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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mikeawmids" data-source="post: 6314845" data-attributes="member: 6776411">(Savaged) Rise of the Runelords > The Hook Mountain Massacre Rotation 2 / Session 3 (06/09/2012) - Part One Player Characters Val : Karrack (Lizardman monk with grand revolutionary ambitions. A political pioneer fighting for the rights of the little (green) man. Vive la Goblin!) Vic : Grogg (Gladiatorial champion of the downtrodden masses, this muscular half-orc is rarely parted from his beloved axe 'Monica' or his 'lucky' talisman, strung with tokens from previous champions.) Mal H : Ben Kotek (The black sheep of a wealthy family from distant Minkai, after reading the journal of a demon-possessed serial killer, he has developed some worrying hobbies....) Crusader Hank: Rast : (Dwarven rogue with a diverse catalogue of curious scars/twitches. A dabbler in alchemy, with an unsavoury habit of drinking the foul humours he extracts from fallen foes - all in the spirit of scientific enquiry, or course! Recent wed to Ameiko Kaijitsu.) Andrek : Asha (Crusading priest of Sarenrae, also turns out that 'he' is actually a 'she' - and not above using her body to get what she wants!) Steboucha : Snot the Goblin (After a short period of absence, Steve returns to the club! Since it would have been awkward to shoehorn Aereon back into the adventure at this juncture, he was privileged to take on the much coveted role of Snot the goblin!) As Asha confronts Conchobhar Turlach Shortstone III (re: his Sideheron tattoo), a sudden storm rolls in from the Hook Mountains to the north, choking the sky with dark, thunderous clouds. The amorous gnome is sceptical of the cleric's assertion that his tattoo is actually an ancient Thassilonian rune, claiming he was given it aboard the 'Paradise', to mark his VIP status. As the weather worsens, the wealthy passengers rush back to the pitching riverboat. As Karrack heads for his bunk below decks, he notices someone trying to catch his attention. He is pleasantly surprised to discover that Snot the goblin had managed to sneak aboard the 'Paradise' before it left Magnimar. The wretched creature would have announced his presence sooner, but was trapped inside the crate it stowed away in and has only recently managed to gnaw its way to freedom. Yet the goblin bears troubling news - he is not the only stowaway aboard the riverboat. While confined to his box, Snot witnessed Shalelu Andosana sneaking on board - only to be apprehended by some of Lady Lucrecia's goons. Karrack immediately rounds up the party and sets to tearing the riverboat apart in search of his sometime half-elf girlfriend. Karrack, Grogg, Ben Kotek and the goblin waylay a group of Lucrecia's thugs, while Asha tries to talk Rast out of raising a customer service complaint with the duty manager. The goon squad tell Karrack that the half-elf stowaway was thrown overboard, but the Saurian monk is convinced they're hiding something. Violence ensues, during which Snot is almost mortally wounded. The injured creature slips on the blood-slick deck and topples into the dark water. The clash of steel draws several wealthy passengers from the comfort of their cabins, who leap headlong to the conclusion that the riverboat is being attacked by pirates! Panic spreads like wildfire as the rest of the vessel's security force mobilise to repel the boarders. Being bloodthirsty (hindrance), Grogg 'forgets' that the party intended to keep one of the mercenaries alive and butchers the feeble human sellswords as effortlessly as a farmer would strike down his livestock on market day. With only the vaguest notion of where Shalelu might be being held, the party continue their rushed and uncoordinated hunt for the captive ranger. Rast takes the opportunity to loot several unattended store rooms and (after playing the TREASURE TROVE adventure card) finds a Shroud of Lurking Menace (+3 Stealth). Encountering a knot of Lucrecia's men determined to prevent the party from venturing any further into the bowels of the lurching riverboat, the heroes cut them down and consider the (now undefended) portal they had been guarding. Karrack listens at the door and hears what sounds suspiciously like someone coordinating an ambush on the other side. Retreating to a safe distance, the party cover their ears as Ben unloads a Blast spell on the threshold - obliterating the door (and the walls to either side) and spraying the men beyond with a hail of sharp splinters. Flushed with success, Ben exhausts his remaining Power Points on a second Blast, taking out the thugs still reeling from the initial explosion - then the rest of the party barrel into the breach! Karrack's player throws down the REINFORCEMENTS adventure card - and 1D6 (2) more friendly goblins pop out the crates they had been hiding inside, slashing at the surprised goons with their jagged dogslicers. Lady Lucrecia is poised above the prone figure of Shalelu Andosana, whose bare flesh has been branded with the Sideheron rune. Lucrecia drops her mortal guise and reveals herself to be yet another Lamia Matriarch - worse, a vengeful Lamia Matriarch nursing a grudge against the party after they killed her sister Xanesha back in Magnimar! The flying snake woman takes a moment to gloat about her evil scheme; how the souls of any sentient creature that dies while marked with the Sideheron rune speed the cataclysmic rise of her Master - the greedier the souls, the better! To make things even worse, the most invaluable minions of this maniacal overlord are granted Sideheron medallions that allow them to compel those branded with the seven pointed star. Shalelu Andosana lurches to her feet and attacks the party, her face contorted by an uncharacteristic expression of rapacious greed. Grogg feels the same compulsion to betray his friends, but the stubborn half-orc resists Lucrecia's sorcerous invasion of his mind, causing his own Sideheron tattoo to burn painfully against his rebellious flesh.</blockquote>

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