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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7433233" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>Session 55, Part Two - Taking out the Lanterns</strong></p><p></p><p>The bunker was beneath another secret door – this one a hatch in the floor. It led to spiral stone steps and a network of vaulted chambers. Warding runes on the hatch, and on the walls, indicated that this was a very well-protected space. </p><p></p><p>As they herded everyone down, Korrigan received a sending from Leon, via sending stone: the lantern on the roof was not the only one. He could not tell how many others there were, but they were very large and magically reinforced. Leon then said he was going to try something different with the lantern he had secured, instead of destroying it. Korrigan wondered if they wouldn’t be better off fleeing the palace altogether, but was reminded that they could not see far enough to tell how many undead were out there. Uru used <em>city’s whispers</em> to locate the other lanterns and discovered that their radii cleverly overlapped. One was close by. They decided to aim for that one after making sure the guests were all safe.</p><p></p><p>Down below, the chambers were all comfortably furnished and Arla told them there were bed chambers, food stores, fresh spring-water: enough supplies even for a group this size to last many days. Orlando then led them to a secure vault where the King’s store of magical items was kept. There were many, but little time to choose among them. Gupta took a <em>mace of disruption</em>; Quratulain a <em>dragonslayer sword </em>(and quickly grabbed a <em>captain’s weapon</em> and <em>prismatic orb</em>, “because it looked like something Leon could use”); Uru chose a<em> diamond cincture</em>; Korrigan claimed a <em>symbol of the sun</em>, and they all nabbed a clutch of potions and elixirs.</p><p></p><p>Gupta offered the eladrin spear she had taken from the Siege of Alais Primos and Orlando accepted it graciously, but demurred when she apologised for ransacking the treasury. “Never will these weapons have seen better use,” he said.</p><p></p><p>As they went to leave, Ethelyn offered to keep Kai safe. “Don’t take him back out into that warzone, marshal. It’s best he remains here.” Korrigan asked Kai if he would like to stay in the bunker and Kai nodded and took Ethelyn’s hand. Then Nathan Jierre approached and said that Luc had something to say. Luc was shaken by their flight through the palace and struggled to get the words out, but when they calmed him down, he was able to tell them that if the lanterns weren’t dealt with, the whole palace would be pulled into the Bleak Gate. He wasn’t sure how quickly that would happen, but it could be a matter of minutes.</p><p></p><p>Moments later, they were back up top and the bunker was sealed. Uru made a beeline for the lantern to the north, but the others took a detour to chambers where Asrabey Varal had been meditating. They arrived to find him gazing out over the South Lawn, with his lion shield and Vekeshi blade in hand. He turned to greet them. “Ah. Finally! I was just thinking about destroying that lantern out there, but couldn’t see other signs of resistance. What are your plans?” They offered to aid his attack, but Asrabey shook his head. “I prefer to fight alone,” he said. “If you plan to fight yourselves, do so elsewhere and I will deal with the foes I can see from this window.” They agreed, and Korrigan gave Asrabey his <em>messenger wind</em> feather, so they could stay in touch with him when they separated. Asrabey then turned and launched himself through an expensive-looking stained-glass window.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Uru had found the gallery to be filled with wraiths – there was an artillery breach in the north wall of the gallery – and reported this fact to the others. He <em>shadow-stepped</em> through the outer wall and arrived to find a large squadron of Ob soldiers, a witchoil golem, and a wraith horde, guarding a huge ten-foot-square up-scaled version of Luc Jierre’s wayfarer lamp. While he waited for the others, Uru scaled the palace wall, took to the air on Little Jack and then, when he was nice and high, dropped lightly and silently down onto the ‘roof’ of the lantern. He began to study the thing, but it was more magical than technological and he couldn’t find an easy way to nerf it.</p><p></p><p>The others found a window further along the north wall, and jumped out through that. As soon as it saw them, the golem levelled its cannon, but Uru shot it in a weak spot and it collapsed in a heap, control mechanism fried. Quratulain had reloaded her guns and once again tore into the wraith horde as it surged forth ahead of the Ob soldiers. “Disperse!” she told the soldiers. “There is no point guarding this machine, as it will be destroyed shortly.”</p><p></p><p>Korrigan ignored them, he simply transformed into a Bolt of Avilona and arrived on top of the lantern with Uru. The Ob squadron began firing. Bullets pinged off Quratulain harmlessy. Korrigan was hit, but absorbed the energy of the bullet. Even so, Quratulain peered into the crowd and sought out whoever was responsible, singling the man out and beckoning him to towards her for special treatment. Korrigan used Urimshock to stomp on the lamp. It would only take a few more such strikes for it to crack. Gupta gave a bestial cry and transformed into a tiger. That was enough for the Obs squadron, who broke and ran. Gupta pursued one unfortunate, brought him down and ate him.</p><p></p><p>A final exhausting stomp saw the lantern shatter. They were no longer in the Bleak Gate; they blinked in the sunlight. Korrigan only paused for a moment to get his breath back, then they set off at a run for a line of trees, beyond which they hoped to find another lantern. It was there all right – guarded by a similar force as the other. Now they were back in the gloom of the Bleak Gate it was difficult to make out, but it seemed as if a group of figures peeled away from this force and entered the palace by the main entrance. One of the figures was huge, bestial.</p><p></p><p>They also saw six guns, poorly defended, arrayed on the North Lawn. Korrigan ordered Gupta to attack these guns and she set off in a sprint, while they ran for the lantern. When the gunners saw her, they broke and ran. At the centre of the artillery Gupta recognised Dengar Kriegshaff, a Danoran Ob officer from the convocation, who had been responsible for designing guns capable of bringing down the fey titans. He heard the shouts of the gunners and gave a squeal of alarm himself, leaping out of range of Gupta’s pounce. She decided not to pursue him, but knocked over his phonograph and stopped the opera. Korrigan saw how successful she had been and they veered away from the lantern. Instead of attacking it directly, Uru used his <em>ghostly entourage</em> to bring a cannon to bear on the lantern and destroyed it, scattering its defenders.</p><p></p><p>While he did so, Gupta – whose feline eyes could now see in the gloom – noticed several shadowy figures – human in shape, but pure black – placing wreathes of rusted iron on the walls of the palace near the throne room. Then they seeped into the walls like liquid and were gone.</p><p></p><p>Once Uru had destroyed the lantern they followed the detachment they had seen go inside. As they got to the top of the steps, this group was just about to head east towards the throne room, having been stalled by a last line of brave defenders who now lay dead and dying on the marble floor of the entrance hall. Several loping, corporeal undead surrounded a central black-robed figure that was wreathed in a smoky, necrotic nebula. Ahead of them all paced a flayed jaguar of a kind the unit had not seen since their earliest engagements with the Ob, only this one was dire in size. The black-robed figure caught sight of them and waved a hand.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, Korrigan knew the name of the dragon tyrant whose skeleton hung on the ceiling above them. Where previously it was merely an inanimate collection of bones, it was now possessed of a soul and a name the Humble Hook could identify: Venkio! This insight came just moments before creature tore free of the chains that bound it to the ceiling and dropped onto the floor with an almighty roar and a hunger for vengeance on everyone it could see!</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>End of Session</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 7433233, member: 79141"] [b]Session 55, Part Two - Taking out the Lanterns[/b] The bunker was beneath another secret door – this one a hatch in the floor. It led to spiral stone steps and a network of vaulted chambers. Warding runes on the hatch, and on the walls, indicated that this was a very well-protected space. As they herded everyone down, Korrigan received a sending from Leon, via sending stone: the lantern on the roof was not the only one. He could not tell how many others there were, but they were very large and magically reinforced. Leon then said he was going to try something different with the lantern he had secured, instead of destroying it. Korrigan wondered if they wouldn’t be better off fleeing the palace altogether, but was reminded that they could not see far enough to tell how many undead were out there. Uru used [I]city’s whispers[/I] to locate the other lanterns and discovered that their radii cleverly overlapped. One was close by. They decided to aim for that one after making sure the guests were all safe. Down below, the chambers were all comfortably furnished and Arla told them there were bed chambers, food stores, fresh spring-water: enough supplies even for a group this size to last many days. Orlando then led them to a secure vault where the King’s store of magical items was kept. There were many, but little time to choose among them. Gupta took a [I]mace of disruption[/I]; Quratulain a [I]dragonslayer sword [/I](and quickly grabbed a [I]captain’s weapon[/I] and [I]prismatic orb[/I], “because it looked like something Leon could use”); Uru chose a[I] diamond cincture[/I]; Korrigan claimed a [I]symbol of the sun[/I], and they all nabbed a clutch of potions and elixirs. Gupta offered the eladrin spear she had taken from the Siege of Alais Primos and Orlando accepted it graciously, but demurred when she apologised for ransacking the treasury. “Never will these weapons have seen better use,” he said. As they went to leave, Ethelyn offered to keep Kai safe. “Don’t take him back out into that warzone, marshal. It’s best he remains here.” Korrigan asked Kai if he would like to stay in the bunker and Kai nodded and took Ethelyn’s hand. Then Nathan Jierre approached and said that Luc had something to say. Luc was shaken by their flight through the palace and struggled to get the words out, but when they calmed him down, he was able to tell them that if the lanterns weren’t dealt with, the whole palace would be pulled into the Bleak Gate. He wasn’t sure how quickly that would happen, but it could be a matter of minutes. Moments later, they were back up top and the bunker was sealed. Uru made a beeline for the lantern to the north, but the others took a detour to chambers where Asrabey Varal had been meditating. They arrived to find him gazing out over the South Lawn, with his lion shield and Vekeshi blade in hand. He turned to greet them. “Ah. Finally! I was just thinking about destroying that lantern out there, but couldn’t see other signs of resistance. What are your plans?” They offered to aid his attack, but Asrabey shook his head. “I prefer to fight alone,” he said. “If you plan to fight yourselves, do so elsewhere and I will deal with the foes I can see from this window.” They agreed, and Korrigan gave Asrabey his [I]messenger wind[/I] feather, so they could stay in touch with him when they separated. Asrabey then turned and launched himself through an expensive-looking stained-glass window. Meanwhile, Uru had found the gallery to be filled with wraiths – there was an artillery breach in the north wall of the gallery – and reported this fact to the others. He [I]shadow-stepped[/I] through the outer wall and arrived to find a large squadron of Ob soldiers, a witchoil golem, and a wraith horde, guarding a huge ten-foot-square up-scaled version of Luc Jierre’s wayfarer lamp. While he waited for the others, Uru scaled the palace wall, took to the air on Little Jack and then, when he was nice and high, dropped lightly and silently down onto the ‘roof’ of the lantern. He began to study the thing, but it was more magical than technological and he couldn’t find an easy way to nerf it. The others found a window further along the north wall, and jumped out through that. As soon as it saw them, the golem levelled its cannon, but Uru shot it in a weak spot and it collapsed in a heap, control mechanism fried. Quratulain had reloaded her guns and once again tore into the wraith horde as it surged forth ahead of the Ob soldiers. “Disperse!” she told the soldiers. “There is no point guarding this machine, as it will be destroyed shortly.” Korrigan ignored them, he simply transformed into a Bolt of Avilona and arrived on top of the lantern with Uru. The Ob squadron began firing. Bullets pinged off Quratulain harmlessy. Korrigan was hit, but absorbed the energy of the bullet. Even so, Quratulain peered into the crowd and sought out whoever was responsible, singling the man out and beckoning him to towards her for special treatment. Korrigan used Urimshock to stomp on the lamp. It would only take a few more such strikes for it to crack. Gupta gave a bestial cry and transformed into a tiger. That was enough for the Obs squadron, who broke and ran. Gupta pursued one unfortunate, brought him down and ate him. A final exhausting stomp saw the lantern shatter. They were no longer in the Bleak Gate; they blinked in the sunlight. Korrigan only paused for a moment to get his breath back, then they set off at a run for a line of trees, beyond which they hoped to find another lantern. It was there all right – guarded by a similar force as the other. Now they were back in the gloom of the Bleak Gate it was difficult to make out, but it seemed as if a group of figures peeled away from this force and entered the palace by the main entrance. One of the figures was huge, bestial. They also saw six guns, poorly defended, arrayed on the North Lawn. Korrigan ordered Gupta to attack these guns and she set off in a sprint, while they ran for the lantern. When the gunners saw her, they broke and ran. At the centre of the artillery Gupta recognised Dengar Kriegshaff, a Danoran Ob officer from the convocation, who had been responsible for designing guns capable of bringing down the fey titans. He heard the shouts of the gunners and gave a squeal of alarm himself, leaping out of range of Gupta’s pounce. She decided not to pursue him, but knocked over his phonograph and stopped the opera. Korrigan saw how successful she had been and they veered away from the lantern. Instead of attacking it directly, Uru used his [I]ghostly entourage[/I] to bring a cannon to bear on the lantern and destroyed it, scattering its defenders. While he did so, Gupta – whose feline eyes could now see in the gloom – noticed several shadowy figures – human in shape, but pure black – placing wreathes of rusted iron on the walls of the palace near the throne room. Then they seeped into the walls like liquid and were gone. Once Uru had destroyed the lantern they followed the detachment they had seen go inside. As they got to the top of the steps, this group was just about to head east towards the throne room, having been stalled by a last line of brave defenders who now lay dead and dying on the marble floor of the entrance hall. Several loping, corporeal undead surrounded a central black-robed figure that was wreathed in a smoky, necrotic nebula. Ahead of them all paced a flayed jaguar of a kind the unit had not seen since their earliest engagements with the Ob, only this one was dire in size. The black-robed figure caught sight of them and waved a hand. Suddenly, Korrigan knew the name of the dragon tyrant whose skeleton hung on the ceiling above them. Where previously it was merely an inanimate collection of bones, it was now possessed of a soul and a name the Humble Hook could identify: Venkio! This insight came just moments before creature tore free of the chains that bound it to the ceiling and dropped onto the floor with an almighty roar and a hunger for vengeance on everyone it could see! [B] End of Session[/B] [/QUOTE]
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