Dramatis Personae
+Frotz Self as Varouj
+Ronnie Whelan as Ronnina
+Moreven Brushwood as the Four Gobbos
+Adventures of the Mind as Don Harper of Mars
+Linlin Kins as Umquat
Loot
450 Credits looted from the Howlers
That’s 113 Credits & XP each.
ALCHEMICAL ESSENCES???
NPC Interactions
Curly Locks of blessed memory has passed on from this world. Her head was popped off her shoulders by Tommy Torquetongue. The party revenged themselves on Tommy, and recovered Curly Locks’ body.
Sheniqua & Albert are shaken by witnessing the death of Curly Locks. They recognize the care with which the party recovered her body, but none the less, both have their loyalty reduced from 8, to 7.
Injuries
Don Harper has a broken bone. His Dexterity is temporarily -2, and his arm is useless. He must use his next Haven Turn to heal this injury.
Don Harper lost his left eye. He lacks any depth perception, and ranged attacks must be made at a -8 penalty.
Howlers Killed
This Session: 12
Total: 15
Highlights Recap
With the building now fully explored, and with a reasonable expectation of privacy due to the relative isolation of the Hall of Science, the party split briefly to prepare for their next move.
Ronnina rested, and studied to regain her spells.
Don Harper of Mars thought he might create the illusion that the building is still occupied by using the paper mache machine upstairs to copy one of the dead howlers, then prop them up in a window. To Don’s surprise, the copy was fully fitted with joints and motors, and walked around, smiling and waving. Then it fell down the stairs. They apparently have roomba-level navigational skills. None the less, it’s a nice surprise.
Not so nice is the party’s growing suspicion that, perhaps, there is no way to save the brain slaves. Perhaps they are just copied in this machine, and sent walking out of Howler territory to make it look like they survived, when in fact their bodies are disposed of in the acid machine.
Meanwhile, Umquat and Varouj decided to investigate the disposal which opened up on the manufacturing floor. There they found a chute leading into a dark pit of unknown depth. They also found a ladder leading onto a catwalk surrounding the chute, and a door leading into the sewers of the complex.
After some discussion about what their next move ought to be, the party determined that if they were going to secure the Hall of Science, they would need to find a good way to get in and out without obviously trespassing in Howler territory; and that meant the sewers, against Don’s better judgement.
They decided first to find a nearby exit, rather than trying to find their way through the maze of tunnels to reach an exit outside of Howler territory. In a surprisingly short time they found a manhole that emerged into a narrow alleyway, just off a main thoroughfare. It wasn’t difficult for the party to slip out of the sewers to observe the goings on nearby.
Across the street from the alley’s mouth was an old football stadium, where the Howlers participated in their most popular sport: tongue wrestling. Two contestants, Paul Puller and Tommy Torquetongue, stood on pillars and flexed while their promoters shouted to the passers by about what a great fight there would be later that evening.
Thinking this relatively busy street (8 Howlers, in addition to the 2 fighters and their 2 promoters) would be a good place for a demonstration, Don Harper attempted to sneak forward to plant an explosive device that would kill the athletes, and hopefully send a message to the Howlers.
Unfortunately, he failed to move stealthily enough, was seen, and the Howlers began to converge around him. He shouted “FREEDOM FOR THE BRAIN SLAVES!” then threw his explosive, killing Paul Puller and his promoter. Mogmurch then ran out and threw one of the party’s other pipe bombs, killing a random bystander.
Then came the shitshow.
The remaining Howlers quickly surrounded Don & Mogmurch, knocking the latter out and beating the former to within an inch of his life.
Meanwhile, other Howlers pressed in around the alleyway, preventing the party from spreading out more than two abreast, and keeping them away from their beleaguered comrades.
The battle was savage, comprising a full 2 hours of real world time. Mogmurch was flattened and kicked against a wall, where he was recovered by the other three Gobbos. Don Harper attempted to flee, but failed. His arm was broken, and one of his eyes knocked out of his socket before Varouj was able to run forward and dive on top of Don’s body, protecting him from further blows.
The party went from overconfident, to being determined to retreat. But when Tommy Torquetongue strangled Curlylocks to death, tearing her head from her shoulders, the party got mad. Every available spell was cast. Every round of ammo was fired. The party did everything they could, and when the dust finally settled, they were standing on top of 12 Howler corpses, while they were more or less whole–despite the loss of Curly Locks, and the severe injuries of Don Harper.
The party retreated through the sewers to the Hall of Science. The session ended In Media Res