Thug Muggers in the Sewers 3/3/24 & 3/10/24
Table Talk:
After a brief discussion, we decided on the Hunter’s Mark spell, now attached to Rae’s staff, being a bonus action when she successfully lands a hit on a target and taking 1 Ki point to activate. That way there is a bit of a cap to it, and it’s not something wildly over powered that she can just do whenever. The Hunter’s Mark effects can still be transferred to a new target, but only when she physically hits the new target and moves it as a bonus action.
In setting up this week, I mentioned that i will have to wait to lay out some maps, until i know for sure where the party is heading. This is partly due to some of the rooms being aligned on too many sheets to be laid out at once. Because of this, i’m changing a bit of my method as i make the level 3 map. I am building the map, with my new printing grid system over laid, so that i can see where the map sheets will be cut and plan larger rooms to be easier to lay out on the table.
A little heads up to the reader here, a caveat that i had to give to the players a bit further on (after i knew where they were going). They are going to encounter a creature that i have a miniature for, but only just started painting. So it will look very odd and out of place. I had been planning all week with the anticipation that they would be going west to the green room next; getting tables, figures, notes and plans all readily laid out for that. All the way up until 3 am the night before we played… it was only after that that i thought ‘what if they go the other way’, and got some basic planning done for those rooms. Well, guess which way they picked…
BEETLEJUICE: Do you hear that sound?
[SCREAMS]
LYDIA: That beautiful sound?
[SCREAMS]
BEETLEJUICE: That is the sound of clean, white, shorts turning brown.
LYDIA: Torture and pain.
[SCREAMS]
BEETLEJUICE: Breaking a brain A sound that says "I will never sleep well again".
[SCREAMS]
LYDIA: The sound of a scream, is music to me A sound that says fifteen years full-time therapy.
BEETLEJUICE: Trauma and fear, it sings in my ear.
TOGETHER: Ain't it the sweetest noise around? That beautiful sound!
-Beetlejuice & Lydia —Eddie Perfect, “Beetlejuice The Musical. The Musical. The Musical. : That Beautiful Sound"
🛡️🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿Chapter 11: A Mound of Terror
🛡️🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿Chapter 11: A Mound of Terror
We start off with the Thug Muggers standing around the anvil – a natural point of gathering in any shop – and looking over the map to decide which way to go. Now, i could lay out all the arguments for and against various paths along with everything they discussed… But i want to show you something a bit more interesting…
Over by the trapped entrance to the room, Bostra is standing on the backboard of the supply cart and handing a couple traps back to the Guruuuuhckck. “These all look good, just be sure that some are on the walls and ceiling, and I think you’ll do just fine.” He says as the Slaad reorganizes the bag. Inside are simple spikes, camouflaged spikes, small slip ropes, and two bear traps sized to fit an elephant leg. Bostra glances over to the Thug Muggers, making sure they’re still occupied by arguing about where to go, then he looks back. “This,” he says, handing a small pouch and an envelope to the toadman, “Should be everything you need. Remember that the house is blue and you need the gray door on the back. If anyone doesn't believe you, the pass-phase is ‘The berry that splits, sprouts two trees.’ Can you remember that?”
Guruuuuhckck opens his mouth, then when he sees Bostra’s glance at the others, he remembers about his giant booming whisper. He nods silently.
“Good.” Bostra smiles with relief, “I don’t know how long it will be, but I think we should be able to get back on track soon.” Then with a glance over his shoulder at the others who seem to be wrapping up, “and remember. Be ready for the squid, even in your dreams.”
The Slaad tucks the pouch and envelope into a fold behind his apron just in time, as Sorin comes up to them. “Bostra check all your boobie traps?” The boy asks – only half stifling a giggle.
“Yup, our friend here is all set. Are we decided which way to go?”
“Yessir. We decided to go west and then loop back around to the green room.”
Guruuuuhckck looks slightly perturbed – well very perturbed – his face is three times as big as the others, and says, “Do not wait too long for Krubos. I fear how long he is sitting alone. But, true, The Stills are important.” He hesitates, his brain trying to decide how to convey that everything he marked down is the most single most important thing, and then gives up, deciding that this is impossible.
After some fond goodbyes, we part ways and our heroes are now opening a hidden door out of the Thug tunnel and into a proper sewer corridor.
Cypress and Rae, give me Wisdom Saves, it's a hard DC, so 18.
16.
17.
Okay you do feel it. Give me another, but this one is easy, so 4.
6.
8.
When they step out into the hall, Rae and Cypress both feel an urge to go south, but they pass it off as just a thought for what to do next.
Sorin rolls a critical success on a Perception Check — but i don’t feel like writing out yet another paragraph describing brick sewer walls with pipes on them, so we’ll just carry that forward to an advantage later.
We walk forward, following the map to the next intersection and everyone takes the time to very carefully step over and around the grate in the floor (wasting good rolls on a DC 6 Dex Check that i don’t even know that it would trigger, a noise maybe?).
We walk to the left, following the map to the next corner and everyone takes the time to very carefully step over and around the grate in the floor (wasting more good rolls on a DC 6 Dex Check).
We walk forward, following the map to the next corner and everyone takes the time to very carefully step over and around the grate in the floor (wasting more rolls on a DC 6 Dex Check).
We can see light coming from a room up the hall and with that critical Perception Check from earlier we can hear two human – or at least common – voices, and the voice of a gazer in the room.
Everyone turns to Bostra.
Bostra sighs.
“I’ll just wait out here, shall I?” He sits down in the corner, on the other side of an extremely ominous grate. He pulls his duffle bag up to him, undoes some buttons, and a flap comes off the side. Bostra reaches under it and props up two little stick legs, then taps a rune sewn into the fabric and the canvas turns to wood, forming a small lap desk attached to the side of the bag. “Well?” Bostra looks up at them, as if surprised they’re still there.
“Akris, keep an eye on Bostra, and come get us if anything goes wrong out here.”
The flying snake nods, half his body bobbing in the air, and as the Thug Mugger team slowly walks away, he tries to peek at Bostra’s paper.
The blunt end of Bostra’s reed pen gently pushes Akris’s jaw away, “Don’t even think about it.”
Because everyone decided to do the totally unnecessary thing and roll twelve times to avoid stepping on grates that didn’t matter – and i feel like i should grant some kind of reward – i’m gonna give Ari advantage on her stealth check as she sneaks into the room.
Brooke: Nat’ twenty, Bay BEH!
Ari creeps closer to the room while the others wait for her out in the hall. She carefully steps one foot at a time into the room, then ducks behind the table. With her back to the table legs, she takes a minute to listen and ready her bow.
Then in an awesome action movie stunt, she rolls to one side. Her tattered cape muffles her armor on the stone floor then billows up behind her like a badass. She rolls with her bow hand on the ground, then brings it up horizontally with one knock perched in the line between two bricks, stabilizing the shot. She leans her whole body back, pulling the bow as tight as she can and aiming. Ari let’s the ar–
A whole big fight scene is about to happen here, so first let’s freeze-frame the action and do a hovering pan establishing shot around the room.
The Stills, or Boiler Rooms, here in the sewer are a part of the non magical water treatment. On the far side of the room from the entry is a massive black iron cauldron running from deep in the floor all the way up to the vaulted ceiling. Coming from the side, like arms, are thick wooden pipes – endless interlocking barrel staves forming a tight wood waterway – like a hardwood floor wrapped into a tube. The barrel pipes lead from three quarters of the way up the cauldron, to the top of two huge furnaces on either side. On the way, they pass over some giant mechanical armatures. A mechanism of beams and linkages with all kinds of different ends that can slot into the wooden pipes. The furnaces are big smokestack fireplaces, each with a hearth big enough to roast a small person in – or something normal i guess. In front of the cauldron is a spigot that is dripping a green sludge into a large cask at the bottom. In front of the fireplaces are deep pits that are currently empty and next to them are some crates. In the middle of the room, under the simple chandelier, is a table full of alchemy equipment, scales, and sheets of paper weighed down by large gems. Along one wall are a row of terracotta jars with wooden lids on the ground as if they were just dumped and discarded. And lastly, in a corner by the entrance, is a bundle of rags and two crates with grids of dowel rods keeping a bunch of glass bottles upright.
Hovering in the air over the far end of the alchemy table, a Gazer is half laughing and half barking out orders. It seems to be almost bouncing from side to side and reciting a list. In front of each of the two furnaces is a Thug, each with a bucket, using their hands to shovel something over the pits and into the furnaces. Crouching and back-leaning on her bow, Ari is in the entryway. Behind her, Rae is stepping around the corner for a look, while Cypress and Sorin stay hidden behind the corner of the wall.
Okay, i think that’s everything. Let the action…
…
…
…
Actually i will point out that as i was rolling up the stats for everything about to pop off here, the whole table did hear me say, “Oh shit, you guys are screwed!”
Okay, i think that’s everything. Let the action…
…
…
…
You know actually i do remember no– –BEGIN!
Ari lets the arrow fly. It sores through the air, just missing the thug and burying itself into the brick of the fireplace.
Hearing Ari’s swearing, Cypress steps forward. He ushers tZulèe across the entry tunnel to the other side of the hallway and tells it to stay there. Then he digs in his heels and reaches out with his soul. In the back of the room, a mass of vines crawls up through the ground, cracking the cobbles and Entangling one of the Thugs.
The Gazer spins around in mid air,shooting out a blue Telekinetic Ray at Rae and a dark Fear Ray at Ari. Both of them flinch but stay strong, refusing to let the beast control them.
The second Thug gives up on trying to free his leg and instead pulls his crossbow and fires at Ari for 5 damage. Before he can start reloading, she casts Hellish Rebuke instantly dealing 18 damage and leaving the man bloodied in the fires of her disgust.
Raelle-the-Revenger jumps into the room, parkour hand slapping her way onto the table, before leaping off and slamming her staff down into the chest of that same Thug. WIth a sickening CrCrRUNCH, and a sunken chest, he falls limp. Then the elf darts over to the other Thug, and lifts her knee in a dead sprint into his chin for 7 damage.
Sorin, seeing that the fight is actually going pretty well, decides to get a good look and roll Insight to see what the Thugs were doing in here. He sees the buckets on the ground and the green slime coming from the cauldron. It’s been bubbling out and frothing over the sides of the cask into a heap. He shouts, “Get them away from the equipment, they’re trying to use it to summon something!”
The only Thug still standing swings a mace at Rae, but her head is still spinning and she just makes a drunken circle with it over her head.
Ari casts Magic Missile on the hovering Gazer. The first two darts hit its back, bloodying it, and the last hits its eye – taking it down to 0.
The Gazer rolls a miraculous Con Save, to stay conscious. Then as we all watch in horror, it floats up over the cauldron. As it laughs a deranged, wet, bloody laugh, it lowers its eye stalks over its huge hollow sunken eye socket and into its mouth. Then, still cackling through a mouth full of eyeballs, it rips the eyes off its head and spits them into the cauldron. It falls to the ground dead, and still convulsing with laughter.
Cypress closes his eyes. He sees the fields of the Great Mother's Garden – the mythic land of blowing grass and flowers that gives life to the world. Here in these tall wilds are where the stalks of life are born, the buds of spirits waiting to be cut free; to bloom as souls in the bodies of this world. He sees the dancing sandals of the Goddess and then sees as her green hand moves toward him, holding her holy Sickle. The sickle’s handle is simple – like any well worn farm tool – just two wooden slats riveted together. But the blade itself is made of pure light, held and compressed together by the roots of the blooming grasses around its spine. She hands the sickle to the cleric with a smile.
This vision takes place in the time it takes Cypress to blink. Then he moves one hand down in the air. A bolt of light falls from the ceiling, like a water drop. It pools then rapidly blooms into a vine, a blue bell flower, and then the three foot tall sickle is there – a blade of compressed light covered on the back by blooming grass.
As the Spiritual Weapon cuts into the remaining Thug, and bloodies him for 10 damage, Cypress dips his leaves in the holy water at his belt and casts Bless on the other members of the party.
Rae thwacks the last of the life out of the Thug with her staff.
And, like the Gazer just minutes before, she dies laughing. Her last choked off words are “Totkao will reign.”
Reader it took exactly 00.02 seconds for the table to ask me how to spell that and start working out if it fits the mysterious mark they keep seeing.
The heap of bubbling ooze is growing at an alarming rate now and Sorin flicks his wrist, shooting a Firebolt at it. He doesn’t know this, but since the thing is still being summoned – and has resistance to fire – it just eats up the raw magic, feeding itself the 19 as more HP instead of damage.
Ari throws out a Chromatic Caltrop of fire near the base of the mound, and the ducks behind the table again to hide.
Ma chère Mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight this morning. And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining room Dungeon Master proudly presents: your Shambling Mound!
“Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977–1988)
The shambling mound appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as an apparent heap of rotting vegetation, although in reality an intelligent form of vegetable life that suffocates prey in its slime.” – Dungeons & Dragons Lore Wiki
This particular Shambling mound is a summoned construct. A consciousness summoned forth by evil magic and forced into an unholy shape. The oozy slime of its main body is coated – not in roots, vines, and moss – but in ropes, chains, hoses, pipes, and other elements of the sewers we’ve seen. It is a vaguely humanoid shape nearly ten feet tall, with thick pulsating limbs made of that same roiling mass of rope and sewer hoses.
It roars out its frustration at being a live, and with no one nearby to attack, it scoops up the Thug that Rae just finished off, and hurls them. The throw misses and the Thug’s back CRACKS against the wall. As spittle and slime droplets fly from the monster’s mouth, the Thug's spine wraps in a tight angle, backwards, around the corner of the wall before she falls limp to the ground. Her body leaves a bloody streak down both the wall of the room and the wall of the entrance tunnel.
While their Spirit Weapon attacks the beast for 10 more damage, Cypress studies it for weaknesses. Watching, for the sickle, swing into the ropes and hoses, they’re gratified to see that the bits and pieces that fall to the floor – once cut off – remain lifeless and still. They roll a high Perception Check as they get a glimpse at the slime under the surface. Cypress shouts to the others, “I can’t sense any weaknesses, but it was summoned with some kind of lightning, so it will be immune to that. The goo inside is too wet to burn, but too warm to freeze, so it will be resistant to Fire and Cold!”
Rae does a double jump off the edge of the table and swings. Her staff knocks loose some chains and pipes. Then she lands and swings again for 15 total damage, before she pushes a jet of Ki out from her hand, using it to push her quickly back to safety before the monster has a chance to retaliate (retreating without taking an attack of opportunity).
Sorin casts Chill Touch and the ha-
Wait, it’s resistant to cold.
Ashley: “Um… it’s not cold damage.”
Oh that’s right. God, that is the worst name for a necromancer spell…
-the hand rips through the center of the shambling thing’s chest, phasing past the ropes and hoses, emerging on the other side with a fist full of the dark shiny ooze.
Ari draws her thin sword and keeps it in a low guard. With the hilt up and the blade down, she sights along the line of the quillon, studying her target and casting True Strike. Now, in her dominant eye – as if staring bright color for too long – she can see the faint glowing light around weak spots in the things roiling mass. Then she ducks and hides (rolling a nat’ 1) under the table to avoid another hurled body.
The Shambling Mound steps forward taking a small bit of damage from the Chromatic Caltrop. It places both fists on the laden table and flips it, yeeting everything into the air.
Everyone, make Dex Saves to avoid flying debris. Ari, your Nat’ 1 on hiding comes in here, you automatically fail the check and take *rolls dice* 4 damage as the back end of the table comes down and hits you in the head.
Brooke, Sighing: “Yeah, that’s fair.”
tZulèe and Sorin have advantage, since they’re in the hall and things will have to bounce off to hit them.
Rae ducks out of the way, as the table she just jumped off of goes hurtling past her.
The scale hits Cypress for 5 damage.
A large green gem bounces off the far wall and – as the table clatters to the floor upside down – hits Sorin in the shoulder for 3, while a couple glass jars hit tZulèe for 2 damage.
For the first time in days, Cypress draws his short sword. Along with Sheela's spiritual sickle, he hucks off pieces of pipes and hoses from the beast.
Rae trips over a natural 1, and then jumps to her feet, unleashing an embarrassed Flurry of blows.
Sorin swings around the corner of the entry again, casting a second Chill Touch, and ducking back for cover before he can even see if it hits.
Her head still smarting, Ari jumps forward and slices bits of rope from the Shambling Mound with her rapier.
After taking 51 collective damage this round, the Shambling Mound is bloodied… or slimed… i guess. The thick shell of ropes, hoses, and chains is beginning to fall away to reveal the oozy mass pulsating around a roughly stick-figure skeleton of rusty pipes. It steps forward in a rage and slams two still heavy fists into Rae and Cypress. Rae manages to back out of the swirling mass trying to grapple her; but Cypress is held firm as the giant fist of slimy tubes pulls him into the air.
Next is a-
Actually, you know what, let’s stop here…
“I forgot an end quote… again.”
–Kai, 3/3/24
Ending Table Talk 3/3:
So why did we stop there? And why is this a two-part summary? Well, the most basic answer was, it was very close to our regular out time, and i was extremely tired. I have a full time managerial job working night shifts on top of all this typing and D&D stuff; and because of circumstances at work i was in the middle of a 15 overnight streak. But more to the point, the monster had just been bloodied that round, and i want to get the players comfortable with the idea that it is okay sometimes to break up – and then resume – a fight. We’re getting into higher leveled monsters all the time. This Shambling Mound had 168 HP and an AC of 15. That’s on the easier side of the bigger monsters and bosses to come. There will be times when we just don’t have 6-7 hours to dedicate to a single fight, and while i don’t want to make it a regular thing, it is good to remember we can break it up.
This is a (mild) example of reskinning a monster – using a monster’s stat block for a different or altered creature. In this case all i did was, well, change the skin. I altered the appearance and the background a little; ropes instead of vines, etc. It is not at all uncommon for DM’s to reskin monster stats when something doesn’t quite fit. We throw something into the world, find the nearest, closest stat block we can; then tweak a few things here and there to make it fit.
Starting Table Talk 3/10:
Salt testing. Since it came up a while back about fair and unfair dice, especially with all the hundreds of kinds of dice on the market (liquid core, resin, squishy, bouncy, metal, skeletal, dry core, etc.), i showed everyone the basics of Salt Testing Dice. We had a good bit of fun and made a bit of a mess doing it (that’s what she said). I stressed that this is one of the reasons that dice towers are so popular. While they aren’t perfect randomizers, good dice towers that bounce dice 2-3 times, and roll them briefly at the bottom can do a lot to even out the smaller issues with imperfect dice.
We discussed XP again and i reminded Brooke and Sarah about their voluntary assignment to get me a list of everything the Thug Muggers did in town.
As i’ve been going back and re-edit the old summaries, i added a thread in our discord server. It’s a collection of the Table Talk sections i write up in these summaries. That way it is easy for anyone to search through if there is a question about a homebrew rule, or a mechanical decision we’ve made.
A little heads up to the reader here, if you are someone who pays attention to the pictures and memes i post in these summaries. During the week’s break, i did get the Shambling Mound figure painted, so it will look different in the second half of this. I tried to paint it, keeping in mind that it is reskinned as a sewer monster of ropes and hoses.
🛡️🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿Chapter 11: A Mound of Terror (cont.)
🛡️🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿Chapter 11: A Mound of Terror (cont.)
At the crack of dawn, a young man with a dream wakes up in a bed on the fifth floor. After years of dreaming big impressive dreams, he’s sure that this is the day! He gets ready and grabs the worn out sodden leather case sitting on his only chair, then heads out to the city. He walks across town, past The Post, and all the way up Jar St. to the end. He waits anxiously at the elegant doors of the Elven Bank, holding the thread bare suitcase to his side. Inside is everything he has. All the ideas, neatly laid down on paper. Yesterday he spent his last gold coins in Clerkstreet, in one of the more respectable cheap offices to get the last of the ideas written out. When the bank door opens, everything is going to change!
But that was a few hours ago, and doesn’t matter down here anyways. Here, sixty feet underground (ten feet for the ordinary cellars, plus ten for the earth spacing, plus twenty for the first sewers and twenty more for the earth spacing before this second level).
Down here an old sergeant is scratching away at a worn and dirty ledger with a reed pen. He’s crossing out some names and marking stars next to others, when the flying snake next to him looks up. He follows the snake's gaze and sees the table fall off the wall and to the ground. “Flung from the room, I’m guessing.”
As the table smashes apart on the floor, Sorin rubs his shoulder and tZulèe rubs its head where the debris hit them. Inside the room, Ari is standing in front of the oozing bloodied Shambling Mound. She is panting from the fight and holding her rapier in an aggressive guard, her True Sight is still giving her advantage on where and when to attack.
Rae staggers back, narrowly avoiding the rope and chain tentacles reaching out for her.
The slumped face of the Shambling Mound seems to smile behind its hoses. It gives that mucky malicious smile as it lifts the entangled Cypress high into the air.
Okay, We’re back in initiative, and Cypress, you’re up first.
…
Reader, i’ll spare you the eight hundred and nine minutes of deciding and discussing that took place here, and just jump ahead.
While the glowing sickle hacks at the Shambling Mound, Cypress – still buried inside the tangled mass – Wild Shapes into a Poisonous Snake.
Rae has had enough. She spits on her hands and nods to her staff. Then, she points to the outfield and swings.
“OH MY GOD IT”S A CRITICAL HIT! She’s done it, she's got the homerun!”
The staff’s collar of mimic teeth rips the remaining hoses and chains on that side, sending them flying. Then Rae uses her Ki to unleash another Flurry of Blows, diving hir hands into the belly of the beast, and ripping them back with rope, bits of pipe, and handfuls of sludge.
Now the once towering mound of sewer parts and slime, is just a ragged pipe stick figure on one side covered in ooze and slime with the other side pushing all the remaining tubes and chains to one hand, keeping the snake within contained. Rae has taken it, in one turn from 62 HP to 20.
Sorin pokes his head around the wall again and casts Magic Missile. Before ducking back behind the cover of the wall, not even seeing the damage.
The Mound is far reduced now as it Shambles around, staggering over the weight of its one awkward and uneven body. It uses its last strength to tighten and crunch the last remaining hoses and ropes around Cypress the Snake for 16 damage.
With her True Sight in her eyes, Ari approaches, intent on cutting off the hand holding her friend. She goes to swing, but the Shambling thing staggers, fearfully moving its hand in front of its eyes. Ari’s blade follows the movement and, at the same time, she steps into the blow. Her blade slices through the hand, and the neck beyond. The hand falls to the floor and the snake slithers out, then the head tumbles back. The slime covered pipe-stick-figure staggers forward one step at a time. The joints and bits collapsing off of it as it does, until only a puddle of rapidly drying sludge is left on the floor.
The Shambling Mound… is vanquished.
Ari sees the snake is a bloodied mess and sets down a Health Potion. The snake slithers inside the bottle, drinking it up with unblinking eyes.
Rae finds 69 Gold on the Thug in the middle of the room.
Then Ari moves to investigate the thug who had their spine broken backwards around the wall. She can’t find any clues as to the Thug’s mission or why they were making a Shambling Mound, but as she turns the body over, an intrusive thought pops into her head.
And i want to make it very clear, this was Ari/Brooke’s decision. I gave her the thought, but SHE chose to let the intrusive thought win.
Ari reaches into the mass of protruding gore that used to be this woman’s chest, and grabs hold of a rib. She pulls. With a loud echoing CRACK and split, she pulls away two ribs still half attached at the sternum – like when you grab a banana and accidentally two pull away from the bunch.
Everyone, make Constitutional Saving throws.
Cypress is still eyeball deep in the bottle and doesn’t notice, or care.
Rae glances over and sees Ari holding the ribs and shrugs.
Sorin was just walking into the room, and watched the whole thing. He is now Frightened of Ari – a person he has watched become increasingly violent over the past couple weeks. He flees the room.
Cypress the Snake extricates himself from the bottle and transforms back into hobbit shape. He drags the two dead bodies to the corner and arranges them in suitable poses (or as close as he can, since one is a backwards L piece starting just under her lungs), and prays for their souls.
The wizard is pacing in the hallway. Or trying to pace. He walks away from the entrance, turns to walk back, hesitates, then turns and walks away a few more steps.
Okay, that was fun, go ahead and roll a Con Check to end your Fear so we can get back t-
Ashley: “Oh my god! That’s a nat’ one!”
Sorin has now one-way paced himself over to Bostra and is freaking out. “Bostra, I-I-I don’t know if I can do this…”
Bostra sighs and puts away his things to talk and calm the lad down.
Okay, so roll a Performance Check, this is just a nice easy check to see if Bostra can recognize your shock – which i’m sure he will – or think you just-
Ashley, head in her hands: “That’s another 1.”
…
Bostra looks at the boy and sees his shaking arms and stutter. He sees Sorin fighting some internal thoughts… And completely misinterprets it! “Fight it boy, fight it!” He leaps up and dives onto Sorin. With a high Grapple roll, he holds the wizard down to the ground, keeping one hand over Sorin’s wrist and one arm near his neck. “You’ve been Mind controlled Sorin. Fight it!”
“Akris, help! Go get the others, quick!” They both shout in unison.
As the others pile out into the hallway to take in the scene, Sorin very fortunately does not roll a high enough Perception Check to see Ari. But unfortunately, Ari rolls low on Insight and readies her hand on her dagger.
Cypress, however, rolls a very high insight. He looks at Ari’s bloody hands, the new rib tucked in her belt, Sorin’s twitching arms, and Bostra’s frightened expression. He pieces everything together. Sorin saw Ari take the rib. Sorin thought Ari was going feral. Sorin came to talk to Bostra, shaking from shock. Bostra (a man raised since birth in a paranoid family to expect assassinations, and a career soldier with probable mental scarring) heard a Gazer, didn’t know the fight was over, and made an extremely bad call. He looks at the cop, “The fight’s over, Bostra. We just ended it. And I tended to the bodies.”
Sorin give me another Con Check now just to officially be unfrightened and make this all okay so we can get back t-
Ashley, nearly crying, and muffled through her hands: “I’ve used a new dice every time and it’s still landed on a 1.”
He looks up from Sorin, “I heard a Gazer, it could have implanted instructions.”
“It didn’t have time.” Rae points out. “It died right away.”
Bostra loosens his grip and looks at them, “How did it die?”
“Laughing.” Rae says.
“Not. Helping.” Cypress whispers through gritted teeth. Then turning back to the scene at hand, “It ripped its own eye stalks off to summon a Shambling Mound.”
“Ah…” Bostra says, cheeks reddening with embarrassment, “Then it wouldn’t have been able to…. Well then, I misunderstood. I’m very sorry.” He helps Sorin up from the ground.
“I think I can explain everything over a pot of tea,” Cypress begins.
Okay. Ashley. With advantage now from Bostra and Cypress, roll a very easy Con Check and end this.
Sarah: “Here use my dice this time.”
Ashley, laughing: “Thank you.”
Ashley: [silence]
It isn’t.
Ashley: “Just look.”
Ari are you still…
Sorin starts dusting himself off and looks up. Before anyone has a chance to calm down, he sees Ari standing back by the entrance to the room in a ready crouch with a hand on her dagger.
He bolts.
Cypress looks back and groans. Then runs after Sorin pushing past Bostra, “All of you just… just stay here!”
Sorin, you’ve run your full movement now, so you have a chance. You’ve used five separate dice. Just don’t roll a 1 and we can end this.
Brooke: “Try one of mine.”
…
Nymbus, getting up from the table and leaving the room: “Oh come on!”
…
Okay… Which way?
Ashley: “What?”
You’ve come to the intersection, so which way are you going, north or south?
Ashley, pointing at the map: “Um, that way I guess.”
Sorin runs all the way up the hall to the north, right up to the door there to the caves, frantical looking back down the hall, and back into the windows of the door.
Thinking hard about therapy animals and service dogs, Cypress thinks back on their conversations with Sorin. They remember how jealous the boy was when they told everyone about the time in the woods when they got to cuddle with the bear cubs. They use the last bit of their Wild Shape and transform into a cuddly Sun Bear pup.
Then Cypress the Cub slowly and cutely walks up the corridor to Sorin with big watery eyes just begging to be hugged.
Triple. Advantage. Use my dice!
Ashley: “5…”
Ashley: “14…”
Ashley: “20!”
Sorin falls to his knees and hugs the bear.
He can feel his heart slow and his breathing relax as he finally calms down.
Meow
…
That’s not what the bear says…
Meow
…
Scritch scritch scratch
Meow
What was-
“Game called on account of cat.”
— Kai, 3/10/24
Table talk:
Ari the Cat settling in on top of the Nibiru city map blanket.
There was no table talk this week, and the game ended unexpectedly. Right after Ashley finally got anything other than a 1, there was… a meowening. We’d left the door open to the screen in the nice weather, and we heard a meowing and scritching. Nymbus announced it was a cat… and the game was over. The kitty was an adorable gray tabby, and was starving. She was very friendly and not scared of people at all. While Nymbus fed her canned chicken, I checked her for an RFID chip tag (none), and did the little bit i know, to check for pregnancy and broken bones. Taking turns to watch and pet the sweet girl, we packed up our stuff and got Sarah's old kennel. At the local shelter, they got a picture of her and checked again for an under the skin tag. Unfortunately they couldn’t keep her there. Nymbus called the Norfolk Police and filed a found pet report (Not necessary but good practice in case anyone comes looking for her, or if she is found to have any diseases). She is now back in Omaha with Nymbus, in solitary bathroom quarantine, and we are getting daily updates until her appointment next week to get a check up, shots, and a tag. Her official name is Commandant Artemis Asbestos Valros III (Ari the cat). She is an absolute sweetheart and, i am still mad that i couldn’t keep her.
