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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mikeawmids" data-source="post: 6314024" data-attributes="member: 6776411">(Savaged) Rise of the Runelords Rotation 2 / Session 1 (23/08/2012) - Part Two An ominous creaking sound overhead draws the parties eyes upwards - just as one of four enormous, bronze bells plummets towards them. Miraculously, nobody is injured - but the stairs (both above and below) have been smashed into firewood. The entire clock tower shakes alarmingly as the fallen bell crashes through the wall at the base of the spire. Despite the absolute lack of the climbing skill (or any rope), Grogg forges on - it surprises nobody when he slips and falls. None of his comrades seem inclined to help the free-falling half-orc as he plunges passed... Ben rolls his eyes and tries to catch him. Unfortunately, Ben's player rolled snake-eyes, resulting in a CRITICAL FAILURE! The ranger manages to grab the half-orc's flailing arm - but misjudged how heavy Grogg would be in full platemail - and is yanked out into the abyss after him. They both fall about 40ft and are soon making Soak rolls to avoid immediate Incapacitation. Miraculously, both survive! Andy's character descends with more care, in order to cast Heal on their broken bodies. Karrack and Rast complete the climb and emerge through a trapdoor into the noisy, claustrophobic clockworks, where the massive gears and complex mechanisms that drive the hands of the Shadow Clock grind relentlessly. They are attacked by a group of dopplegangers mimicking the faces of their friends. Neither lizardman nor dwarf exhibit any qualms smacking around these clones - in fact, it's actually rather cathartic to beat up their 'co-workers'. No sooner have the faceless stalkers been dispatched (one is snagged by the machinery and crushed between the enormous gears), when a huge flesh golem wielding a scythe crashes through the ceiling! Ben Kotek and Andy's character join the fray, having clambered up after their comrades, but Grogg (still carrying three wounds) has decided to sit this fight out on the sidelines. The priest of Sarenrae ducks beneath a sweep of the shambling scarecrow's scythe - but is grabbed by the throat and dangled helplessly over the gaping hole in the clockwork's floor. Rast coats his magical returning dagger in ghoul slime (harvested from the bodies of Foxglove's undead horde) and manages to paralyse the golem, locking its bloated, corpse-fingers around the cleric's neck. Unable to break its grip, the quick thinking priest lops off the hand holding him at the wrist. Once the cleric is clear, the rest of the party pile in and manage to shove the golem off the edge of the platform (it does not survive the subsequent 60ft fall). Having carelessly thrown a couple of fireballs at the scarecrow before being grappled by it, Andy's character has inadvertently set the clock tower on fire. With no means of fighting the blaze, the party continue to climb, hoping to escape the spreading flames. They emerge onto the open spire of the shadow clock, where they find Xanesha, the Lamia Matriarch ('Wanton of Nature's Pagan Forms') waiting for them amidst her nest of pillows and silken drapes. She flirts playfully, but when it becomes apparent the heroes aren't warming to her charms, she assumes her true form (half woman, half serpent) and attacks. Xanesha stays airborne, flying through the scaffolding around the outside edges of the (now burning) clock tower to prevent the party mobbing her in melee. Down on the ground, Grogg intimidates the city watch into opening fire on the lamia. When a hail of crossbolts almost turn her into a pincushion, Xanesha takes notices of the impudent marksmen and swoops towards them as they frantically reload. Her terrible eyes glow green - and those unfortunate enough to meet her gaze are turned to stone! Grogg leaps from statue to statue in pursuit of the matriarch and lands a blow that leaves the lamia reeling. In retaliation, her eyes blaze emerald once more and Grogg is petrified (though still managing to strike a particularly heroic pose moments before turning to stone). Securing ropes around the angel statue on the spire; Rast, Karrack and the nameless priest recklessly abseil down the outer wall of the clock tower in pursuit of Xanesha. The lizardman fashions a crude lasso and manges to ensnare the flying lamia. With the priest and the dwarf lending Karrack their strength, they begin to reel Xanesha in, like an unusually dangerous trout. Unable to escape, Xanesha flies straight towards the group, her eyes flaring with green light - only for Andy's character to smack her in the face with his shield. Unable to stay airborne while unconscious , the lamia matriarch falls out of the air like a stone. Her elegant neck is broken as the rope around her throat snaps taught with a gristly crackle of bone. Alone at the top of the tower - with the flames rising around him, Ben makes a quick check of the creatures nest and turns up a long list of names (some of which have already been crossed out) - greedy individuals from Sandpoint and Magnimar, hand-picked by Xanesha to be targeted by the Skinsaw Men. But why were only these avaricious souls zeroed out for the Sideheron sacrifice? Having defeated the Lamia Matriarch, the party enjoy some well-deserved downtime. Looting the body, the heroes claim a slippery snakeskin tunic, a magical mask that turns people to stone and a magical spear called an 'Impaler of Thorns' (on a raise on the Fighting roll, everyone - friend/foe alike - in a small burst radius must make an immediate Spirit roll or be Fatigued by sadness and despair). Rast returns to Sandpoint and proposes to his beloved innkeeper, Ameiko Kaijitsu. They are to be wed at the great cathedral within the month (the people of Sandpoint are still waiting on a replacement priest, after Ben accidentally triggered the fatal heart attack of poor, old Father Zantus). The rest of the heroes gather in the sleepy, coastal town for the ceremony (and specifically, the cake). To be continued....</blockquote>

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