13th Age Game
Orna Throng has listed a job posting - reasonable pay, within Axis, visit ground floor of Golden Goblin at 4pm for more info.
Axis as a city has a number of neighbourhoods, the docks, the garrison, rabbleward, palaces, goldring, gates, salt pork, upside, wyrmblessed, wyrmshadow and arenatown. Amphitheatres of fighting - displays of brilliance, with healers ready to chip in: no death! Death is bad and resurrection is hard and not to be shown off.
Various stuff about arenatown: battles, reenactments, tabletop style, capture the flag/balloon crest etc. There are mana barriers up between the crowd and the battles so the healers don’t have to get involved.
Greg: Construct (robot) [Contraption] - heavily filigreed and can see inner workings of body, looks incredibly delicate but the metal appears to shift and move, about 5’9” and fewer than 100 teeth. Common as servitors but this one looks much more complex.
Harrison [Sil]: Shortly after the robot comes in there’s a commotion in the kitchen, some yelling and clattering of pans and crockery before a short figure bustles out into the taproom. 5’ or so, covered in tatty and torn cloak, scraps of cloth etc. - you can barely see their face for the cloth and filth, carrying a staff and they hurry away from the kitchen door as one of the chefs comes out looking down at the ground as if to see something there scurrying: sees nothing. Hmm.
The construct wheels around to see this dirty fella, and they regard each other as the dirtiest/cleanest thing known to each other. “Good afternoon” he says, in a robot voice. “You appear to have effluvia on your skin”. They look down at their cloth rags, and they brush a little off. Some effluvia falls to the floor, and an indignant squeak comes from inside the robe. The robot also warns of a parasitic infection but “I don’t think it’s contagious”.
Niko [Clerihugh]: under the batwing doors pops a gnome, so noone notices him move down the corridor, he comes into the office, shakes hands with the waving filthy fella, confirms to the robot that we’re all facing peril besides the effluvia, thumbs over to the construct and notes his chatiness.
Jonny [Cerulean]: a 6ft tall, normal headsized person striding purposefully into the building, wearing a very well made bronze mask etc. comes in, and presumes Harrison’s character is Ms Throng (rather than the construct who was androgynous).
Cerulean is both pleased to meet people and always sure.
Clerihugh shakes hands with Cerulean.
The construct introduces themselves as “Contraption” in Dwarvish.
At this point we hear some shouting from the next room, the adjoining office, a door slams and a woman shouts “now get out of here!”. Stomping, slamming door, and 10secs later, the door opens and a woman pops her head out, spots the 4 of us standing there. We see she’s a half-orc, squints and says “you hear about the ad?”, Contraption confirms, she says “oh no, not again” and beckons us in. We wander into the office, noting a desk against a wall, a chair with paperwork strewn across it. Orna has a number of stools, one out, and we dole them out to sit on. Cerulean stands, leaning heavily upon their cane. Despite encouragement to sit down by Clerihugh, Cerulean’s not visible knees can’t hack it.
Orna hands out a sheet. There’s a briefing document - an advert for an old amphitheatre, Crown of Axis - undergoing renovations, come back to glory and our new arena, yada yada. The opening date is in a month and doesn’t appear to have been tweaked. We’re asked if we’ve seen the advert and we’re prepared to get to work.
The “Dead Flowers” [a thief gang using the venue as a place for loot to store before fencing; not afraid to use muscle against those causing trouble but would prefer not to.] have made their lair under the amphitheater and need to be encouraged to leave.
Clerihugh asks Cerulean if those are his original knees. Contraption asks for directions; Cerulean ask about access to the ground/below access and point to the areas to be cleared. Orna tells us not to bring any of the workers down, as they’d be less than useless (and they’d refuse anyway). Recompense! Sliding scale? Starting at? Proposed: 100gp, to which Contraption says “additional recompense would be desirable”. We then get pitched a tier 2 ticket (50gp) and 102gp.
Crown of Axis is 1-2 blocks from the pub. Before leaving the pub we decide to stay for a drink and discuss plans. We also speculate on Contraption’s method of existence.
Contraption starts eating his own food at the bar, puts it away when he’s told to order at the bar, then gets down to business. They are capable of killing, but haven’t done it before, and this gets Cerulean’s dials going, and he asks how and what sorts of incapacitating. Contraption points out the major blood vessels and organs he’d strike for.
Poopy [Sil] has left some corpses in a few alleys too. Contraption asks if they carried out murder for personal gain, and Poopy [Sil] says “a lot of things count as personal gain”. Contraption notes that these answers are evasive and won’t yield more results. Clerihugh is happy getting in the faces of these things and dealing damage.
Contraption asks Cerulean about his abilities, who talks poetically about stirring souls and replenishing etc. etc. and/or inflicting a reflective malady. Cerulean suggests others should stand between him and the trouble. We check Cerulean over who has literally no skin exposed at all, but walks straight so it’s really hard to age them.
We don’t buy a drink and head out in the afternoon towards the Crown of Axis. We’re directed to the Western Entrance of the Coliseum, with its traditional circular wall, raked seating etc., and we approach spotting an entrance with 2 guards. Cerulean steps up (Poopy [Sil] hides behind) and introduces himself as “the gardeners” for below ground, wink, and they ask for evidence. Cerulean offers the folded note and Clerihugh checks with Poopy [Sil] they’re not Flowers in Disguise. They read the note, send for the foreman (“it’s your turn”) and they dig out a person wearing a hardhat. The note reads “hey Joe, I’ve got the next batch for you. Orna”. Foreman gives us directions to the lower level, the guard posted there, and we’re left to take the sloping pathway down with heavy large wooden doors at the end. “No sense wasting…time” says Cerulean, and we all start shambling/shuffling our way towards the doors.
Poopy [Sil] tries to shift them and then Contraption leans on them, creaking open rustily. Sil hears skittering noises above the creaky door, and assesses them to be of a larger than rat size. Dog? Raccoon? Hyena-dingo? Sil shares this info. Likely 4+ legs. It’s very dimly lit but we can just about make out stuff down there.
Cerulean takes a torch off the wall, lit by magical light (giving off heat) and then we move down the corridor till we find a statue of a warrior appearing to be charging up to the door we entered by. The corridor splits - left or right? The light doesn’t penetrate either fork. Sil hears skittering from the left-side and points that way.
We come to another set of double doors just inside the fork. Contraption gets the door open and it’s an armoury: weapon racks and places to store armour, in something of disarray, someone has been attempting to repair and restore but it’s been abandoned in a hurry. There are doors to the west and south. The room smells of oil, there are tools on tables and some parts for clockwork gladiators; shelves on the east side somewhat organised (esp the clockwork parts). We see no movement, and see some cracks/holes in the walls which could be used by some creatures as means to get in/out of the room. Sil says “they’re in the walls” (the animals) and it’d be slow/hard to get them out. Sil suggests smoking them out but the magic torch is only giving off light and some heat….
Sil checks out the claw marks near the gaps in the wall and on the ground - likely to be skitter lizards (dog-sized lizards). Stories in the past notes before animals were banned from being used in gladiator fights these were used and are likely descendents of these fighter-lizards. They are cunning, like biting stuff, whipping their tails but are capable of retreating and regrouping. Contraption goes over to look at the constructs on the East wall, and presses some power buttons on the ones that look fairly decent. One lurches forwards and tries to grab Contraption’s wrist, who tries to dodge and the construct balls a fist up to take a punch.
Initiatiiiiiive
Contraption looks to shake off the one grabbing for them, disengages and runs away. Sil then tries to cast ruination on a nearby enemy, and all of a sudden at the same time Sil’s poopy rags turn into a bundle of rats. Clerihugh then bashes a Construct in front of him, who retaliate against him and Sil, missing both. Cerulean then twists the top off his cane, sends out some sort of horrific overkill and drops a construct, then with two weapons drawn advances. Not bad for an old guy with bad knees who said he’d hang back. One construct charges Cerulean whilst two go for Clerihugh, one for Sil. Sil is hit and grabbed, as is Clerihugh, then in our rear view
Contraption fades to a black dot and out of sight. “Seems it believes it can’t fight”, says Cerulean. Sil-ratswarm clambers over one construct and the rats try to gnaw at the leather tendons and other connective tissues. The rats then try to squirt out of the grips of the construct, but do not succeed and then Clerihugh swipes, misses, and fails to disengage too. Another construct hits Sil and renders them vulnerable. Cerulean watches all this, with a construct in his face, and steps back forcefully, preparing to send some attack in which lands nicely, and gives him spice enough to launch another attack, kiling a construct near Clerihugh, before the construct shuffles up to Cerulean again. Sil and Clerihugh get struck at again, the former landing, but the second missing so badly it overreaches and tears its arm slightly grabbing for it.
Contraption pops up behind a construct, flanking Sil, and lands a shot, staggering it. Sil has the pleasure to punch twice, hitting with one of the 4 attempts, then tries to pull away again. Succeeding, Sil pulls away. Clerihugh misses a strike, but does pull away and moves over to Cerulean to offer some moral support. A construct then strikes Contraption, then Cerulean tries to pull clear of the grab (nope), and hit in melee, not his forté (no). Then construct the 2nd turns and hits Contraption, then grabs it. The earlier construct rejoins Clerihugh and strikes again.
Contraption goes to strike the staggering construct near him, strikes then seeks to disengage, unsuccessfully. The strike at least suggests death is near for something to Cerulean. Sil’s rat swarm returns to the fray with Contraption, going for the staggering construct, the rats get inside the construct and nibble it to tiny metallic shards that crumple to the floor. Clerihugh heals up Cerulean then lands a solid blow staggering the construct nearest Cerulean. Cerulean misses this staggered construct, before the construct the other side of the room hits and grabs Contraption. Finally another construct once again manages to overreach, tearing its arm in a flailing grab for Clerihugh, staggering itself.
Contraption eliminates one construct and staggers another before disengaging from the newly-staggered one, running away, then Sil strikes the staggered construct, which is almost but not quite enough to kill it, so the ‘death is near’ feeling comes to Cerulean again: Clerihugh heals Cerulean again but has about as much success there as hitting the staggered construct. Cerulean then crushes the life out of the construct near Sil, but has less success with the one in front of it, so disengages and pulls away.
Contraption charges up and smashes on the staggered one near Clerihugh - ending it. Sil then comes over, flanking the remaining construct we are now surrounding, and the rat swarm hits on the second attempt, killing it off.
Combat ends
The swarm of rats climbs up itself and once it’s formed about the size of Poopy in a bundle of rags, flips back. Clerihugh looks good as new, and Cerulean mutters a number of times to himself.
Session of 10/03/2022
Forward leads further in and right turn may join the earlier fork. Contraption flips a mental coin to decide which way to go and we pass right back towards the earlier fork. We move down a corridor through a magically lit lamp, into a room that looks broadly similar except equipment, not constructs. Cupboards, shelves, trunks line the walls etc. There are ropes, ladders, poles, cloaks etc. and a table and stools against one of the walls. Our Cerulean fellow feels lost souls around the dungeon which feel trapped and malevolent and likely to lash out. Contraption doesn’t know which way to go but instead wanders around looking for valuables. They find some B&E gear and snaffle it up. Clerihugh asks Poopy whether there’s any scurrying but is ignored, so Contraption asks Poopy if they have a name, rather than the epithet not currently sticking as well as the poop.
We move further into the dungeon, passing some barred rooms with derelict equipment in for gladiators, but it looks like they’ve been recently slept in - we see blankets and straw. The rooms reek of cheap wine, BO and urine. We think they may have been used for cells, and each door is held by a knotted rope. Some note that each knot is tied slightly differently! Cerulean knows from backhistory that the rooms are not ‘locked’ - each gladiator tied them in a particular way to see if they’ve been ransacked, hmm. The rooms look increasingly more used as we move in, kept more tidy, living quarters, and some of us hear in one of the cells some scuffing of feet, and when we approach the door, we note the knot is tied our side, so whoever is in there is trapped. The doors have graduated to boarded doors; Clerihugh draws his sword and tries to untie the knot with one hand, it frays a bit and a yank and some wooden marbles drop out of the door - clearly designed to alert people to the fact the door is being tinkered with. Contraption suggests taking up defensive positions. They scurry to the rear. We hear footsteps coming from within the dungeon and more skittering. Joy!
Hugh keeps tugging the knot to no avail so Contraption hops back in and pretty much yanks the rope off, leaving the door in the frame but untethered. Hugh opens it up and a shocked man looks out at us, who says they aren’t part of the flowers but the room smells very strongly of gardenia, which is …weird? He looks like he’s been living in his clothes a week.
Meanwhile Cerulean trots back to close the doors we’d entered through, noting the closer skittering. Contraption asks if we’d like to be hired to rescue him, and the room person offers the bottle of perfume which says “it may be life and death” and Contraption takes custody. The footsteps are imminently upon us. Hugh splashes some drops on him and smells of gardenia too. He feels fragrant and that he’ll leave a lasting impression.
The footsteps stop a second and one says “alright lads, me first” and we hear one set coming and out comes a humanoid. At the gnome’s eye level (just above) comes into view a halfling, lean and wiry, dressed in light armour but arms covered in a decorative sleeve of flower tattoos on one side and skulls on the other. As he comes into view he looks very twitchy. Seeing Hugh then scanning the room he says ‘who are you, lads?’ and we have some interplay about being “gardeners”, and Contraption notes this is one of the objectives. He offers 100 gold for him and his 9 companions to clear out. He also asks for spare parts and help carrying out contraptions, and Contraption notes they were rendered inert…and the halfling seems really angry so he calls for his mates.
Combaaaaaaaaaaaaaat
3 mooks charge Hugh, one hitting, and the ones behind draw crossbows and the ones behind ready spiked clubs, arrows flying hitting Sil and Contraption. Contraption dives in, misses, and retreats. Hugh casts a spell giving allies an AC buff and then absolutely crits on a mook hit, killing one and cutting into another, then he screams “yaaaaaaaaassss!” waving his bloody sword around. Sil now has rats scream in unison, the floor gives out a little, and 2 mooks age many decades and drop dead as if of a heart attack. Terrifying!
Cerulean begins chucking and his bassy laughter rings forth and he beings hectoring the halfling about what a numpty he is for sending his pawns into play and overextending himself. “Now see what I’ve brought with me!”. Some skeletons rise up. His cackling soliloquy also causes the halfling fellow fear and the skeletons join in Hugh up front, blocking the way and whirling blades about. The mooks go for the skeletons and Hugh but miss, then Contraption has another go before retreating promptly, before Hugh himself misses a mook and then barely heals a little. What a waste.
The dazed mook misses a swing on Hugh then the rat swarm moves on to the next mook and sucks more vigour from them, causing another mook to fall. They do this by excusing themselves on boney the skellington, charge up its frame and leap, gnawing the eyes out of a mook. Delightful. Cerulean keeps chuckling and sends the skeletons forward, then they get arrowed and both collapse into piles of bones. The other archers have a go, one hitting Hugh.
Contraption slams back in again and stands by Hugh, staggering the halfling, then Hugh also hits him before he beats a retreat, getting some opportunity dings. Meanwhile a knell rings in Cerulean’s head and the rat swarm absolutely chase him down, swarming up his back, and the rats bring him down screaming. The rat swarm then chew into another mook, thinning the herd out. Continuing his chanting Cerulean swoops forwards, waving his arms as the crowd gasps, like they were winded by a strike in the back, killing a further 2 mooks who collapse to the ground. In a last fit of rage the final mook runs at Contraption, landing a blow, and as the last falls we hear the sound of a rat eating someone’s eyeball. The rat swarm forms back into a human form and offers some of the eyeball to Cerulean, who’s replete and/or incapable of consuming right now.
Combat ends
Sil produces the shiniest apple ever and hands it to Contraption, who is pleased to eat it. The skitter lizards sounds like they nearly broke through the door whilst we swing the cell door open and tell the person all’s well again. We note the mooks all smell of gardenias too, and Sil recalls the cell mate saying “it’s life or death to them”, and racks her brains as to what this means. She thinks it’s related to the skitter lizards who hate floral/citrus notes. Sil grabs the bottle and spruces up herself and Contraption/Cerulean. We discuss clearing the Flowers out but then going back to negotiate for more money to clear the lizards (and/or seal the holes up). We also leave the chump behind in his cell.
We move down the corridor and it opens into 4 routes. One path is very directly “in” (east, we came from the west). Other branches lead to backstage rooms at N and S entrances, thinks Cerulean. He recalls the E entrance was previously sealed. The most southerly pathway leads to the infirmary. Cerulean explains all this and explains he’s stalked the corridors before - and he prefers the shows with scars.
He picks up his cane and troops us to the infirmary, where we find a picked humanoid skeleton with tooth marks (skitter lizards). The clothes are that of a vendor, not gladiator, and we also spot some bottles on the floor scattered around. Contraption takes a look at these in case they’re medicinal of benefit. They are medicine! But we know no more. They look sealed. Contraption starts getting em into his backpack: the 3 viable ones. Cerulean can’t wake the skeleton up but still picks over the corpse - no valuables on it. At that point the group remembers they didn’t raid the pockets of the mooks, but may on the way back. Meanwhile, the infirmary has 2 exits.
Sil points at one and says “where does this one go?” - one to toilets, the other to the south exit. We decide to check the toilets out, pop our heads in, so we burst in there, 16 long drops along the wall, and a drain grille in the floor. Class.
A door in the opposite side leads to backstage, and looking around we spot a lot of cobwebs, very dusty especially over some of the longdrop holes. This room is pretty musty, given the flowers appear to have used chamberpots to save walking through the infirmary etc.
We discuss doubling back, checking if the other door handle has a lovely mother-of-pearl inlay etc. but decide all the other ways are just as bad. Hugh challenges Contraption to a footrace before some skittering noises - lizards or spiders tho?
Combaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!
Spiders! 3 emerge from various longdrops. Sil collapses back into a sack o’rats and the scream goes up on spider2, but it doesn’t hear it well. Contraption tries to vanish, to no avail, so charges spider1 to stab it - then landing a blow, retreats back to old man and sack o’rats.
The spiders fire webs at Cerulean/Sil/Contraption - Contraption gets stuck, then spider3 tries to web Hugh, successfully. So Hugh tries a mental javelin, then flings a dagger, then swears at the spider.
Cerulean chuckles again and once again sermonises against these spiders, suggesting they’re not fit to exist in the poop the heroes have and he staggers a couple of the spiders. The rat swarm then has a go but alas doesn’t land solidly. Contraption fails to teleport out of the webs, so remains stuck and chillaxing, but does heal up a little which is nice to see. Spider3 then trots up to Hugh, Spider1 goes for rats, and Spider2 is all flaky and sad because of the cackling tho. Doesn’t stop it going for Contraption. As they all chomp away, the rat swarm gets seriously bitten, Contraption less so. Hugh then heals up the rat swarm from afar, moves away and gets chomped himself alas!, then misses his defensive stroke against the new spider.
Cerulean remains stuck and unable to hit, then the rat swarm take a reactive bite out of the spider who bit them. The poison continues to sink in, then Contraption crits against the spider near him. He absolutely smooshes it, chopping downwards with his spear, cutting off several limbs.
The spider webs Hugh, then another spider bites him causing him to drop. He, however, springs back to feet, heals up, and clears his head of all the poison, but is hanging by a thread and looks around dazedly (which he was even before he got dropped). Cerulean continues chanting and thankfully ends the spider next to Sil and Hugh, Sil rallies and recovers nicely, but doesn’t shake off the poison.
Contraption braces as if to disappear, and blinks out. The final spider charges at Cerulean. It trips and faceplants next to the grille, rendering it vulnerable. Hugh cures some of Sil’s wounds, then moves to the remaining spider and swings wildly, missing. Cerulean also takes a strike and misses, this spider is made of a tough hide. Thankfully the rat swarm over, take 2 bites, one of which connects, before the rats cough on the poison again, Contraption blinks back in and charges the spider - deals a wicked blow, doles out double damage, and finishes it off. Phew
That was robustly close.
Combat ends
Session of 20/03/2022
We head through the toilets and back along a corridor where a chill breeze ruffles our necks. Earlier someone felt a ghostly presence, and this is evocative of that again. The next room we reach is large, dark, filled with worktops, ropes and pulleys and levers. Some barrels smelling strongly of oil are in here, as well as dried pools of blood - presumably this is where combatants use to enter and exit. Lining the wall are panels showing background scenery for the entertainment - deserts, jungles, mountain ranges, caverns, a hill outside Axis where a battle was fought. There’s some discussion about the lingering dead. We step into the room and those with magical sense feel a faint tingle of barriers/threshold being crossed and have a discussion about how we can fight spirits.
Contraption backs up slowly just to check the rear escape is a real thing, confirming he is a) not a ghost and b) can retreat through the barrier. As we wander towards the inner door leading in, about 2/3rds through the room, the cold breeze hits again, and the breeze wafts out the well as a spectral hand clasps and drags out a figure. Several more hands grasp out of the ground. Eek. One is dressed in plate armour and a sword.
Combaaaaaaaaattttt
The doors slam and the temperature plummets to icy cold.
Contraption tries to blink away and so does, collapsing into a pocket of other reality. We get swarmed by mooks, and Hugh drops like a falling leaf. The other mooks hit terribly too, and Hugh gets up and look pretty sick. Meanwhile Cerulean is thinking back on his relationship with the Lich King and thinks that might assist, given some time, in helping to eradicate the undead in the space, but the clock is ticking. Cerulean then steps away, not very well, so wildly stabs out instead. Armour ghost steps to Clerihugh but somehow misses. Sil then shrieks, drops into pile o’rats, who shriek in unison, try to bite but miss, and consider running down the well.
Contraption returns to the room, and eliminates one, woo! Hugh drops again, boo, and doesn’t get up. Cerulean heals up a little and goes for another stab, the armored ghost steps to him, and Sil attacks the ghost near them and the rat-pile, before scurrying away and nibbling a few more, finishing another.
Contraption moves to engage the ghost that was pestering Sil earlier, before a few that were going for Hugh move to Sil instead. Hugh stays down a little longer, Cerulean heals up a little more. The Armoured ghost turns and tries to chunk the rats to no avail. Sil nibbles another to (un)(re)death!
Contraption attempted to finish off another one, leaving a few of mooks and the armoured ghost remaining, and Hugh remains down, knocking on death’s door. Cerulean looks at his runic markings encircling the room and a flash of holy damage eliminates all the mooks in the room, leaving just the armoured ghost. Sil’s pack of rats spring on the remaining spectre and hits neatly a couple of times, staggering it.
Contraption looks at the remaining ghost, fancying a crack, then looks back at Hugh, as it’s either hit the ghost or stabilise Hugh, sighs and comes over to Hugh and assesses whether to use a random potion, stabilise him, or go back and hit the ghost. Another sigh, then he rolls Hugh over and stabilises him. With a held action, Cerulean casts a spell and sucks some juice out of Sil and into Hugh before spotting death was near in the form of the ghost. Hugh hops back up, asks where the ghosts have gone, sees the last standing armoured ghost and sends the Javelin of Faith at it, finishing it off. Then he says “roight, let’s get the bloody hell out of here, oi need a poi and a pint”.
Combat ends
Hugh and Contraption want to go and haggle for more funds, and Sil fancies a pie too. Cerulean asks about how much trophy to return, including spiders - Contraption picks one of those up and Cerulean cuts the tattooed arm off with some pretty gory hacking and stabbing rather than neat surgery. Sil and Contraption provide some back-seat surgery, and the inmate in the cell comes out just in time to watch the severance take place and we head out, emerging into the sunshine, carrying spiders, limbs and mucky prisoners - and muckier Sils.
2 blocks back to the Golden Goblin - it’s been 3 hours or so; we get to her office, the door is closed but we can hear a person in there so Cerulean knocks and Contraption says “the job is partially complete” - Hugh explains we did her job, but besides that there are ghosts and toilet spiders. Contraption gets down to brass man tacks and says more money to do the rest of the job. Orna suggests food and board and some health potions just in case we need to rest up a wee bit. Contraption leaves the room to chuck the toilet spider on the midden (which Sil kindly directed them to). Orna tells us to call for Frank for room and board, who we find quickly enough - a half-orc female, who was also the cook. She gives Sil stink-eye - then the rest of us, who require a hose down to get the grime and blood off, and the cold blast wakes Hugh up a little more; Sil meanwhile is just soggy cloth and the top-layer of grime has gone. Then it’s pie and a pint by the fire, but the warm wet drying smell of Sil really stinks the pub out (so we spritz her with the gardenia). We eat up, which also gives us a full recovery and some new skills!
Session of 03/04/2022
We finish our pie and pint and head back to crack on clearing the gaff; returning to backstage we head to the eastern wall and a very long walk leads us to the hallway similar to the Western entrance but the door appears very closed and very dusty - Sil recalling it’d been sealed from the outside. Doubling back reveals more cobwebs, evoking the trauma of toilet spiders. Contraption notices some dropped coins sort of leading a trail to the exit to the north-west of the room. We jink back that way, heading down the cobweb-covered-corridor. Contraption sees drag marking as if a contractor was dragged this way by spiders to be eaten. We move further on and the cobwebs grow denser; we spot a funnel-bit leading into the wall which has caved in slightly, with the webs leading this way. Sil collapses down into a single rat then squeezes into the cave, Hugh clanking along nearby, and we hear chittering and clacking in the cave off a hard surface. The rat rears up and signals to stop, waving franticall. Hugh says “what does it want?” and the rat shushes him just in time not to alert the skittering animal sound…perhaps spiders?!
Behind the spiders (2), sitting doglike, and behind them is a humanoid figure who appears to be sleeping (chest movement!), gaunt, long limbed. Looking around Sil also spots a handful of bodies plastered to the wall (at least one dressed as construction workers, not breathing) - next to them we spot a dagger glinting. Humanoids with greenish skin and long clawy nails on hands and feet…Sil thinks these might be a living version of urban myths - alligator people who live in the sewers? ‘Etacaps’. Sil scurries back, stands in the middle of us and informs us of these facts. Hugh tries to sneak over but clanks, the spiders see him and the Etacap wakes up and asks us what we’re up to, picking up his dagger. We have a brief discussion about how we’re here to clear out Dead Flowers, and they ask what’s in it for them if they help ‘eat some flies’. Contraption says they should leave willingly or be exterminated, and to be warned we’d killed 3 already today. The Etacap hefts his dagger, pats a spider on the shoulder and says “well…”
Combaaaaaaaat!
The rat multiplies again, and again, and again and again, and the rats scream at the spiders/spidermen. The floor cracks and crumbles and the spiders look very troubled and flaky. Skin sloughs to wrinkly aged bits and the Etacap screams, pointing its dagger at Contraption. And stabbing in the air, two streams of energy twirls out, helix and head at Contraption’s eyes. Contraption doesn’t like this at all, and tries to blink out but instead charges at spider2, stabbing out and rolling away. Hugh misses with his holy javelin and steps to both spiders, one trying to web him and the other bite, both hitting and really dinging Hugh up. Cerulean hears all this from the corridor, sighs and ums, and warns them again about the eviction order (at length) before raising his hand to shoo them away, a sort of gauntlet grabbing Etacap by the throat choking it.
Sil-rats run in and try to chomp a spider, missing and doing some spellcasting. Etacap still mad with Contraption, continues to strike out at him, raising his arms and out sprays cobwebs over him and Cerulean, acidifying both and hampering Cerulean too. Contraption once again tries to blink out, but still feels a weird acid burn which seems to stop him from focussing on disappearing. He instead charges back in, again, misses, and rolls back out. Hugh hits a spider, shakes off some poison damage, but looks pretty worried, and the spiders lash out at Hugh and Sil - downing Hugh but missing Sil. Cerulean continues his droning chant at the Etacap and deals a great deal of mental damage, ending its breath as it gurgles out its remaining vigour; Cerulean sheaths his dagger, but takes more acid damage and feels pretty shaky.
Sil bites the spider in front of her ratpile, landing bits on the second attempt and staggering it. Contraption realises Hugh is at the deathiest door Hugh has ever been at so chucks a potion down his throat - enough to wake him up but he’ll be going straight back down so Contraption thrusts 1 more potion into his hands. Hugh takes one, feels fresher and flings a mental javelin at the staggered spider; the spiders then attack contraption and sil-rats, hitting both. Cerulean continues chanting but the spiders seem less unenthused by thisthan the Etacap was.
Sil continues nibbling at the staggered spider and Cerulean’s spider-sense of nearby death triggers. Contraption continues his onslaught against the other spider, having been forced back into the fray to keep Hugh alive, missing and slipping back a step. Hugh misses with his sword but hits with the javelin, staggering the other spider. Hugh then drops again as a spider launches another mad bite on him. Cerulean finishes off a spider from afar and looks a little fresher, chants at the remaining spider and ends that one with another gust of wind of death blowing in his face.
Combat ends
Everyone heals back up as much as possible, and Contraption hands out potions - one to each except Hugh who gets 3; Hugh picks up the dagger which looks like a salvaged gladiator one, crusted with ichor and gore. Contraption establishes these were not toilet spiders. Sil establishes the webbed people are dead, but Contraption raids the pockets and finds a magic rune on a dead guard.
We head down another looooooooooong corridor leading to more backstage areas. No runes on the edge of the doorway, another well in the middle - a reflection of the previous backstage, with side passages to the north and south. The north has fallen masonry which reveals a more constructed passage (not a cave-in) which was behind a fallen wall! We head that way, Contraption first looking out for ambush or signs of malfeasance first with fingertips then with eyes and ears; the wall that fell was thick and the entrance shouldn’t have been here in the Arena days. Wandering down a small amount in the flickering light Contraption sees the passageway open up into a small room. Getting closer yet some metallic glints reflect in the torchlight. A few more steps reveal the glints to be from a long, vertical object - one roundish thing about head height and another higher. At seeing these Contraption suggests Sil heads on a bit - and she says “I’ll have a look”, dropping back into monorat, sneaking a little further yet. Sil sees a statue in a room! There’s some light in there from a grate above with the glinting coming off the statue. Sil sees nothing alive in there so turns back into an elf and shouts down the Corridor ‘It’s clear! It’s just a stupid guy with a sword”. Hugh does a doubletake at himself. We then head in to join Sil, seeing the statue and carvings on the wall.
Sil asks if it’s one of these ‘god’ things; Cerulean realises it to be a statue built in the time of the Terrible Emperor (who used astrologic magic to make himself immune to weapons and spells). One of the icons at the time (Grand Master of Flowers, head of monks in Dragon Empire) overthrew him as they used neither. He explains e.g. the dragon crown (not a bat). Sil looks at the pedestal/altar/obelisk thing, a hexagonal waist-high stone of obsidian with no writing on it. Thinking about the value of the statue etc., Contraption suggests lifting what we can but then sealing the wall up and mining through from the other side to remove the goods in due course - Sil can sort out grate access. Contraption looks again and thinks it’s just gold leafed metal, yawn. Cerulean suggests fencing it to a local museum or collector…
Rather than brick it up we suggest some ‘unstable masonry’ ‘keep out’ signage where we came in to ward off other likely people.
Sil gets us back on track - we’re here to clear some flowers and the job ain’t done, so we return to more backstage, and we head back towards the Arena again, Sil scurrying along first and she hears further ahead the sound of people milling around, echoing down the passageway. Our torchlight isn’t yet in range, so Sil sneaks on further. She notices the area widens out with a number of platforms which would previously have gone to surface but the chains and pulleys are broken. Some boards to make functional rooms have been created and a door leading to the area, seeing a few in open area around a campfire (one of which is a very large half-orc) and hearing others elsewhere in the internal rooms. Sil scurries over to the better made door and pops her rat-head in to count them up. Nicely decorated room with a person lying on a home-made 4 poster bed. The next room reveals a more barrack-like room with some card players. That’s enough scouting and Sil returns, turning back into elf, and shares the info: “your flowers are here! Looks like 7 of them”. 7 is quiet a lot, observes Sil, but hey, you gotta do the job.
Sil gets a super headstart thanks to the scouting, and Cerulean prophylactically disappears. Then we just goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Combat
Hugh runs in, casts spells aplenty and fires a mental javelin at mook 5, killing it in a blow. The mental javelin flies through and clips mook 6 too, then the card playing mooks charge Hugh, landing a blow. Cerulean steps out and warns them it’s time up, the denizens of the town above want them no longer ‘so it’s the noose for you’. Or worse! Some cocooned people drop out of the sky above wearing threadbare appendages, strange fruit. They swarm the mooks and deal one blow between the 4 of them, but they’re at least on the ground.
The four-poster-dweller comes to the door, flings it open and asks who’s disturbing their sleep: they look an average height (6’4”!), but what we really notice is their face is covered behind a skull-mask. Cerulean gasps and says “perfect!”. Raising his crossbow and firing on Cerulean, connects. Sil’s rat form gets wolverinish, charging the crossbower and staggering him with a single rat-wolverine blow. As he’s looking at Cerulean’s head he isn’t watching the floor so misses the rat swarm skitter over, swarm his legs, cover him and they are everywhere, biting. Everywhere. He will struggle to shake them out of his pants, and the rats sound angry and feral right about now. Contraption appears next to the rat-covered crossbower and shanks him with his spear, stab stab in the throat, and down he goes.
The half-orc sees his friend go down and shouts “You hurt Crunch’s friend?!”, gathers a flaming log and throws it at the cocoon people and Hugh, killing one. He then charges over too.
Hugh cures his wounds a little, then stabs at a mook, ending it with another clean blow. The mooks charge in, fighting Cerulean’s cocoonpeeps, hitting one with a glancing blow but otherwise missing them and Hugh. Cerulean pulls the bolt out of his chestpiece, tosses it aside and scoffs at the dead form of the skull-face-masked person. He then raises his hand, laying one upon Hugh, seeking some delicious vitality to pump into Hugh but only finds his own, and doesn’t fancy that. So waves his mooky cocoonpeeps on, who strike a single blow, killing another mook. Silrats clamber off the body they destroyed and then start screaming again, before Contraption vanishes. Crunch the half-orc now clobbers a cocoonfolk and down it goes. Crunch steps to Hugh :S
Hugh misses an attack on Crunch, then a crossbow bangs into him, leaving him reeling. Cerulean mentally wounds the remaining opposition, after healing up from Ceruleans word of healing, then Sil-rats scurry over and chomp Crunch, staggering him. Contraption reappears (having disappeared shortly before), but doesn’t land a blow - Sil encouraging him to retry, but the encouragement didn’t go all that well as it went just as badly. Crunch now grabs a bit of cocoon-person-mook to club Contraption with, but misses.
Hugh lands a crushing sword blow and mental javelin on Crunch, who is staggered. Cerulean then senses death is near, striking out at Crunch too and ending the remaining mook. Loots! Investigations! Wrapping up!.
Notes
NB Overspill Recoveries - ½ hit point recover and -1 cumulative to all attacks and AC/PD/MD.
Hugh: all recoveries used, -1 damage per nonbasic attack save ends
Sil: 1 reroll; +4 init; melee attacks do extra d6 damage to enemies with more HP and other stuff (+2 to attack?)