Wherein the company delivers a message to the Half-Djinn…
The company spends a day at the oasis to allow the injured time to recover. Thorondil casts Minor Healing for the first time. Evidence suggesting the Yuan-Ti vampire is still “alive” is found in the vicinity.
The journey to the City of Ten Thousand Delights is resumed, taking another five days.
Zyanra waits outside the city, holding Ismir’s meteoric dagger, while the rest are taken to the palace for an audience with Farouk Ibn Said to deliver Zat Al-Dawahi’s message (under the name, Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad).
Farouk’s vizier opens the scroll on his behalf, revealing the image of ZAD, who “explains” in a language the company did not understand. In his anger, Farouk teleports the company to a fighting pit, to fight a selection of foes uniquely suited to their abilities.
Some moments after the fight begins, a freak lightning storm erupts, depositing the forces of ZAD, and herself, ready to attack…
On the way to the City of Ten Thousand Delights, as the Company camps for the night, they are ambushed, caught unarmored, by a band of gnolls led by Heroc, the minotaur Zistral fought at the Kelmarane Battle-Market, bent on revenge. Battle ensues, and the gnolls are no pushovers.
Again, a one-eyed eyeless Yuan-Ti (now pale, and stinking of death) sprang out of ambush to attack Aramis. Again, Aramis spit the creature’s skull on his sword. The creature dissipated into mist and floated away with the wind.
Ismir caught an unlucky blow and was greatly wounded, though he managed to spear his attacker before he could execute a coup de grace.
Zyanra fought off two gnolls on her own, but was wounded before Thorondil could come to her rescue.
Haruki took a blow from the minotaur’s axe that would have killed a lesser man, before smashing its skull with his testubo.
The loss of their leader broke the gnolls’ spirit, and a few managed to flee.
The company (minus Gestlin) found themselves teleported to the Citadel of Ten-Thousand Pearls, and the court of the djinn ruler, Zat al-Dawahi. They are made to explain their purpose, that being to seek her aid in the rescue of Finn Sardock
At dinner, Zat revealed that she believes she can, with much difficulty, rescue Finn, at the cost of three tasks the company must perform. Also, Ammerah is already present with him, which the djinn interpreted to mean she must send Ammerah to Finn’s location a week or two into the past.
The following morning, Ammerah was sent through a portal to Finn.
Exploring the city, Brumrumli encountered a familiar dwarf, Thráin Ironfist, in a cage, to be sold at market as a slave. Thorondil sneaked in and unlocked the cage, allowing him to escape. Believing Brum responsible, Thráin indicated he owes him a debt, before disappearing.
At evening dinner, Zat tasked the company with delivering a message to Farouq ibn Said, the half-djinn who previously enslaved Zyanra, and escaped death at the Kelmarane Battle-Market.
Ismir requested of Zat to be allowed to claim a knife left stuck in the hall floor, to be “used upon her enemies,” and it was granted.
With Zyanra as “advisor,” the company set out for the City of Ten Thousand Delights, Farouq’s domain, upon the following morning.
Wherein the company is confronted by a trapped djinn…
After the scouts reported no activity in Dulihiban, only the “glass statues,” the company entered the city to see what they could find.
They encountered a (not-glass) man calling himself al-Nur, sultan of this city, who asked for assistance releasing his “friend” from the treasury.
At the treasury, in a ruined tower of the city palace, the man revealed himself to be a djinn and prevented the company from leaving the chamber, cloaking them in magical darkness and provoking them to attack. Aramis was accidentally stabbed by Ismir in the darkness. Thorondil accused the sultan of being a bad host, and after a more-pleasant parley, agreed to free him from his prison, a man-sized crystal like those encountered in Yaqut min Alraml, in exchange for their release. After doing so, the tower collapsed.
At camp, Thorondil relented, and used Smil-Blam on Gestlin, though it turned him instead into a turtle.
The company traveled on to the Citadel of Ten-Thousand Pearls, to the border of the lands of Zat al-Dawahi, where they were stopped by a flash of bright light…
Post-battle, Ammerah tended the injured, with Gestlin’s help, while the caravan survivors prepared shelter from the incoming sandstorm.
All present sheltered in tents as the sandstorm arrived; the unconscious and/or injured were dragged inside. During the storm, all were affected magically:
Aramis’ left arm turned to copper
Brumrumli’s beard and hair are enveloped in flames that don’t burn
Haruki grew 5 inches taller
Ismir seemed unaffected, though he was unconscious from his wounds
Thorondil’s wing-harness disappeared, but the wings became permanent
Of the other survivors: One turned to sand, one killed by plants growing out of him, one grew 5 inches shorter, one grew 10 years younger, one’s tongue became that of a serpent
In the morning, the survivor with the serpent’s tongue, believing himself cursed by Allah, had gone into the desert to die. Thorondil and Gestlin flew to find him, but were unable to save him from a buried, giant desert creature (AKA Deserthulhu).
The company traveled to Dulihiban with the remaining caravaners and their dozen-or-so camels, hoping to purchase some of the camels there for their own use.
Dulihiban was found by Thorondil to be deserted, but Ismir entered and found the population turned to glass.
Wherein the company is reunited, and sets out to find Finn…
A few days after the collapse of Yaqut min Alraml, the company is still looking for survivors while evading occasional Yuan-Ti ambushes.
With a bright flash, Haruki, Aramis, Ismir, and Gestlin the Unpredictable appear, displacing Lan-Fan back to Defiant; Gestlin is transformed into a talking goat in the process. Gestlin is informed of the company’s fate, and believing Finn still lives, is determined to travel to the Citadel of Ten-Thousand Pearls to speak with the djinn, Zat al-Dawahi, Mistress of Misfortunes, regarding Finn’s potential rescue.
Aramis narrowly dodges a crossbow bolt from a hidden shooter
Thorondil refuses to wield Smil-Blam to restore Gestlin’s proper form; too dangerous.
Zistral, and the Leashed-One rescued by the company, part ways to be with their people.
The company, along with Ammerah (under Ismir’s careful protection) and Zyanra, sets out across the desert, a trip expected to take over a month, while the other Fa’iel head to the Cave of Winds to rejoin their tribe.
The company experiences many “strange events” during their travels, including a dragon, Vermithor Rex, who mistakenly eats one of the company’s pack-camels, thinking it a stray. Ismir pulls a magic spear from the dragon’s side.
Several days in, just across the border into the Djinn Lands, the company hears the din of battle ahead, and encounters a local caravan beset by centaurs, likely the forces of Atah Keth, and decide to charge to the rescue…
Player Notes:
Due to an unexpected internet outage, we ended the session mid-fight, to be continued next week.
Aramis de Sauvons is the last remaining fighting-man in Proximo’s caravan, inbound to Castle Defiant, bringing many freed slaves from the Djinn Lands.
The Defiant scouting party finds the caravan under attack by Gnollish thugs, believed to be under Kardswann’s orders to slay them all. The Gnolls are defeated and scattered, at the cost of several of the freed-slaves, and Proximo himself; Ismir is also injured.
Aramis is gifted a ring by a dying friend, one of the freed-slaves who was felled.
The combined parties return to Defiant to find a giant raven speaking with Gestlin the Unpredictable in the courtyard. The master-wizard is here to find Finn Sardock, who is not present, having been lost to the sands of the Djinn Lands—though only Haruki has any idea of this, from a dream.
Gestlin discusses with the PCs, deciding the symbol from Haruki’s dream is a symbol of a djinn, and suddenly casts a great spell…
Everything goes to crap straight away. The bugs smash into the house and open up with non-lethal munitions clearly intended to capture. James, J.P. and Shane are quite promptly glued in place, while Damien is partially webbed. Meanwhile, John – who had been sleeping in a guest bedroom – reacts to the sound of the attack and lunges out of bed, grabbing his rifle as he does; at the same time, Reece is outside the house with Woola, working on the truck, and responds as well … though it’s a considerable distance for him.
When John enters the fray, he does so with gunfire, which shifts the tempo of the engagement. Using cover to his advantage, he manages to avoid getting webbed and critically injures one of the bugs and outright kills a second. Simultaneously, Chandler manages to work himself free and retrieves his weapon to engage a third one before pursuing his fleeing ex-wife, Valerie. Reece finally enters the engagement and uses his shotgun to excellent effect, though he is unable to prevent Damien from getting gooped once more which ensures that Valerie can escape. Wells finally manages to get free and fires a single shot with the Desert Eagle he took from the prepper’s bunker; he quite quickly learns that he isn’t anywhere strong enough to use it effectively, but by this point, the fight is nearly over. The last of the battle bugs are taken out and Damien has an eyewitness view of Valerie fleeing into a waiting craft of some sort. There’s nothing he can do to prevent her from escaping…
Over Buffalo, additional bug ships can be seen and the locals take numerous ineffective potshots at the craft overhead. Realizing that Valerie was after the photos that Damien informs them of, the “book club” gather their gear and plan for a rapid departure, pausing only long enough to warn the local authorities about the dead bugs now in Chandler’s backyard.
Pressing on to the south, the group continue for a bit, pausing long enough for Reece to swap out as driver in a vain attempt to get some sleep; he suffers from intense insomnia and has not been able to sleep properly over the last few nights. While dozing, he has a strange, lucid dream of an odd-looking man standing before Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. The next time they stop, he quizzes John about this, knowing that some of Heinlein’s odd training under his Grandfather included dream interpretation. Though it about two hours out of the way, the crew decide to head to Devil’s Tower out of curiosity, some of them halfway convinced that this is just another example of the ongoing weirdness.
They arrive to find … nothing. This seems like it was a monumental waste of time and gas, and Reece is exceedingly embarrassed about the fact. Chandler decides that, while they’re here, he’s going to climb Devil’s Tower; everyone else just begins setting up a camp for the night.
And then, they see aerial combat between several unfamiliar but terrestrial-looking warplanes and bug ships; the bugs are shot down, much to the great delight of those on the ground, though they quickly go back into survival mode when the planes begin circling the area. A third aircraft approaches – it is clearly a transport craft of some sort and displays VTOL ability as it approaches and lands in the parking lot before deploying a small robot thing to sweep the area. A grizzled badass-looking old man exits the plane and Reece gets up to meet him. The man informs Sheriff Burroughs that they’ve been looking for the group. And who are they, Reece asks?
They’re X-COM.
Player Notes:
OMFG, the opening firefight was so irritating from a dice rolling standpoint. Heinlein could not roll under 14 for entirely too long and two of the PCs were either completely out of the fight or so far away that it took forever to get into the fight. Lessons learned. We need AP rounds.
Evidently, we completely threw the GM for a loop when we simply threw our plans out the window and headed toward the dream location instead of continuing toward Cheyenne Mountain. Meanwhile, we all thought that was what he wanted us to do. I’m sure he’ll gripe about it on his blog.
No game next week, but the week after I (Rigil) will be running Banestorm III: Embers of Defiance, season 3. Wheeeee…
At about the same time that John realizes there is a flying saucer in the sky, multiple characters also recognize that little grey aliens are near them as well. Closer to the plane, Chandler sees one of these creatures and is psionically stunned, while Wells finds himself puppeted and sent toward the plane to retrieve something. Eventually, the two will manage to struggle free of this alien’s control, likely due to its decision to bug out following the events that surround his ally below.
Simultaneously near the truck, Robert (who was going off to take a leak) cries out in shock and dismay when another grey alien mentally dominates him. Multiple people converge upon them – John with the squad automatic weapon (SAW); Reece with his pistol; Shane with a rifle – and the alien (who is keeping Robert between him and them) mentally attacks them. Heinlein responds with a burst of gunfire that misses the alien … but tears into Robert, killing him instantly. Reece opens up with his pistol, but finds it to be not very effective against this thing, and as Shane gets into position, John opens up again with the SAW and cripples the little grey bugger by mostly blowing off a foot. As it starts to crawl away, Shane will take a shot with his rifle and cripple one of the thing’s arms. To their surprise, it then vanishes (much like the one that Chandler and Wells are dealing with does as well.)
Unfortunately for the alien, John visually follows a trail of ammonia-like blood and fires a short burst that miraculously catches the grievously injured alien and kills him instantly. Later, when they rejoin one another and discuss options, they decide to take the Grey with them for further study, but have to wrap it up in a tarp due to the acrid smell of its blood. Robert is also wrapped in a tarp for the time being, until they can figure out what to do with his body. The saucer itself has departed and the second Grey has vanished, so at the plane, they discover that there are numerous crates within, though there is a suspiciously blank space where one should be, indicating these aliens got what they were looking for.
As an extremely ominous storm front races toward them, the team press onto the town of Ten Sleep where they quickly determine to hold up at the nearby school to ride out the storm. This proves to be a little more difficult than expected as the precipitation and wind are brutal, tearing open roofs and flooding the streets. They emerge on the other side a little worse for the wear, and opt to shelter in place overnight rather than press onto Buffalo.
In the morning, John and Reece bury Robert in the nearby cemetery while James watches; Wells conducts a rudimentary autopsy of the Grey alien with a little bit of assistance from Chandler while they’re doing this and learns some things. They briefly consider ditching the alien here, but decide to hand it off to the Buffalo authorities once they arrive as proof of what just happened.
Arriving in Buffalo soon after, the crew promptly split up, with Damien heading straight to his home while the rest coordinate in their usual manner with local officials who are hesitant to take the alien corpse off their hands but do so. When they track down Chandler at his home, they find that he has already located the photos he came for. They begin plotting their next step: travel to Cheyenne Mountain while steering clear of Denver. A circuitous route is hammered out…
Later that evening, as Damien is gathering supplies, he hears someone using a key to unlock the back door. To his surprise, it is his ex-wife, Valerie! She expresses surprise to find him here and they exchange cool pleasantries before she asks about their wedding photos. Damien pretends that he has no idea about them, and the two basically circle one another like hunting cats. Valerie notes the presence of others and abruptly notes that she brought friends as well. She gestures to the back door…
And Damien sees soldier bugs outside!
Player Notes:
John shooting Robert was absolutely hysterical. In any other game, I would never have taken that shot because there was an ally in the immediate vicinity … but John is Impulsive so I decided, what the hell? Missed the alien, then Gigermann had me roll again, capped at 9 and I rolled a critical success. One of the rounds that hit Robert nailed him in the skull and that weapon does 5d pi so … oof. John has already convinced himself that it was the alien’s fault and, luckily for him I suppose, all three of the other PCs got mind-whammied at least once during the fight so it isn’t entirely unbelievable.
Killing the alien was also an instance of unexpected critical success. Once again, I probably wouldn’t have taken a blind shot with most characters, but the Impulsiveness gave me an excuse.
Wells conducted an autopsy of the dead Grey and the GM declared that he’ll know “some things” should it actually come up later.
As soon as “Boomer” showed up, absolutely everyone jumped to the conclusion that she was a cylon.
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