Thug Muggers in the Tunnels 12/29/24
Table Talk:
We’ll mark down 50XP for Rae punching a map to death.
Since we’re taking a long rest and it’s been a while in-game, the players opted to take an extra Long Rest. Using the running mechanical i’ve had for us, that’s 6 action slots where at least 3 have to be resting (sleep/meditation) – with at least 2 consecutive rests together – and 1 action turn doing a watch since they are in an unknown environment. That leaves 2 rest action slots for things like attuning, reading magic books, prepping gear, etc. (regular rest activities like eating won’t take up any actions).
Going in, each player will have a unique task they can choose to do during this rest based on good choices and actions they made last time. Sorin and Cypress can choose to talk over the details of the torture they saw to see if they can discern any of the torturer’s intent, and maybe bond a little bit in the process. Ari can choose to talk and maybe bond with Bostra since she tried to help him last time. And Rae can choose to sit and think about the map that attacked her to see if she remembers any of it, and if she thinks it was legit.
“I had an imaginary pet. I did, I had an imaginary dog, the fuck ran away.”
—Lewis Black, “Lewis Black's Rantcast: Episode #80 - For Gilbert Gotfried”
🛡️🎲🗡️📿✨🌿Interlude: An Abandoned Rest
🛡️🎲🗡️📿✨🌿Interlude: An Abandoned Rest
Yup this room is definitely abandoned. The only things left are bits of broken furniture and busted rocks. The only thing remotely intact is most of a table, and almost all of a stone ring for a fire pit in the middle. There are some busted-bits-o’-chair™ and a mostly dismantled weapons rack as well as a partially shredded up rug and several clumps of crockery shards that look like things were hurled at the wall.
As soon as we enter the room, Ari pokes at the rug with her dagger – just in case. Then gives a reassuring nod to Rae.
Sighing in exasperation, Sorin rolls a nat’ 20 on his own check of the rug, trips, falls, catches Ari’s dagger, and accidentally tugs the corner of the rug up over and around himself as if it was eating him. It shows the rug is the mundane no-mimic-y sort, and also rewards his crit’ with getting everyone to laugh and relax a little, and endearing him more to them in equal measure… at his expense.
So, we’re taking a long rest here, but how long? Using the homebrew method i made, how many Rest actions slots? 2 is a Short Rest, 4 is a Long Rest, and anything more would be an extra Long Rest.
*the table after a very brief consensus: “6.”
Yes reader, that’s right, it's been so long since i put one of these up, that the two actual literal black Peakform 34"x 34" Folding Card Tables we got at Target two years ago have learned to talk now.
After deciding to take an extra long rest, we look over at Bostra, expecting some reproachful urgings onto adventure! …but he just gives a blank nod of assent, and starts setting up his camp gear with a distant far away glaze in his eyes.
While Cypress sleeps and Rae does her weird meditative rest, Ari keeps watch with a 19 on a Perception Check, and gets to work on making some food.
Supplies are running a little low, but with a 17 on her Soup Roll (Survival), Ari turns to the delicacy of every wealthy aristocrat that falls on hard times and has to make ‘poor people’ food: Reconstituted Gruel. While Sorin is preparing to Summon Arkis, she starts shredding up some older bread in her fingers, pinching the harder lumps to crack them into dusty crumbs, and shredding the softer chunks up with her fingernails. The crummy crumbling crust contents get chucked cautiously and concocted in the cauldron to constitute. With some water, a lump of fat tallow and a dose of salt, this staple of the poor and downtrodden masses (and people better off cosplaying as needy downtrodden masses) is on the boil, each bubble releasing steamy air, and sucking sadness into the flavor vacuum.
With a little bit of all around luck from Sorin’s nat’ 20, Akris is back! The little demon slithers through the planes at the weak spot of the burning embers, and flows up from the fire, emerging as a nessies-style snake head swimming in Ari’s sadness dinner. He rings and shakes like a wet dog, splashing the hot wheat porridge onto both Ari and Sorin with a hissing laugh.
Wait, didn’t i say ‘lucky for everyone’ and wasn’t that a nat’ 20? Well, actually i said ‘all around luck’, but yes.
Akris’s demonic essence leaves a trail of heat and spice in the gruel, transforming it from a depressing crime against hunger, into a minimalist gumbo-licious campfire delight.
It’s also worth noting here that since Akris has leveled up since last we saw him, he is now Britney-Spears-with-a-snake sized – i mean the snake, not Britney.
And that’s the first round of the rest.
Ari starts off the second round of the rest by bringing a bowl of Akris-ssstew over to Bostra to try and strike up some conversation.
In silence (because it’s literally been five months since this session and me writing this sentence, and i forgot what they talked about), Bostra pulls out what looks like a round ball mesh tea infuser filled with a yellow dust that he shakes over the the bowl, filling the steam with an aroma of tree bark after rain.
Uuuh…. Something about an Insight check of 17 in my notes…
[added much later] OH! Reader, guess what! I had a whole prewritten thing about this conversation they had, Heck yeah!
[added even later] nope nope nevermind, that’s Bostra’s prewritten monologue that goes at the end. Still no idea here.
Unable to really get into a deep sleep, Cypress rolls over and sits up, giving tZulèe some ear scritches — and getting a splinter. Letting the gargoyle look down one hall, and with Akris looking down the other hallway, Sorin and Cypress take the opportunity to lower their voices and discuss the torture victim. With some high medical and necromancy rolls they feel like they have a good understanding of what was done to the poor person on the slab, and the brain damage that was caused. By the glittering firelight, we can see Cypress looking over the edge of his tea cup with a hidden sharp eye, watching the young wizard intensely.
“I mean…” Sorin stutters trying to articulate a complex constellation of cohesive coherent cogitation, “It’s necromancy, and I don’t see a problem with a lot of that in general – it a way, it’s just reusing resources after all, like recycling – but like… using it on a living or half living or whatever they were at that point, using it on a still feeling person… that’s so far over the line!”
Cypress manages to disguise his sigh of relief as just blowing on his tea as they sit and talk, growing a bond between them. They sit talking for a while more, each of them occasionally glancing over the shoulder/neck-spine of their familiars just enough to feel like it jointly constitutes a shift at the watch.
Judging by the tiny little drool drop on the edge of her elven lips, Rae is finishing out this second round still resting.
With Sorin and Rae both resting now, and Ari reading her Manual of Bodily Health (currently reading a section about how spine damage is bad for her health, and nodding), Cypress takes the chance to fix up Ari’s stew. Pulling out half an onion, because there’s always half an onion left. He tastes it and smiles, keeping a mischievous little secret all to himself. (This will actually be Nymbus using Cypress’s Inspiring Leader feat, by making the meal better for everyone, and in particular boosting Ari’s confidence and how much better the food is, and making her think she did better than she did.)
And that’s round three.
Finally getting sleepy again, Cypress taps Rae on the shoulder. After subtly pointing out the drool for her to wipe off, he lays back down and drifts into a deep sleep.
So it’s Rae’s turn to watch now.. And with a nat’ 20, she’s pretty sure things are fine. With everyone else sleep/resting she stirs up the fire. (... wait how’re they getting logs down here in the – hush, Kai, don’t worry about it, we’re going a little rules/reality light on that stuff remember?) She uses the light to read her own Manual – marking off three of nine slots and learning how to remove the outer layer of bird skin while maintaining the feathers in a cohesive flesh unit.
Round five.
Once again, everyone but Rae is asleep (and rest-meditating, yes, Sorin, we know you’re special). So why not attune to her cool new ring!? She starts working her Ki into it and…
Nat 1’? Oof. take 2 damage.
Sarah: “Wait, what!? I was just attuning to it, it can’t-”
MaYbE tRy InVeStiGaTiNg, SaRaH.
Sarah: “... 17.”
So this is a Ring Mimic, hahahahaha.
Sarah: “... I hate you.”
Through a very pointy and very one-way conversation (cut it some slack, it’s hard to talk with a finger in your mouth), Rae persuades the ring to stay on her as a friend, striking a deal to let it bite her sometimes to stay alive, while giving her the ability to cast Disguise Self for 1d4 damage. Basically, forming a classic parasite-host-symbiotic-relationship. Oh, and she names it “Chomp”... because our hatred for each other goes both ways, and because of course she did.
Ari is the only one still sleeping now, as we start the last round of our rest.
Sorin spends the last bit of the night/morning finally cleaning the lenses of his super fancy goggles that he never uses.
Cypress works on deciphering more of Zaanth’s note and uncovering the line “Sewers are the key, the baths will be their downfall!” which doesn’t give us a whole lot of new information we didn’t already know, but does now only leave two sections to decode.
Then lastly, Rae works on the maps doing something that i’m sure made sense five months ago, but my notes just has as “map mis 2 surv 19 Z mk n tent.” So with a 19 on the Survival Roll she succeeded on something but with a 2 on the … mis? … roll, she didn’t get something. I don’t know, but i’m sure i’ll put it in a table talk section whenever we figure it out.
Oh yeah, going back now to edit (seeing what i wrote in the top table talk), i think she was trying to remember what was on the map mimic. So then she must’ve remembered the tent markings and Zaanth’s Z… i wonder if i remembered to add those to the maps at the bottom…
Later Kai here, i didn’t even do those maps so i have to do them now. Ugh… past Kai is so lazy.
Rest time over, beep beep beep, buzz buzz, arruuuga, blaaaat blaaat blaaat, wakey wakey; everybody up, it’s time to prep for the day!
As always, Cypress starts the day with a prayer. Rolling a 6 on the Religion Check to feel fine, but not really getting any guidance.
Everyone gets a bowl full of Ari’s secret spicy Akris onion gruel, and are surprised at how good it tastes. With the little cleric just smiling to himself and giving Bostra a coy wink, Ari is showered in compliments. Completely confused, she dips a long-nailed finger into the prodigy mix to taste it. Wow. She must be better at this than she thought!
Yup, Cypress is the master of positive gaslighting, and his plan for the Inspiring Leader trickery works.
As we eat, Bostra clears his throat, “Something Ari and I talked about (probably about Zaanth) last night got me thinking…
“This changes things. You know how you all call Ari roguish… well Zaanth went rogue. Truly rogue. Not some cute charming tavern bard ready to drain your sack for a laugh and a toss in a hay pile.”
Oh yeah, the thought strikes us, Bostra was a campaign soldier, sometimes we forget this in his high class royal manners.
“No, she went wild, untamed, a loose feral beast.” He sighs and looks at Ari. “Something you and I know very well. See, when we lose our crowns, our titles, our capital N Nobility, we all have very different reactions. Some of us,” he looks at Rae, “try to prove our worth to ourselves and the ghost memories of our parents or ancestors. Some of us find new ways of being, trying to,” he looks back to Ari, “seek comfort in new skills. And some of us,” he sighs heavily, twisting his hands in the firelight, “we try to serve our people in the shadows and do what we can to be noble even if we can't be Noble.
“But she… you called her Zaanth, or I guess she calls herself Zaanth now, and that’s as good a name as any. She lost her titles and claims. She belongs… belonged to an Eka Royal House. But then Eka changed and the Royalty changed. The senate rid themselves of her family. And then she was out in the wild underdark.
“I don’t know what happened next. But there began to be attacks. Simple highway muggings at first, then more targeted attacks. The leaders and upper crust society of Eka had to travel in secret, or to ride ahead of their coterie wagons. The wagons would catch alight or be thrown off cliffs. It escalated more and more until the house of a senator still inside Eka city was blown up. They found her family hanging from the blow out window over the pit, all of them burnt to a crisp, their dusty charcoal hands clinging to each other in some vain death pulse of trying to claw or climb over themselves to safety…
“Some time after that they almost caught her, and the wanted signs went up. That’s how I know her. Every village within ten days was made aware of her. But there was never a name, just a charcoal of angry face and brief summary.”
Still looking pensive and thoughtful, Bostra nods to show that’s all he’s prepared to say, and sets to getting his gear ready for the day.
So there we are. Rest over. Gear packed. Actions prepped. inspiringly led. Ready for adventure.
So, uh… where are we going now?
“I cannot separate the beauty of the solar system, a woman nurturing a child, and a vagina. And I want you to quote me on that.”
-The Task Masker –Greg Davies, “Taskmaster: Series 13, Episode 7 - 'Heg.'”
Table talk:
Um… i don’t remember any so i’m gonna say none?
