Dramatis Personae
+Frotz Self as Varouj
+Adventures of the Mind as Don Harper of Mars
+Linlin Kins as Umquat
+Moreven Brushwood as The Four Gobbos
+Ronnie Whelan as ronnina
Loot
The Monstrance, which holds a scrap of the black. Barring any nevarious purpose the party may have for it, they estimate that the Terapontif would pay about 50,000cc to get this back.
Korlom the Wizard Priest’s Journal. It mostly seems to indicate that Korlom was very lonely. The party may use it to ask 3 questions about Korlom and his dealings, which the referee will answer.
The Metal Decoder Ring of the Redstone Lords. The signet ring of the Stewart family. Worth 2000cc.
I don’t know if the party is selling any of these objects, so I will not calculate credits/experience until I know what is being sold.
ALSO: Varouj gets a fully automated crossbow. It’s a little weaker than a standard crossbow, but it makes up for that deficiency with volume.
When using the automated crossbow, the wielder can make 3 attack rolls each round, which each deal 1d4 damage. After each round of fire, the wielder must roll 1d6. On a 1, they must spend 1 round reloading / unjamming the crossbow before they can fire again.
NPC Interactions
Varouj’s Troops: Tales of how the party swiftly and efficiently took out Korlom the Wizard Priest spread. Loyalty increase to 2. Further, a haven turn is spent drilling them. Loyalty increase to 3. (Multiple 1s were rolled. Sorry Frotz. x’D)
Sheniuqa: Participated in this adventure. Loyalty remains unchanged. (8)
Lugud: Refused to zipline down in ahead of Ronnina. Was impressed that Ronnina respected his decision, and dove into action herself. Loyalty improves to 4.
Norno: Likes what he saw on his first mission. Loyalty improves to 5.
Albert: Presumably he was there, but he was never mentioned, and his loyalty did not improve.
Korlom the Wizard Priest: Slain by the party.
7 Families, rescued from Korlom: Grateful for Umquat’s generous offer to live in Trumpquatia. They move in, happily.
Dayvo: A Duke of the Dome. Is grateful to have been rescued by the party, and feels he owes them his life. (Bond 4)
Haven Turn
Varouj: Continues to train alchemy up to skilled. (Month 4 of 4)(Congratulations! Your alchemy is now 3-in-6.
Varouj also pays to have someone construct him a fully automatic light crossbow in this style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbKGjRoSofA
Don Harper: Continues academic study to improve his intelligence by 1. (Month 2 of 3)
Construction begins on “Don’s Playplace.” Price TBD.
Ronnina ???
Umquat ???
The Cult of Akiovasha
Membership in the cult was roughly 8% of the total RBTB population at the start of this adventure. The slaying of Korlom, the the defacement of the palace of Befoulments, is a coup for the fledgling faith. Their numbers swell massively, reaching a full 22%
Desecration of the Palace of Befoulments
In the words of Don Harper: In the Palace of Befoulment, Don wants to have the temple defaced with the symbols of Akiavasha, and to strip and tan Korlom’s skin so that it looks like snake skin sheddings, which will be hung around the altar. One of the cultists can craft his skull and vertebrae into the form of a snake, and place it someplace conspicuous.
Highlights Recap
Don Harper, catching up to the party after they left him behind in the previous session, arrived just in time to draw the short straw. He popped his head out of the manhole cover to take the lay of the land. The sewer let out in the middle of a deserted street. It seems like folks didn’t like living near Korlom. The Palace of Befoulments itself was fairly obvious: a massive gothic cathedral of stone, built in imitation of similar structures back on earth.
With no obvious dangers, the party first contacted the Internet to see if they could get a map of the place, which they did. Then they scouted around the outside of it, looking for alternate entrances. There were no doors aside from the large double doors at the front, but there were a lot of stained glass windows high along the outside of the building. Consulting their map, the party determined where they thought Korlom might be, and found a building opposite that chamber.
There was a bit of trouble getting through the building, as some stairs collapsed causing damage to everyone, but they did eventually make it to a window overlooking their target chamber. Using Varouj’s grapple gun, they fired a zipline into the cathedral, and started zipping down through the stained glass window.
As it turned out, the party was entirely correct! This was the chamber Korlom was in. He was currently standing on a large iron grate, engulfed by a massive bonfire that filled the whole of the room with an intense, skin-cooking heat. Apparently this was some incredibly painful way of healing himself. He was already howling in agony when the party began their surprise round, quaffing potions of “Perfect Aim” and “Genital Laser Cannon” to assist in their attack.
Korlom, already in a weakened state from his previous engagement with the party, was easily disposed of. The killing blow was dealt by Mogmurch, hurling a bomb into the fire, causing the wizard priest’s body to fly into a dozen different pieces. At this point, the party sent a quick text to the B-Team, asking them to meet here.
With one potential threat nipped in the bud, the party set out to explore the Palace of Befoulments. A grand, open structure, full of elaborate carvings, raised altars. It seemed to be a lonely place: ornate, but empty.The party found little of note during their explorations, so I will only mention what they did find.
Atop the high altar was a golden monstrance, holding what appeared to be a starry field of space. While investigating this, the party discovered that it was trapped, but managed to successfully disarm the trap, and take the object.
Off to the side, the party found a confessional: the priest’s box had been painted entirely black on the interior. They never discovered any purpose behind this.
A side room contained a pool of boiling blood. As the party investigated, a skeleton slowly bubbled to the surface bone by bone. One of the fingers had a metal ring on it, which Umquat took.
While moving into the main chamber, Don Harper saw that each of the pillars was wrapped in skeletons that had been painted black. And, as he approached, spectral blobs flew out of each skeleton, to bounce riotously around the chamber.
Careful not to move into the main chamber, Don retrieved Korlom’s head, and shouted “We have slain your tormentor! You are free!” He also rolled a reaction of 12, which really helped out. He asked the spectral wisps if they could communicate, and they responded by briefly forming their bodies to spell the word “yes” in the air.
A ouija board was quickly drawn onto the floor using Umquat’s chalk, and a pointer was created out of Varouj’s knife.
The party learned that the souls wanted their bones taken from this place, and scattered. When asked if they could communicate with other creatures beyond the veil, the souls replied that they themselves had not yet been allowed to cross over, and were trapped in this building.
When asked if the souls knew of any interesting things within the building, the ghosts mostly mentioned things the players had already found, with 3 notable additions:The Pain Hodder, Korlom’s Chambers, and the Prison.
The pain hodder did not seem to be particularly interesting to the players. Just a room with an old oil drum, charred black from fire.
Korlom’s chambers were almost completely barren. An empty stone room, with a stone slab for sleeping on. Along one wall, Korlom’s meager possessions were laid out in an obsessively straight line. The players took only his journal, leaving the rest behind.
In the prison, the party found 4 rooms, each containing 1-3 families of terrified people happy to be free. In a fifth room, they found only a single man, restrained by heavy iron balls affixed to each of his limbs. He introduced himself as Dayvo, and declined the party’s invitation to come live with them in Trumpquatia. He had his own affairs to return to among the Dukes of the Dome. However, he welcomed the party to visit him any time they would like, claiming his name was well known among the Dukes.
When it came out that he employed slaves, Umquat insisted that he release them, and in gratitude for freeing him, Dayvo promised to do just that.
When the B-Team arrived, the party described their plan: the cult of Akiovasha should take credit for the slaying of Korlom. He was both hated by the people, and feared as someone blessed by the Black. It would be a significant boost to Akiovasha’s reputation to be known for slaying him. At the very least the B-Team should cover this place in the symbols of the Serpent Queen.
The party also instructed the cult of Akiovasha to set up a base of operations in the basement, but not to hold the upper building, due to the difficulty of holding a fixed position.
With their work completed, the party returned home.
So ended February 2517.