ZEITGEIST The chronicles of Team Big-hearted And Determined (B.A.D.)
RangerWickett
Legend
That's a neat trick.
Echolocation
Explorer
"I am the very model of a golemcraft technologist,
I've studied golems logical, sensitive, and deipnosophist,
I'm quite good at neurocraft (as a subset of arcanology),
Because I am an expert (which I know is a tautology),
And though I am trapped in a nemesis noctambulist,
I am the very model of a golemcraft technologist!"
Session 73
As a DM, I'm glad I got this far. When I first read the encounter for Steelshaper, I had wondered if I would be fortunate enough to hover a train carriage 100 feet above a PC. I never thought I'd be so lucky to have that PC also wrapped tightly in a sheet of steel and that another PC would be stuck in the train carriage above. Truth be told, I'm not entirely vindictive, but Steelshaper on the other hand...
But this is of course a Pathfinder combat: Steelshaper would not get another turn. Angharad vomited fire from a distance, knocking Steelshaper out. His control over the hovering carriage quickly dissipated. As it fell, Lisandra swan dived out and teleported safely to the top of a nearby carriage. Angharad rolled a natural 18 on his reflex save, just managing to spin himself to where a window (rather than solid steel) would make contact with the ground. He was unharmed, and took the time to sit inside the carriage and light a cigar. John apprehended Steelshaper, with his lioness companion keeping his unconscious body pinned to the ground. Then, at the sound of guards approaching, Team BAD wrapped up Leone in the Absurdist Web and escaped with dimension doors and wild shapes. If they had searched the other carriage, they would have found a document detailing the Ob's research on the team and their combat tactics. Steelshaper and his crew were prepared, but not prepared enough.
With their druid able to hop through trees, the party thought it best to duck into Flint. Angharad cleared Delft's desk, and unraveled the web to produce Leone. After a moment, Grappa took control, looking carefully around the room before struggling with his speech. After gaining a little more control, he conversed with the party about his unhinged plan. The party, perhaps equally unhinged, agreed, keeping their moral concerns to themselves. After all was said, the party wrapped Leone's body up in the web. Lisandra apologised to Grappa in case he was gagged the next time he resumed consciousness. Angharad looked proud, happy that he provided a wanted man in dramatic and smug fashion.
The party rested, equipped themselves, and teleported to the nearest tree to the glacier. From there, they followed a stream. Although small enough to hide from the giants, the party did not deviate from the stream, alerting the demonic deathbears. A very dangerous combat ensued. During which, the party demanded the location of the lich. A giant, addressing them as "lich-loving fucks" told them the lich was not to be spoken with. Instead, Team BAD were offered an indefinite position as miners. Predictably, negotiations were not fruitful. Although no PC died this combat, the party soon feared the martial prowess of giants. John stablised and healed one giant to question them. Realising the tables had turned, the giant answered every question the party had, hoping to live. He told them that the great Kangitche had allied with a powerfully wise clan of smallfolk known as "Obscurati" and two emissaries reside within the glacier. He told them of the Kangitche, the number of giants within the glacier, and a rough path to the lich. The party let him leave, and he did so with his regenerated deathbears, leaving his giant friend dead in the snow.
Then, after killing a glacier scout, the party made a bold decision: to rest. The party gained back their spells, but the giants will be aware their scouts never returned. The Kangitche sends for his Klokaiutin ('Sagespeaker') Dergek, a powerful wizard and advisor to the Kangitche. Unbeknownst to his leader, the sagespeaker seeks to dethrone his leader and assume control of the clan. He hopes to reap the profits of the Ob for himself. He hopes these intruders will slay his Kangitche, giving him a chance to rise to power.
The next morning, the party ascend the glacier. Naturally, they begin with the dragon tower. The party wizard spots an ancient book hiding high in the cast iron roost of the tower. She flies up, and spends 15 minutes reading it. The other members of Team BAD make a promise to never left the party book worm be the one to retrieve a book. Ella's quick skim of "How to Train your Dragon" reveals the forgotten origins and uses of the evil creatures. The beasts were pilfered from a strange plane of fire, one unfamiliar to the technologist, and raised in Lanjyr as demonic cavalry. She'd spend more time reading it, but she has a lich to locate and a party to apologise to.
I've studied golems logical, sensitive, and deipnosophist,
I'm quite good at neurocraft (as a subset of arcanology),
Because I am an expert (which I know is a tautology),
And though I am trapped in a nemesis noctambulist,
I am the very model of a golemcraft technologist!"
Session 73
As a DM, I'm glad I got this far. When I first read the encounter for Steelshaper, I had wondered if I would be fortunate enough to hover a train carriage 100 feet above a PC. I never thought I'd be so lucky to have that PC also wrapped tightly in a sheet of steel and that another PC would be stuck in the train carriage above. Truth be told, I'm not entirely vindictive, but Steelshaper on the other hand...
But this is of course a Pathfinder combat: Steelshaper would not get another turn. Angharad vomited fire from a distance, knocking Steelshaper out. His control over the hovering carriage quickly dissipated. As it fell, Lisandra swan dived out and teleported safely to the top of a nearby carriage. Angharad rolled a natural 18 on his reflex save, just managing to spin himself to where a window (rather than solid steel) would make contact with the ground. He was unharmed, and took the time to sit inside the carriage and light a cigar. John apprehended Steelshaper, with his lioness companion keeping his unconscious body pinned to the ground. Then, at the sound of guards approaching, Team BAD wrapped up Leone in the Absurdist Web and escaped with dimension doors and wild shapes. If they had searched the other carriage, they would have found a document detailing the Ob's research on the team and their combat tactics. Steelshaper and his crew were prepared, but not prepared enough.
With their druid able to hop through trees, the party thought it best to duck into Flint. Angharad cleared Delft's desk, and unraveled the web to produce Leone. After a moment, Grappa took control, looking carefully around the room before struggling with his speech. After gaining a little more control, he conversed with the party about his unhinged plan. The party, perhaps equally unhinged, agreed, keeping their moral concerns to themselves. After all was said, the party wrapped Leone's body up in the web. Lisandra apologised to Grappa in case he was gagged the next time he resumed consciousness. Angharad looked proud, happy that he provided a wanted man in dramatic and smug fashion.
The party rested, equipped themselves, and teleported to the nearest tree to the glacier. From there, they followed a stream. Although small enough to hide from the giants, the party did not deviate from the stream, alerting the demonic deathbears. A very dangerous combat ensued. During which, the party demanded the location of the lich. A giant, addressing them as "lich-loving fucks" told them the lich was not to be spoken with. Instead, Team BAD were offered an indefinite position as miners. Predictably, negotiations were not fruitful. Although no PC died this combat, the party soon feared the martial prowess of giants. John stablised and healed one giant to question them. Realising the tables had turned, the giant answered every question the party had, hoping to live. He told them that the great Kangitche had allied with a powerfully wise clan of smallfolk known as "Obscurati" and two emissaries reside within the glacier. He told them of the Kangitche, the number of giants within the glacier, and a rough path to the lich. The party let him leave, and he did so with his regenerated deathbears, leaving his giant friend dead in the snow.
Then, after killing a glacier scout, the party made a bold decision: to rest. The party gained back their spells, but the giants will be aware their scouts never returned. The Kangitche sends for his Klokaiutin ('Sagespeaker') Dergek, a powerful wizard and advisor to the Kangitche. Unbeknownst to his leader, the sagespeaker seeks to dethrone his leader and assume control of the clan. He hopes to reap the profits of the Ob for himself. He hopes these intruders will slay his Kangitche, giving him a chance to rise to power.
The next morning, the party ascend the glacier. Naturally, they begin with the dragon tower. The party wizard spots an ancient book hiding high in the cast iron roost of the tower. She flies up, and spends 15 minutes reading it. The other members of Team BAD make a promise to never left the party book worm be the one to retrieve a book. Ella's quick skim of "How to Train your Dragon" reveals the forgotten origins and uses of the evil creatures. The beasts were pilfered from a strange plane of fire, one unfamiliar to the technologist, and raised in Lanjyr as demonic cavalry. She'd spend more time reading it, but she has a lich to locate and a party to apologise to.
RangerWickett
Legend
Applause for the Penzance riff.
Echolocation
Explorer
Thanks!
I have a few questions moving forward, regarding Reed Macbannin's curse. The book states that:
So, my initial reading of this is that Macbannin doesn't believe the curse will work on Nic. Is that true, and if so, why?
Secondly, my party may be interested in the mechanics of this curse. Their main theory at the moment is that the Ob's leadership is seeking to become immortal/invincible. They believe a rakshasa to be involved (just based on skyseer prophecy/info from the player's guide). Additionally, they think Stanfield has something to do with it. I think this distrust comes from Stanfield being a well-spoken politician who dodges pointed questions quite well. All in all, the party is invested in finding a method to prevent reincarnation/rejuvenation. So much so, that Angharad asked the frozen lich (in a session not yet recapped) if he had a way to do so. In the moment, I decided that would have fallen within the lich's specialty and told the player I'd message them the technique between sessions. I thought it could be the same curse that Macbannin has prepared. Does anyone have any advice for this situation?
I have a few questions moving forward, regarding Reed Macbannin's curse. The book states that:
So, my initial reading of this is that Macbannin doesn't believe the curse will work on Nic. Is that true, and if so, why?
Secondly, my party may be interested in the mechanics of this curse. Their main theory at the moment is that the Ob's leadership is seeking to become immortal/invincible. They believe a rakshasa to be involved (just based on skyseer prophecy/info from the player's guide). Additionally, they think Stanfield has something to do with it. I think this distrust comes from Stanfield being a well-spoken politician who dodges pointed questions quite well. All in all, the party is invested in finding a method to prevent reincarnation/rejuvenation. So much so, that Angharad asked the frozen lich (in a session not yet recapped) if he had a way to do so. In the moment, I decided that would have fallen within the lich's specialty and told the player I'd message them the technique between sessions. I thought it could be the same curse that Macbannin has prepared. Does anyone have any advice for this situation?
RangerWickett
Legend
Please note, all of this is post hoc justification. I hadn't considered the specifics until you asked.
It won't work on Nicodemus because he's a super-old ghost with lots of contingencies and metaphysical linkages to the members of the Obscurati. He is, by this point, sort of the avatar of the concept of 'wanting to fundamentally remake the world.' As long as the Ob are active, he'll be impossible to kill. (William Miller in adv 12 can thwart that, though.)
How would the curse work? Macbannin worked on Cauldron Hill, where the veil between the Waking and the Bleak Gate was very thin. The place had tons of witchoil, which can trap souls. So I figure Macbannin's curse just consumes the caster's essence in order to punt the victim's soul to Cauldron Hill, where they're tormented by all the other souls that have been trapped there and gone mad.
How could someone else pull it off? You'd need to have closely studied some large reservoir of witchoil, been metaphysically linked to it (such as by dying while being mayor overseeing the area), and then you'd have to sacrifice yourself.
You could possibly achieve something similar by destroying a ghost near witchoil, but undead souls are probably twisted in a way that makes them less likely to be caught by any small quantity, and the ghost council is tethered together, so normally you'd need to destroy the whole group at once and be by a large source of witchoil. Macbannin's curse is strong enough to rip Vicemi away from the council.
As for stopping a deva from reincarnating, the simplest option is probably just to have a large quantity of witchoil to trap his soul (something like a cup for each lifetime). Though who knows? That might very well be the thing that causes a deva to transform into a rakshasa.
It won't work on Nicodemus because he's a super-old ghost with lots of contingencies and metaphysical linkages to the members of the Obscurati. He is, by this point, sort of the avatar of the concept of 'wanting to fundamentally remake the world.' As long as the Ob are active, he'll be impossible to kill. (William Miller in adv 12 can thwart that, though.)
How would the curse work? Macbannin worked on Cauldron Hill, where the veil between the Waking and the Bleak Gate was very thin. The place had tons of witchoil, which can trap souls. So I figure Macbannin's curse just consumes the caster's essence in order to punt the victim's soul to Cauldron Hill, where they're tormented by all the other souls that have been trapped there and gone mad.
How could someone else pull it off? You'd need to have closely studied some large reservoir of witchoil, been metaphysically linked to it (such as by dying while being mayor overseeing the area), and then you'd have to sacrifice yourself.
You could possibly achieve something similar by destroying a ghost near witchoil, but undead souls are probably twisted in a way that makes them less likely to be caught by any small quantity, and the ghost council is tethered together, so normally you'd need to destroy the whole group at once and be by a large source of witchoil. Macbannin's curse is strong enough to rip Vicemi away from the council.
As for stopping a deva from reincarnating, the simplest option is probably just to have a large quantity of witchoil to trap his soul (something like a cup for each lifetime). Though who knows? That might very well be the thing that causes a deva to transform into a rakshasa.
hirou
Explorer
Nicodemus definitely seems to be more than a simple ghost. It is stated that he is unaffected by Lanjyr-wide rule of "no more than 3 miles from the place of death" as "his place of death" is sorta-whole-continent. It is never quite stated how exactly he died, actually. On top of Lance of Triegenis, Nicodemus leaps through the portal (which BTW seems to open somewhere dozens of feet above ground, judging from description) "just as an inferno bursts forth from Srasama’s wounds", but how exactly that transformed him is left open. In my fanon he definitely cannot be contained by magic circle-like magics as he is always blurred through the whole world and is never actually at one place. He seems unperturbed by close proximity to Borne, who is full of witchoil, which would have probably sucked in any other free ghost/soul.
EDIT: also, I instasaved picture of Knutpara glacier, very nice illustration.
EDIT: also, I instasaved picture of Knutpara glacier, very nice illustration.
Echolocation
Explorer
Thanks. In case anyone is interested, I use images such as these to set the scene for my players. En route to Knutpara, I had a map with this background image, and played howling wind audio. Given one of my players commented they were feeling cold in an Aussie spring, I think the immersion worked.
Echolocation
Explorer
Session 74
Courtesy of Lisandra's player
Ice soup, Frost Giant puns and making new friends with grumpy Obscurati dwarves was apparently on the agenda for our constables in last week’s session of Zeitgeist.
The team started in the old dragon roost, keeping guard and scouting the tower below as Ella occupied the precipice, speed reading about old dragon lore. When she arrived back on earth, figuratively and literally, Angharad has cosily fallen into a plot hole, and Lisandra scouted ahead to find a broken stairway leading down.
Some careful maneuvering and exploration later they found themselves in a lower segment of the tower that led down into an icy temple of some kind, out to a makeshift giant kitchen, or through a set of huge red-metal doors. A giant telling stories pull of icy puns could be heard ahead, though with an unfortunate attempt at stealth, Lisandra alerted the comedian who came back to check his cooking. The constables scattered and hid, waiting for the giant to return to telling his relevant brand of awful jokes.
The coast clear, Ella bestowed Lisandra with invisibility to scout ahead. A 4-way intersection of ice lay waiting. One arm led to another set of doors, another led to a horrific chamber of carnal delights with a staircase leading into darkness and the last was an alcove with a chute leading down, and two giants stationed nearby. An unimpressed woman, and the aforementioned comedian chef.
When a successful stealth mission to the downstairs section led to nothing but a room encased in ice, and some nightmare fuel on creative use of intestine for recreation, Team BAD head into conflict with the giants. Combat ended with the near death of the woman, and her companion was more than happy to stand down, answer some difficult questions like ‘what’s in the hold’ and ‘what’s past the doors?’ before returning to his cooking and letting the team proceed down the chute, into the mines that apparently awaited.
The chute actually led to a room full of sleeping giants. But with some lucky stealth moves and wild shape of the lizard variety, the team made it safely past and into the huge chasm below. And weren’t they just lovely.
At least, that’s what the team thought at first. Ella and John eventually shook off the compulsion as a dwarf called out from a bridge above to ask what they were doing. He was joined by another, both approaching the situation with more disdain and apathy than anyone expected. Lisandra was exceptionally taken with how lovely the blizzard was, and was keen to make friends with the new arrivals.
Ella pulled Lisandra out of sight, slapping her sharply back to her senses before the dwarves finished their argument about who would go out in the snow to retrieve the intruders. When Grumpy Dwarf arrived, the team was waiting, ready for a fight. Instead, she accused us of being a pain in the ass and offered to give us a tour and a guide, maps included, if we let her get out of the cold.
Ella insisted on a snowy interrogation for a few painful minutes longer for everyone before the intrigue of a tour guide was just too much temptation, and the Obsurati agent led us on a tour, preventing giants from attacking the team as she explained their mining operation for meteor dust from other plane to power the Wayfarer Lanterns they were testing. Supposedly, Trigenes called them down to obliterate the things that used to live in Knut Para.
A couple of giants, a broken lich phylactery and a office visit full of parsnips, dwarven snark and the official guide book of Knutpara later, Team BAD were ushered back to the chasm below where Ella collected or broke every Wayfarer Lantern we could find on the way to the frozen waterfall to explore the depths below.
Now they’re off to find the Kangitche in the mines and a Lich frozen in the snow to ask a favor. Should be a total piece of cake, right? So glad Angharad has fallen out of a plot hole to join us for the inevitable frosty shitstorm ahead… this week, on the Adventures of Team BAD.
GM Note
The players enjoyed the Ob researchers and their blatant disdain for both the party and their giant entourage. I always have fun players characters that boldly oppose the party, but the party are invested in keeping alive.
Courtesy of Lisandra's player
Ice soup, Frost Giant puns and making new friends with grumpy Obscurati dwarves was apparently on the agenda for our constables in last week’s session of Zeitgeist.
The team started in the old dragon roost, keeping guard and scouting the tower below as Ella occupied the precipice, speed reading about old dragon lore. When she arrived back on earth, figuratively and literally, Angharad has cosily fallen into a plot hole, and Lisandra scouted ahead to find a broken stairway leading down.
When players cannot make sessions, sometimes we run without them. Characters occasionally fall into dimensional rifts, an effect that originally began on Axis Island and has followed Team BAD since. This is known both in-game and out-of-game as a 'plot hole'. Nobody notices the character disappearing from the story briefly, and they usually re-appear at an unspecified time later. Sometimes, they appear briefly out of the plot hole to preform a specialised action that nobody in the party can do (e.g., disable a trap) before falling back in the hole. Of course, this is just a convoluted in-game way for me to avoid playing a PC and/or accidentally killing them whilst their player is absent.
Some careful maneuvering and exploration later they found themselves in a lower segment of the tower that led down into an icy temple of some kind, out to a makeshift giant kitchen, or through a set of huge red-metal doors. A giant telling stories pull of icy puns could be heard ahead, though with an unfortunate attempt at stealth, Lisandra alerted the comedian who came back to check his cooking. The constables scattered and hid, waiting for the giant to return to telling his relevant brand of awful jokes.
The coast clear, Ella bestowed Lisandra with invisibility to scout ahead. A 4-way intersection of ice lay waiting. One arm led to another set of doors, another led to a horrific chamber of carnal delights with a staircase leading into darkness and the last was an alcove with a chute leading down, and two giants stationed nearby. An unimpressed woman, and the aforementioned comedian chef.
When a successful stealth mission to the downstairs section led to nothing but a room encased in ice, and some nightmare fuel on creative use of intestine for recreation, Team BAD head into conflict with the giants. Combat ended with the near death of the woman, and her companion was more than happy to stand down, answer some difficult questions like ‘what’s in the hold’ and ‘what’s past the doors?’ before returning to his cooking and letting the team proceed down the chute, into the mines that apparently awaited.
The chute actually led to a room full of sleeping giants. But with some lucky stealth moves and wild shape of the lizard variety, the team made it safely past and into the huge chasm below. And weren’t they just lovely.
At least, that’s what the team thought at first. Ella and John eventually shook off the compulsion as a dwarf called out from a bridge above to ask what they were doing. He was joined by another, both approaching the situation with more disdain and apathy than anyone expected. Lisandra was exceptionally taken with how lovely the blizzard was, and was keen to make friends with the new arrivals.
Ella pulled Lisandra out of sight, slapping her sharply back to her senses before the dwarves finished their argument about who would go out in the snow to retrieve the intruders. When Grumpy Dwarf arrived, the team was waiting, ready for a fight. Instead, she accused us of being a pain in the ass and offered to give us a tour and a guide, maps included, if we let her get out of the cold.
Ella insisted on a snowy interrogation for a few painful minutes longer for everyone before the intrigue of a tour guide was just too much temptation, and the Obsurati agent led us on a tour, preventing giants from attacking the team as she explained their mining operation for meteor dust from other plane to power the Wayfarer Lanterns they were testing. Supposedly, Trigenes called them down to obliterate the things that used to live in Knut Para.
A couple of giants, a broken lich phylactery and a office visit full of parsnips, dwarven snark and the official guide book of Knutpara later, Team BAD were ushered back to the chasm below where Ella collected or broke every Wayfarer Lantern we could find on the way to the frozen waterfall to explore the depths below.
Now they’re off to find the Kangitche in the mines and a Lich frozen in the snow to ask a favor. Should be a total piece of cake, right? So glad Angharad has fallen out of a plot hole to join us for the inevitable frosty shitstorm ahead… this week, on the Adventures of Team BAD.
GM Note
The players enjoyed the Ob researchers and their blatant disdain for both the party and their giant entourage. I always have fun players characters that boldly oppose the party, but the party are invested in keeping alive.
Echolocation
Explorer
"Many tell the tales of a world that will end in ice. Let me show you the apocalypse to come!" - Kangitche, approaching the party.
Session 74
Courtesy of Angharad's player
Last time on Zeitgiest the party was exploring the frozen wastes of a glacier utterly filled with stinky giants.
As the party was exploring this glacier with its tunnels carved into it, they would stumble upon some prison cells. In this prison, they would find Karvati Garbiti (name pending), plus some other dwarves that had been trapped here. From talking to Karvati, it turns out he had been following a different lead of the Obscurati to get here with his companions.
After some careful checking to make sure he hadn't been afflicted by any spells, or was lying to us, the Team asked Angharad to free the prisoners, and he happily obliged, freeing them. Sadly Karvati was short his gun, and had to borrow one, holding out hope we would find his cool gun.. Which has a lich bone leg in it. Very cool but what the naughty word man. That is probably a pain to replace down the line.Unless.. He has a backup of liches in which we can all have stylish weapons.
During this discussion giants found us, and weren't happy about us freeing their prisoners. Dunno why, slave labour inst that efficient really and it is a better system to make them think there earning their own profits in a different system.. Like working many hours in a factory for very little reward..
A scrap with the giants happened, their leader encased himself in a black ice armour, looking stylish as heck, with some bodyguards and a spellcaster. The spellcaster would change the ice to slide Lisandra closer to him during the scrap, while the giants slowly fell. Strangely enough, the giants seemed to have a thing for passing Lisandra back and forth between them. Maybe red headed dolls are a thing in their culture.. who knows.
GM Aside: It was more me having fun with ice giant CMB and combat maneuvers
The Giant's mage though, as John got his hp lower with bullets, called out that he would help us overthrow their leader if we spared him. And maybe Giant Mage's unlock a super power of John's, as his gun became less of a gun and more of a rail cannon.. shooting bursts of energy through the leader of the giants chest, blowing a hole open through his chest.
With this, the new leader of the giants, the spell caster would allow us to speak to the Lich, leading the way, as well as some subtle negations about freedom for the prisoners, a certain gun back and new imprisonment of their former allies, the Obscuarati agents. I say subtle because John's smoking gun was there in front of them, reminding them of the still steaming corpse of their former leader.
After a while of playing around with the frozen lich, and not wanting to let Grappa out yet, eventually the party would bring Grappa out to ask how to communicate with the skeletal Elsa. Grappa would inform the party that touching the ice would probably help out, and it did.
Once again proving that Lisandra is the disney princess of Necromany, as she awakens the lich, letting us all hear it and trade the knowledge of how to steal a body for its freedom. We are the good guys, we swear, and that is why we made a deal with the lich, promptly planning to betray it afterwards. Heros!
Before that could happen, Angharad requested time alone with the lich, to ask it a question in private, and alluded that it was Mystic business. Angharad wanted to know how to permanently kill Devas, and gained the knowledge. The price was to free the Lich there and then, which Angharad did. The ice turning to Steam, fire billowing and warning the others that Angharad was doing naughty word. As they rushed forwards, the Lich freed, took a step out. Then another, but the second step was with the leg that Karvati had taken a bone from, and losing its balance from you know.. missing a leg bone, fell.. The mighty frozen lich then cracked and shattered into many pieces... Gravity beats undeath, apparently.
And with the shards of a lich around them, the party would take the former prisoners to freedom, John launching them through trees to safety using magic..
Back in Risur after weird tree hoping teleporting, the party would plan over the next few weeks their new plan to invade the Obscurati. Stealing bodies with lich magic to avoid magical detection and preparing themselves for once again entering the maw of darkness known as the Obscurati.
And that my friends, is what happened last time on Zeitgiest.
GM Note
Whoever wrote the hyper beam ability for the Mad Shootist class has both my thanks and my fear---my players loved it.
Session 74
Courtesy of Angharad's player
Last time on Zeitgiest the party was exploring the frozen wastes of a glacier utterly filled with stinky giants.
As the party was exploring this glacier with its tunnels carved into it, they would stumble upon some prison cells. In this prison, they would find Karvati Garbiti (name pending), plus some other dwarves that had been trapped here. From talking to Karvati, it turns out he had been following a different lead of the Obscurati to get here with his companions.
After some careful checking to make sure he hadn't been afflicted by any spells, or was lying to us, the Team asked Angharad to free the prisoners, and he happily obliged, freeing them. Sadly Karvati was short his gun, and had to borrow one, holding out hope we would find his cool gun.. Which has a lich bone leg in it. Very cool but what the naughty word man. That is probably a pain to replace down the line.Unless.. He has a backup of liches in which we can all have stylish weapons.
During this discussion giants found us, and weren't happy about us freeing their prisoners. Dunno why, slave labour inst that efficient really and it is a better system to make them think there earning their own profits in a different system.. Like working many hours in a factory for very little reward..
A scrap with the giants happened, their leader encased himself in a black ice armour, looking stylish as heck, with some bodyguards and a spellcaster. The spellcaster would change the ice to slide Lisandra closer to him during the scrap, while the giants slowly fell. Strangely enough, the giants seemed to have a thing for passing Lisandra back and forth between them. Maybe red headed dolls are a thing in their culture.. who knows.
GM Aside: It was more me having fun with ice giant CMB and combat maneuvers
The Giant's mage though, as John got his hp lower with bullets, called out that he would help us overthrow their leader if we spared him. And maybe Giant Mage's unlock a super power of John's, as his gun became less of a gun and more of a rail cannon.. shooting bursts of energy through the leader of the giants chest, blowing a hole open through his chest.
With this, the new leader of the giants, the spell caster would allow us to speak to the Lich, leading the way, as well as some subtle negations about freedom for the prisoners, a certain gun back and new imprisonment of their former allies, the Obscuarati agents. I say subtle because John's smoking gun was there in front of them, reminding them of the still steaming corpse of their former leader.
After a while of playing around with the frozen lich, and not wanting to let Grappa out yet, eventually the party would bring Grappa out to ask how to communicate with the skeletal Elsa. Grappa would inform the party that touching the ice would probably help out, and it did.
Once again proving that Lisandra is the disney princess of Necromany, as she awakens the lich, letting us all hear it and trade the knowledge of how to steal a body for its freedom. We are the good guys, we swear, and that is why we made a deal with the lich, promptly planning to betray it afterwards. Heros!
Before that could happen, Angharad requested time alone with the lich, to ask it a question in private, and alluded that it was Mystic business. Angharad wanted to know how to permanently kill Devas, and gained the knowledge. The price was to free the Lich there and then, which Angharad did. The ice turning to Steam, fire billowing and warning the others that Angharad was doing naughty word. As they rushed forwards, the Lich freed, took a step out. Then another, but the second step was with the leg that Karvati had taken a bone from, and losing its balance from you know.. missing a leg bone, fell.. The mighty frozen lich then cracked and shattered into many pieces... Gravity beats undeath, apparently.
And with the shards of a lich around them, the party would take the former prisoners to freedom, John launching them through trees to safety using magic..
Back in Risur after weird tree hoping teleporting, the party would plan over the next few weeks their new plan to invade the Obscurati. Stealing bodies with lich magic to avoid magical detection and preparing themselves for once again entering the maw of darkness known as the Obscurati.
And that my friends, is what happened last time on Zeitgiest.
GM Note
Whoever wrote the hyper beam ability for the Mad Shootist class has both my thanks and my fear---my players loved it.
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