RPG Recap: Beyond the Temple of the Abyss, 2012-04-21
Thursday, the 12th day of the Red Moon, 937
Having passed a cold, unpleasant night’s sleep in the Tower of Boundless Reach, the party bundled up as best they could and headed out into the snow. Their progress was slow. Rigby, Delian, and Rocky were sharing two coats between the three of them, and going without was getting to them, leaving them numb, weak, cold, and miserable.
After a few hours slogging through the snow, they stumbled across a pair of men on a loaded-down dogsled. The men, covered head-to-to in warm white clothes, motioned for the group to stop and send one man ahead to parlay. Delian approached and after some questioning by the man in white, tried to figure out where he should be going and how he should get there. The man in white agreed to trade his sledge and dogs for the six heavy coins the party had found in the package in the tower. He and his partner unpacked the sledge and trudged back west the way they’d came, and the party packed onto the sledge and headed south, toward where they’d been told there was a large city.
Some hours later, they came to a broad stream and decided to ford it. As they did so, they were approached by a black, floating metal … thing. It shone a bright violet light on them and interrogated them (ignoring Delian’s replies). When Rocky showed them their Haarg “tapestry” depicting the fist-and-brain, the thing urged them to head to “the front” or southwest for medical attention. They agreed, but it wasn’t enough: the metal thing began to emit a dazzling pattern of lights and sounds, mesmerizing almost everyone and leading them west. Prudence and Delian were unaffected by the display, and retaliated.
Delian attacked and was entirely ignored. Prudence attacked and was not ignored. The thing pointed an appendage at her and shot forth a bright yellow bolt that bored a hole through her chest, knocking her down. Still, between the two of them, they beat the thing to the ground, where it began to emit an irregular series of beeps. Everyone ran for cover and hit the dirt, but nothing happened – at least for a few moments, before the thing exploded. Everyone was beaten up a bit, but no one was killed except for the dogs, whom Tamara immediately cut open and started to eat, pausing only to prevent Rocky from looting Prudence for anything but the rest of the food.
The group made camp to sleep a few hours before heading on.
While the rest of the group slept, Delian heard noises from a distance and sneaked off to investigate. Eventually he found the source, four armed men in long leather coats, who weren’t too happy to see him. After a few questions about Delian’s comings and goings and his equipment, they decided he was lying and demanded to be taken to his camp. They woke up the rest of the group and asked more questions, rapidly growing angry at the party’s lack of abject servility. When they learned that the party had found heavy rainbow-colored coins, they were intrigued, but when they further learned that they’d been long-since carried off to the west, the men were disappointed. They took the little remaining wreckage of the black thing and headed off south.
The gang decided that they couldn’t stay here and headed off to the southwest, stopping when they met a strong river. After some deliberation, Delian carried everyone across on a Floating Disc and they began to continue their trudge southwest. Before too long, though, they spotted a group of men shambling down a hill toward them, and made a hasty retreat to the south. By this point, party members were collapsing from exhaustion and hunger as they ran, but they managed to reach the edge of the forest, and their pursuers stopped.
Once again, the party made camp. They ate crackers and pink sludge. They took little sips of this potion and that, with no great effect. They smeared grey balm on Prudence’s organs and packed the wound with a blanket. Delian injected himself with whatever was in the orange-and-green vial. This, at least, left him feeling in excellent health, though it was later remarked that he looked a bit green around the gills. They finally admitted that Prudence was dead and, lacking any digging tools, buried her under a pile of leaves. (After looting her body, of course.)
They managed to pass the night in peace, although it was a poor night’s rest.
Friday, the 13th day of the Red Moon, 937
The next day, the party looked off to the south, considering the immense city on the horizon, and decided to try their luck. They were suspicious when the first person they met claimed to be a healer, but Delian, at least, was willing to fork over some gold for healing. When they said they were looking for someone who could help regrow hands or help with more serious injury, the healer (Ganna) said that they could try heading into the city itself, but that it was a dangerous place, probably best avoided.
They thanked her for her advice, found a rickety inn built outside the city proper, and got quarters for the night.
In Memoriam
R.I.P., Prudence the Medium
XP
Delian : 1636 + 140 = 1776 (Level up at 4000)
Rocky : 1017 + 140 = 1157 (Level up at 2000)
Tamara : 89 + 126 = 215 (Level up at 1500)
Rigby : 402 + 60 = 462 (Level up at 1200)