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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7329719" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>Session 39, Part One - Hildegaard's Sacrifice</strong></p><p></p><p>Thank goodness for Uru’s re-breathers! The Lamprey was struck by waves of anti-magic, swiftly followed by a gut-wrenching impact, as a massive harpoon head was driven through the hull, causing water to pour in from outside. It only narrowly missed the occupants. With a lurch, the Lamprey was dragged downwards, and everyone clung on for dear life as the craft tilted alarmingly. Rumdoom’s entourage struggled to steer, but the magical engines had lost power.</p><p></p><p>Oosholeel shouted for Kieran Sentacore to snap out of it, get on the short-wave radio and contact the Sunfish. Then he opened the exit hatch (no point in keeping it shut now) and slipped outside in eel form. A huge hawser formed from seaweed was dragging the vessel towards the seabed. It was connected to a huge, almost organic-looking ballista. Oosholeel only caught sight of this briefly before he fled back inside, dodging the crossbow bolts of dozens of sahuagin warriors. Kvarti provided cover with his brand new rifle, Intransigence. He took out the leaders first.</p><p></p><p>The sahuagin swarmed the craft in overwhelming numbers and Kvarti, Oolsholeel and Bhalu began a desperate fight to prevent them from entering the Lamprey.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">*</p><p></p><p>Uru’s ghosts helped him to phase through the walls of the chamber that had held the Stone of Not. Before the aboleth or sahuagin could react, or even see him, he shadow-stepped into the Sunfish and fired up the Tyrant’s Eye.</p><p></p><p>Rumdoom was horrified. He wasn’t focused on fighting at all, heartbroken at this dreadful turn of events. Though the aboleth were hideous and alien and merciless, he felt compelled to sue for peace; his honour was at stake. He dragged Hildegaard outside, while the Krauss-thralls were still restrained by ice, all the while thinking as ‘loudly’ as he could, “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!”</p><p></p><p>This must not have been enough to make up for the potential destruction of the aboleth’s entire civilisation, and the theft of their most prized artefact, for at once the dwarves were struck by a wave of psychic slime. Single-minded, they shrugged off its effects, and could detect palpable waves of anger and alarm, even panic, in the water. Now the sahuagin attacked, along with their sharks, but the dwarves fought defensively and deflected these attacks too.</p><p></p><p>Uru aimed the Tyrant’s Eye at the aboleth and fired. Inspired by what he had learned about the philosopher Von Coppenhoff, and compelled to prevent a bloodbath, Rumdoom uttered a Fiat. He said simply, “NO!” and the beam of the eye lanced wide. Uru felt the fiat and understood. He stopped firing. But he didn’t hesitate to flick another switch, to electrify the hull of the vessel, and scatter the sahuagin that had been clambering all over it.</p><p></p><p>Two more aboleth arrived. On his shortwave radio, Uru called the Lamprey and told them what had happened; he heard cries and chaos from the other end.</p><p></p><p>Unbidden, the desperate and horrified Hildegaard, who had been the unwilling host of Grandis Kamanov, made an audacious offer to the aboleth: With a thought, she offered to stay as hostage if the deep ones allowed Rumdoom to leave and retrieve the Stone. Rumdoom was aghast, but the offer brought a moment’s stillness and the combat ceased.*</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center">*</p><p></p><p>The Lamprey struck bottom and was swarmed by sahuagin like a wounded whale calf. By now, it was completely water-logged. One of Rumdoom’s entourage struggled with a defective re-breather and then hung limp in the water. Kieran Sentacore had been left with the sending stone – paired with another held by Korrigan. These stones were useless in the radius of the Stone of Not, but since that had been taken, Kieran activated it in desperate hope, pleading for help, if help was possible. Just moments later he received the reply, “Stay put and stay alive.”</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">*</p><p></p><p>Korrigan & Co. were traversing the Malice Lands when the message came through. Leon knew a ritual, <em>follow</em> <em>the</em> <em>voice</em>, which could take him to the paired stone. But the ritual took ten minutes to perform and a minute or more for the transition to complete. He could try to make this quicker, but the effort would exhaust him. Coupled with the problems affecting long-range teleportation (which only great mental concentration could overcome) and he was limited to safely teleporting himself and perhaps just one other. Thanks to his schism-wrought form, Korrigan could meld with Mavisha and feel at home underwater. He could also help to re-energise Leon sufficiently to manage the return journey (or at least a quick portal back to the Impossible). So the tiefling warlock began to plough all his energy into the ritual, hoping to complete it in time. …</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">*</p><p></p><p>Thanks to Hildegaard’s self-sacrifice Rumdoom succeeding in convincing the aboleth to allow him to retrieve the Stone. However they were insistent that the occupants of the Lamprey should remain behind too. Rumdoom said he would have to talk to the others, but the aboleth refused. “Leave in your craft. Straight up.” After a moment’s thought, Rumdoom complied. He embraced Hildegaard, tears lost in the ocean. She told him, “Do not forget your duty. The Stone will mean nothing if the world comes to an end. You know in your heart that this is not our ending. We will have a good ending when you choose.” The aboleth took her in their tentacles and swept away towards the Lamprey. Uru took the Sunfish straight up, as ordered, reassuring Rumdoom that “Korrigan is on his way.”</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">*</p><p></p><p>Sahuagin attacks on the lamprey first intensified, then subsided. Oolsholeel sensed an alarm, and some sahuagin responded to that, swimming away down the trench. (Could it be that the deep one’s enemies had found them already?**) But they didn’t have time to rest: Uru had told them that the aboleth were on their way and sure enough, the vessel was soon subjected to wave after wave of psychic slime, wearing down their defences until, one by one, they came under the control of the deep ones. But before they were all dominated, Leon and Korrigan arrived with a subsonic thump of displaced water. Oolsholeel cast a druidic spell, drawing everyone closer to Leon with grasping limbs of seaweed. With his mental reserves boosted by Korrigan’s influence, Leon transported them all onto the deck of the Impossible. Only Hildegaard remained behind, still in the grip of the aboleth. </p><p></p><p><strong>* This dramatic and unexpected turn of events came courtesy of the player who was running Hildegaard as an NPC for the purpose of this side-quest. It saved the players from a very dangerous fight. Rumdoom’s player loved the idea. He’s a glutton for punishment.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>** Weary Enid attacking the egg-fields, a fact that never came to light in the session. She was Grandis Kamanov’s ‘back-up’ for getting out without the cauldron handle. (They’re both witches aligned with the Voice of Rot, see.) </strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 7329719, member: 79141"] [b]Session 39, Part One - Hildegaard's Sacrifice[/b] Thank goodness for Uru’s re-breathers! The Lamprey was struck by waves of anti-magic, swiftly followed by a gut-wrenching impact, as a massive harpoon head was driven through the hull, causing water to pour in from outside. It only narrowly missed the occupants. With a lurch, the Lamprey was dragged downwards, and everyone clung on for dear life as the craft tilted alarmingly. Rumdoom’s entourage struggled to steer, but the magical engines had lost power. Oosholeel shouted for Kieran Sentacore to snap out of it, get on the short-wave radio and contact the Sunfish. Then he opened the exit hatch (no point in keeping it shut now) and slipped outside in eel form. A huge hawser formed from seaweed was dragging the vessel towards the seabed. It was connected to a huge, almost organic-looking ballista. Oosholeel only caught sight of this briefly before he fled back inside, dodging the crossbow bolts of dozens of sahuagin warriors. Kvarti provided cover with his brand new rifle, Intransigence. He took out the leaders first. The sahuagin swarmed the craft in overwhelming numbers and Kvarti, Oolsholeel and Bhalu began a desperate fight to prevent them from entering the Lamprey. [CENTER]*[/CENTER] Uru’s ghosts helped him to phase through the walls of the chamber that had held the Stone of Not. Before the aboleth or sahuagin could react, or even see him, he shadow-stepped into the Sunfish and fired up the Tyrant’s Eye. Rumdoom was horrified. He wasn’t focused on fighting at all, heartbroken at this dreadful turn of events. Though the aboleth were hideous and alien and merciless, he felt compelled to sue for peace; his honour was at stake. He dragged Hildegaard outside, while the Krauss-thralls were still restrained by ice, all the while thinking as ‘loudly’ as he could, “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” This must not have been enough to make up for the potential destruction of the aboleth’s entire civilisation, and the theft of their most prized artefact, for at once the dwarves were struck by a wave of psychic slime. Single-minded, they shrugged off its effects, and could detect palpable waves of anger and alarm, even panic, in the water. Now the sahuagin attacked, along with their sharks, but the dwarves fought defensively and deflected these attacks too. Uru aimed the Tyrant’s Eye at the aboleth and fired. Inspired by what he had learned about the philosopher Von Coppenhoff, and compelled to prevent a bloodbath, Rumdoom uttered a Fiat. He said simply, “NO!” and the beam of the eye lanced wide. Uru felt the fiat and understood. He stopped firing. But he didn’t hesitate to flick another switch, to electrify the hull of the vessel, and scatter the sahuagin that had been clambering all over it. Two more aboleth arrived. On his shortwave radio, Uru called the Lamprey and told them what had happened; he heard cries and chaos from the other end. Unbidden, the desperate and horrified Hildegaard, who had been the unwilling host of Grandis Kamanov, made an audacious offer to the aboleth: With a thought, she offered to stay as hostage if the deep ones allowed Rumdoom to leave and retrieve the Stone. Rumdoom was aghast, but the offer brought a moment’s stillness and the combat ceased.* [CENTER]*[/CENTER] The Lamprey struck bottom and was swarmed by sahuagin like a wounded whale calf. By now, it was completely water-logged. One of Rumdoom’s entourage struggled with a defective re-breather and then hung limp in the water. Kieran Sentacore had been left with the sending stone – paired with another held by Korrigan. These stones were useless in the radius of the Stone of Not, but since that had been taken, Kieran activated it in desperate hope, pleading for help, if help was possible. Just moments later he received the reply, “Stay put and stay alive.” [CENTER]*[/CENTER] Korrigan & Co. were traversing the Malice Lands when the message came through. Leon knew a ritual, [I]follow[/I] [I]the[/I] [I]voice[/I], which could take him to the paired stone. But the ritual took ten minutes to perform and a minute or more for the transition to complete. He could try to make this quicker, but the effort would exhaust him. Coupled with the problems affecting long-range teleportation (which only great mental concentration could overcome) and he was limited to safely teleporting himself and perhaps just one other. Thanks to his schism-wrought form, Korrigan could meld with Mavisha and feel at home underwater. He could also help to re-energise Leon sufficiently to manage the return journey (or at least a quick portal back to the Impossible). So the tiefling warlock began to plough all his energy into the ritual, hoping to complete it in time. … [CENTER]*[/CENTER] Thanks to Hildegaard’s self-sacrifice Rumdoom succeeding in convincing the aboleth to allow him to retrieve the Stone. However they were insistent that the occupants of the Lamprey should remain behind too. Rumdoom said he would have to talk to the others, but the aboleth refused. “Leave in your craft. Straight up.” After a moment’s thought, Rumdoom complied. He embraced Hildegaard, tears lost in the ocean. She told him, “Do not forget your duty. The Stone will mean nothing if the world comes to an end. You know in your heart that this is not our ending. We will have a good ending when you choose.” The aboleth took her in their tentacles and swept away towards the Lamprey. Uru took the Sunfish straight up, as ordered, reassuring Rumdoom that “Korrigan is on his way.” [CENTER]*[/CENTER] Sahuagin attacks on the lamprey first intensified, then subsided. Oolsholeel sensed an alarm, and some sahuagin responded to that, swimming away down the trench. (Could it be that the deep one’s enemies had found them already?**) But they didn’t have time to rest: Uru had told them that the aboleth were on their way and sure enough, the vessel was soon subjected to wave after wave of psychic slime, wearing down their defences until, one by one, they came under the control of the deep ones. But before they were all dominated, Leon and Korrigan arrived with a subsonic thump of displaced water. Oolsholeel cast a druidic spell, drawing everyone closer to Leon with grasping limbs of seaweed. With his mental reserves boosted by Korrigan’s influence, Leon transported them all onto the deck of the Impossible. Only Hildegaard remained behind, still in the grip of the aboleth. [B]* This dramatic and unexpected turn of events came courtesy of the player who was running Hildegaard as an NPC for the purpose of this side-quest. It saved the players from a very dangerous fight. Rumdoom’s player loved the idea. He’s a glutton for punishment. ** Weary Enid attacking the egg-fields, a fact that never came to light in the session. She was Grandis Kamanov’s ‘back-up’ for getting out without the cauldron handle. (They’re both witches aligned with the Voice of Rot, see.) [/B] [/QUOTE]
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