death. Storm is so incensed, he knocks the champion down even as Cush is praising the man to the crowd. Storm misses Cush saying the champion will “travel to the Valley of Bones and bring back the power of the Palace of Death.”
Cush tries to stop Storm, but to no avail. The champion gets a drop kick out of the Captain Kirk handbook and is knocked out. The crowd starts to turn ugly. Cush, thinking quickly, tells them that his traveling show acquired Storm and trained him for this moment—to be a worthy champion for Soamandrakisal. The town leaders buy it, and Storm (under threat of Ember’s life) is the new champion. Though he’s given a place of honor the rest of the show, all he thinks about escape.
That night, Cush exhorts his troupe to pack up quickly so they can get out of town before things go bad. They aren't fast enough:
The town father and his retinue of soldiers want to know what will motivate their reluctant champion to complete his task and return to Soamandrakisal with the powers of the Palace of Death. Cush assures him he has a way.
The next morning, the man lays out Storm’s mission—and its potential deadliness to him: He must be Soamandrakisal’s champion and fight against the champions of all the other cities to achieve the throne of the Palace of Death, and Soamandrakisal can rule the world. The man takes Storm on a little walk to a temple:
TO BE CONTINUED
Notes:
1. "Keng" in the 1987 Titan Books English translation.
2. "Karn" in Titan Books.
3. "Kalthike" in Titan Books.
Notes:
1. "Keng" in the 1987 Titan Books English translation.
2. "Karn" in Titan Books.
3. "Kalthike" in Titan Books.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Trigadasleng
Check out this overview of Trigadasleng and this fan made full dictionary. Could be useful for your own post-apocalyptic setting. Gamma World-ese (at least as portrayed in the monster naming) isn't too conceptually different.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Return of Prophet
The far future space opera saga of Prophet, which has been on hiatus since issue 45 (the last of the previous run) in 2014, returned this past week with Prophet: Earth War #1. I've mentioned Prophet here before on several occasions and wrote at least one post about it.
Here's short synopsis: John Prophet (the Extreme Comics character from the 90s) awakens from cryosleep on an Earth dominated by strange alien species in the far future. He must trek across this exotic landscape to find the ancient tower where he can complete his mission. There, he sends a signal to revive the Earth Empire from it's slumber. That signal awakens the Empire's most implacable foe, too--who just happens to be another John Prophet. Each side begins to marshall it's forces, and the conflict seems like to reach its conclusion in Earth War.
You can get the first issue in digital here, but they'll be a trade eventually. I highly recommend it.
Friday, January 29, 2016
The City Oroboro
The city Oroboro is a great ring larger than any other city, larger than many worlds.
 |
| Philippe Druillet |
Everything strange and everything precious is fated to pass through it--and also a great many things that are neither. It is (Ill-)Fortune’s Wheel, the Nexus of All Tales.
 |
| Moebius |
The city encircles the double-ended Tower, where the Sandmen priests say the Goddess sleeps and dreams the multiverse. Just beyond the oneiric event horizon, Oroboro is stable (mostly) and rational (sometimes) and permanent--so long as the Goddess sleeps.
 |
| Julio Ribera |
Some cynics say there is no Goddess and the Tower is empty. To preserve their power, the Sandmen hide the truth: the Architect of All has abandoned creation and is likely to be found in a brothel or ginhouse in Oroboro.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Wednesday Comics: Storm: The Deep World (part 3)
My exploration of the long-running euro-comic Storm, continues. Earlier installments can be found here.
Storm: The Deep World (1978) (Part 3)
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Saul Dunn
Surprised by the spider-bats, Carrots loses control of the cart and they crash. All that she and Storm can do is take cover until the swarm passes. At that point, they she Kiley apparently unconscious on the tracks as Ghast approaches.
All is not as it seems though, and Kiley turns to deliver a prodigious kick, derailing the handcart. He and Ghast go at it in a battle of near-superhuman strength. Kiley is winning, but then the tunnel starts to collapse above their heads. Kiley sends Carrots and Storm on to the underground treasure rooms. He stays behind to finish Ghast. Carrots doesn't want to leave him, but Storm pulls her on to keep her from getting herself killed in the cave in.
Inside the treasure room, they find strange machines and a wheel surrounded by symbols on the wall. Storm gets it spinning and an image appears:
Elevator doors open, though Carrots requires some coaxing before she'll step in. Suddenly, Ghast appears wielding Kiley's sword. Before he can attack, a little from one of the machines makes his sword disappear. Storm and Carrots escape into the lift.
Storm pushes a button on the controls. The elevator stops, and the doors open:
Besides the waters, there's an ancient power station. As our heroes are taking in these wonders, the old Mandroid emerges from the darkness. Before he can say why he brought them here, the elevator doors open again and the apparently unstoppable Ghast runs out. The Mandroid blasts him:
Ghast falls against the wall and knocks some rocks lose, unleashing a swarm of hungry, oversized rats. Mandroid tells Storm and Carrots to make for the water and safety. Ghast stumbles after them, covered by rats. For some reason, the Mandroid uses his power ("a laser") to save Ghast.
Leaving him there, the Mandroid leads our heroes back to the treasure room. He begins to fill them in on Earth's history. The immense cavern does indeed contain the waters of the Atlantic. Mankind built an immense wall around the circumference of the earth to contain the oceans and use them to generate power.
Mining for energy researches undermined the walls, causing them to fail, and in their failure, they opened up fissures into the earth. The oceans mostly drained away. Only a few humans were left alive, but other beings came to earth from other worlds.
Mandroid explains that the dynamos here have enough power to restore the oceans. As he explains, Ghast awakens and animated by discussion of "power" runs in and starts pressing buttons--with predictable catastrophic results. Storm, Carrots, and the Mandroid make a run for it as the waters begin to churn:
Ghast follows them to the elevator, but the Mandroid blasts him and leaves him behind. The waters burst through the ground and flood Ghast's city while our heroes watch from the top of the great wall. Soon, the water will top the wall. Storm and Carrots have to get prepared. As to the Mandroid:
Before he goes, he hologram magics our heroes up a raft--somehow:
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Saul Dunn
Surprised by the spider-bats, Carrots loses control of the cart and they crash. All that she and Storm can do is take cover until the swarm passes. At that point, they she Kiley apparently unconscious on the tracks as Ghast approaches.
All is not as it seems though, and Kiley turns to deliver a prodigious kick, derailing the handcart. He and Ghast go at it in a battle of near-superhuman strength. Kiley is winning, but then the tunnel starts to collapse above their heads. Kiley sends Carrots and Storm on to the underground treasure rooms. He stays behind to finish Ghast. Carrots doesn't want to leave him, but Storm pulls her on to keep her from getting herself killed in the cave in.
Inside the treasure room, they find strange machines and a wheel surrounded by symbols on the wall. Storm gets it spinning and an image appears:
Elevator doors open, though Carrots requires some coaxing before she'll step in. Suddenly, Ghast appears wielding Kiley's sword. Before he can attack, a little from one of the machines makes his sword disappear. Storm and Carrots escape into the lift.
Storm pushes a button on the controls. The elevator stops, and the doors open:
Besides the waters, there's an ancient power station. As our heroes are taking in these wonders, the old Mandroid emerges from the darkness. Before he can say why he brought them here, the elevator doors open again and the apparently unstoppable Ghast runs out. The Mandroid blasts him:
Ghast falls against the wall and knocks some rocks lose, unleashing a swarm of hungry, oversized rats. Mandroid tells Storm and Carrots to make for the water and safety. Ghast stumbles after them, covered by rats. For some reason, the Mandroid uses his power ("a laser") to save Ghast.
Leaving him there, the Mandroid leads our heroes back to the treasure room. He begins to fill them in on Earth's history. The immense cavern does indeed contain the waters of the Atlantic. Mankind built an immense wall around the circumference of the earth to contain the oceans and use them to generate power.
Mining for energy researches undermined the walls, causing them to fail, and in their failure, they opened up fissures into the earth. The oceans mostly drained away. Only a few humans were left alive, but other beings came to earth from other worlds.
Mandroid explains that the dynamos here have enough power to restore the oceans. As he explains, Ghast awakens and animated by discussion of "power" runs in and starts pressing buttons--with predictable catastrophic results. Storm, Carrots, and the Mandroid make a run for it as the waters begin to churn:
Ghast follows them to the elevator, but the Mandroid blasts him and leaves him behind. The waters burst through the ground and flood Ghast's city while our heroes watch from the top of the great wall. Soon, the water will top the wall. Storm and Carrots have to get prepared. As to the Mandroid:
Before he goes, he hologram magics our heroes up a raft--somehow:
Monday, January 25, 2016
Polychrome
Our 5e Land of Azurth campaign continued last night, with the PCs at sea in an automata-rowed vessel on their way to the city of Polychrome in the Motley Isles. Their goal was to find the probably-not-kidnapped Gwendolin Goode. Only a few hours away from their destination, they respond to a flag of distress from an unusual barge:
There are only 4 green-haired women on board the ship, claiming to be future wives on their way to a future husband, a potentate of Zoob. The party is suspicious, and these suspicions turn out to be well-founded as the women are revealed as harpies. A battle ensues, and all the harpies lose their lives. The party cuts off their heads in the hope that this proof of their bloody-handedness will prove their bona fides to the pirates in Polychrome.
After haggling with the harbormaster over docking fees, they make their way to a tavern called the Pale Whale. It turns out that buying a round of drinks for everyone is more impressive than brandishing harpy heads. The barmaid tells them the first mate of the Vixen (Black Iris's ship) happens to be there in the bar.
Kully strikes up a conversation with the half-drunken Hara (Rabbit Folk) named Rarebit Finn. Rarebit reveals he was jealous of the relationship between his captain and "the young land lubber," and angry that she seemed to be influencing the captain to turn from piracy. In anger, he dangled "tales of a trinket" in front of them, so they went out to look for this treasure on the Candy Isle, one of the infamous islands in the Chain of Fools.
Kully is less successful in getting Finn to join them, but the inebriated sea-dog promises to think about it and give answer in the morning. The party goes back to inform Cog and beginning preparing the ship for the journey the soon expect to embark on.
There are only 4 green-haired women on board the ship, claiming to be future wives on their way to a future husband, a potentate of Zoob. The party is suspicious, and these suspicions turn out to be well-founded as the women are revealed as harpies. A battle ensues, and all the harpies lose their lives. The party cuts off their heads in the hope that this proof of their bloody-handedness will prove their bona fides to the pirates in Polychrome.
After haggling with the harbormaster over docking fees, they make their way to a tavern called the Pale Whale. It turns out that buying a round of drinks for everyone is more impressive than brandishing harpy heads. The barmaid tells them the first mate of the Vixen (Black Iris's ship) happens to be there in the bar.
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| Art by Yuriy |
Kully is less successful in getting Finn to join them, but the inebriated sea-dog promises to think about it and give answer in the morning. The party goes back to inform Cog and beginning preparing the ship for the journey the soon expect to embark on.
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