Session 9: Lend Me A HandThe group consisted of Tex, Tolrin, and Dalthar. Hunterkiller was unavailable, and thus his new character will have to wait until next time.
The session begins with the group immediately deciding to split in order to get their final preparations underway. Dalthar headed out in search of the local serpent cult, and Tex (with Tolrin) went to pick up his customized 10 foot pole.
Tex's travels were relatively unhindered, learning that the pole was made both to specifications and was designed with fairly sturdy joints. The three sections of 3.5 foot bars could screw together, forming a 3.5, 7, or 10.5 foot pole depending on how many were connected in succession. Afterward, Tex, mentioned to Tolrin that he wished to collect some livestock for something based within the occult. Tolrin knew the city did not handle livestock trade for the most part, and for any large quantity to be purchased, it would need to be done at the source: farms approximately 5 days' travel from Vornheim. Considering this as too much of an investment, Tex concluded his journey back at the agreed upon meeting point to wait for Dalthar.
Dalthar spent some time searching for signs or markings that might reveal the location of a cultist or meeting location, but largely found nothing but etched graffiti and possible thieves' marks on establishments of possible wealth. Not the sort to give up after just one attempt, Dalthar went to a tavern to see if someone local might know something about it. He failed to understand the barkeep's allusions to bribery in order to get information, but gladly paid him after being outright told. While the man wasn't absolutely certain it was the desired group, he mentioned that some individuals congregate in social gathering points, many of which sported similar reptilian markings as Dalthar had. If they kept to their rotation, the group should gather at an upscale place by the name of The Upper Clavicle in two days. Dalthar considered this enough of a victory, and returned to the tavern his party used as their staging point.
After recollecting, Tex lamented over his inability to get livestock, which got Dalthar thinking. He had barely explored the uses of his secret of growth, and wished for a live subject. He dared not use it on a person, as being 12 feet tall would be a problem to say the least. Livestock meant for consumption would be a general benefit if successful and cause relatively few issues on a failure. It was near the evening by this point and Tolrin mentioned that scavengers were at their thickest in the labyrinth at night. It would be best to go in the early morning to dodge competition. Dalthar took this chance to announce he was going to a butcher in order to find some animals for his own purposes, which gave Tex new hope for his plans.
Dalthar entered the butchery, and informed the man that he would like to experiment on one of his cattle meant for butchery in the near future. When asked why, he stated that he could get twice as much meat out of the animal, if he was successful. The man felt like he had little to lose since it wasn't his only cow in stock, and allowed Dalthar the opportunity after clarifying that the meat was still going to be his and this was being done free of charge. Dalthar went to work, and successfully doubled the cow in size. Shocked by the now-massive cow in its stall, Dalthar thanked the man and informed him that he'd return in a few days to learn if the effect stuck, or if it would be undone. He specifically dictated health issues were a priority, should the cow be kept alive during this time.
Tex took this chance to see how much other stock the man would be willing to sell, since he needed a lot of cattle to guarantee the success of his spell. After shaking himself out of it, the butcher stated he had ten he'd be willing to sell, as the price of feed and the local demand didn't really make 10 necessary and he wasn't sure how much he'd need to feed this behemoth. Glad to pay the man 100 silver for 10 cattle, he then asked the butcher for a hireling to help him get the cattle out of Vornheim, since the butcher most likely would need such hirelings to get the cattle here in the first place. While getting this set up, Tex giddily informed Dalthar of the cattles' fate (spell components), to which Dalthar politely declined witnessing such acts.
Forty minutes to an hour outside of Vornheim, Tex set up a temporary corral to hold the cattle, and went about scribing a summoning circle. He handed Tolrin his pack in case anything went wrong, then began to summon a creature using the 10 cattle as collateral. Due to some choice rolls, the cthuloid creature he summoned was constructed entirely of antimatter, and due to the immense bonus from sacrificing 10 cows to it, he gained permanent control over the beast. It was a hazy thing that Tex could not focus on, and it seemed to create a distortion effect within the summoning circle. Tex knew he gained full control over it, and thus told the monster to touch a tree to see what would happen. As soon as the creature breached the summoning circle, the circle lost its protective qualities and air particles (matter) began touching the creature made of antimatter. This created a deafening explosion and a concussive blast, nearly slaughtering Tex in a single blow and forcing Tolrin back, even though Tolrin was extremely far away. Tex was barely conscious, and as he watched the monster take another step toward the tree, he succumbed to his fate. However, in a matter of split seconds before his demise, Tex remembered that he probably should have dismissed the creature when he saw its strange qualities, for that was why he'd taken the time to learn Dismissal.
Tex is dead. First suicide, and first time a player used Summon!
Tolrin immediately ran from the scene, horrified over the turn of events and the fact that the explosions were seemingly growing ever louder and affecting a wider distance. Of course, the blasts he felt after running for a good 30 minutes were nothing more than strange, rhythmic breezes pushing outward, he chose to sit for 2 hours in order to gauge if the monstrosity had stopped exploding. While the explosions occurred less often, it appeared as though there were still plenty of antimatter remaining, and the explosions wouldn't be ending any time soon. He moved toward the scene, but found trees, rocks, and even the earth missing in places, either torn asunder from a blast or simply not being. He still felt explosions, but he dared not get closer, as he was certain Tex's corpse would not exist after seeing the environment. And so, he returned to town hoping that whole problem would boil over. Fortunately, the noise did not seem to travel to Vornheim, but he was certain the lights it made could be seen.
During this time, Dalthar remained in his room, intent on testing the secrets of scale more thoroughly. He attempted to double a silver coin in size, but instead became fairly confused as his genitals began to go wild, writhing uncontrollably. Taking off his undergarments, he found that his member had transformed into a wild serpent that was apparently angry. He attempted to speak with the snake as he had no control over it, but it did not respond as it continued to flail about. He decided that he would deal with it later, and thus began to rewrap his nether region, an act the snake did not take too kindly, lashing out and biting Dalthar. Being a snake cultist rendered him immune to the poison of his new attachment, but it still caused some pain that was more or less negligible.
Dalthar waited ten minutes to gauge the snake's reaction to being bound once more, and it seemed after some time that the snake was less berserk and more in dire need of escape, based on its movements. It was at this time Dalthar removed his cloth codpiece once more, asking the snake if it was ready to talk. It asked what it was doing in his pants, to which Dalthar responded that it was the will of the gods, and asked the snake if it had died or displeased the gods recently. It swore upon hearing the "died" part, to which Dalthar exclaimed this was a rather strange method of reincarnation, and he would attempt to give the snake a body of its own. His invocation was successful, and the serpent seemingly pulled the rest of itself out of Dalthar's groin, leaving behind a rather alien member and granting the snake freedom from a life of coexistence with a pair of underpants.
When warned about the cold weather of the local environment, the snake claimed it would have no issue with such conditions. Dalthar offered to bring it to the outskirts of town in order to keep it from being slain on departure, to which it accepted, slithering around Dalthar's arm to better hide. It was at this time Dalthar realized the snake was warm-blooded, an interesting attribute. He asked the snake that, before they depart, if he could read it, for it was a divinely-crafted creature. It agreed, to which Dalthar learned of the theory behind splicing attributes of creatures to generate a unique result, such as a warm-blooded snake in order to better survive in often-cold climates. As he did this, the serpent confirmed this concept by stating that he was warm due to being of Dalthar's flesh, whom was a warm-blooded animal as well. The snake was then brought to the forest's edge with little trouble, and the snake was released into the wild.
After Tolrin returned without Tex, Dalthar inferred that the worst had occurred and Tex was no more. They decided to see what tomorrow would hold to gauge if just the two would delve into the labyrinth. It was fortunate that the very next morning, the group took notice of a moleman that seemed to have recently dropped into Vornheim. With so few hands remaining, Tolrin took to speaking with this individual that sat alone. The duergar went by the name of Sam, and while he had little more than the clothes on his back and a decent selection of weapons, he'd come to Vornheim in order to make bank. He'd always felt at his best beneath the earth, and with a giant underground labyrinth as its main attraction, Vornheim seemed like the best of both worlds: coin, and going underground. After haring Tolrin was already acting as a guide and they'd be setting off soon, Sam was quickly recruited after receiving some equipment from the recently departed Tex, whose pack was carried by Tolrin far from the chaotic events of the day before.
Sam: A strong and healthy moleman, he's out for coin and isn't out to cause trouble. Duergar. Played by DizzyXI.
Feeling much safer with the rather beefy-looking duergar to head the front, the group immediately went to one of the entrances Tolrin knew about and dove right in. Sam asked the others for a Torch, and while Tolrin and Dalthar fiddled about with their equipment, he pulled out his own torch, lit it, and bound it outward on his heavy shield. He then took up the frontmost position while Dalthar kept the rear, and they all meandered down the twisting halls of the labyrinth. As they continued, Dalthar took notice of there being a large number of rats lining both the walls. As they continued, the rats were clustering in surprisingly large numbers, sometimes climbing over themselves to keep to certain areas. Concerned over the number of rats, Dalthar halted the group and asked for the group to do something to thin the vermin out. Tolrin began loading scattershot into one of his guns, then started on the next. Sam saw the rats as being no problem, even though as he watched, a couple larger ones moved over the clusters, their eyes a bright, reflective red in the torchlight.
Fight 1 Begin (I'm going to try putting the fights into sections. Rounds may get repetitive to read for longer fights, but I do not want to leave out stuff that happened)
Dalthar, certain the rats were about to try something, invoked to scare them away. This failed, and the rats initiated their attack as more large ones clambered down the hall. Sam was virtually unaffected by these rats, their teeth finding no purchase between his armor and thick skin. Dalthar invoked once more, this time creating a terrifying serpentine phantasm that wrapped around himself and drew shadows into itself. The rats did not care in the least, but Tolrin, not used to Dalthar's snake-summoning methods, became paralyzed with fear. The rats that had initially struck Sam moved onto Dalthar and Tolrin, this time finding much greater success in nibbling the two less-armored sorts. 4 more large rats charged down the hallway, striking the wall that was Sam and doing nothing. Sam responded by mashing one of the rats with his weapon.
Dalthar attempted to invoke once more, this time to poison the rats. This was unsuccessful. Tolrin was still paralyzed with snake-fear, and the rats once again nibbled away at Dalthar and Tolrin's ankles and legs. Sam executed another rat and they continued to fail against his superior armor.
It was at this time that Dalthar figured Tolrin might be useful, and thus invoked to purge Tolrin of his feat for snakes (or at least this one), to which Tolrin immediately snapped to after realizing the guy covered in scales probably meant to have a snake wrapped around him, and this was not something to freak out about. He put away the gun he was loading, then drew a new gun. He fired at a rat near his feet, missing. No longer paralyzed in fear, the rats failed to strike Tolrin, but they made up for it by nibbling twice as hard on Dalthar.
Dalthar quickly healed himself of his wounds, as he was nearly unconscious from the minor cuts and bruises these rats were subjecting him to. Tolrin took this moment to back down an adjacent corridor in order to get some spread on his only loaded scattershot weapon, to which the rats did not mind. Sam slaughtered another one, but the two that were on Tolrin returned to him. This unfortunately did nothing, for the iron curtain has nothing on Sam. That is not as true for Dalthar, who got nibbled again.
Tolrin unleashed his scattershot weapon, instantly killing three of the rats and leaving only two alive. Seeing that it was mostly cleared up and there were no rats around Sam, Dalthar walked over to him for protection, which he gladly walked into the remaining rats and skewered a fourth. After the final rat made a berserk final attack (which once again harmlessly bounced off Sam), Tolrin pulled a fourth gun and splattered its remains across the corridor.
Fight 1 EndInjured from the fight, Dalthar immediately attempted to heal himself. He unfortunately found himself unable to, and as a further consequence, his right tail-leg began to wrap and meld with his left leg, growing long and thick. Dalthar no longer has legs, he's got more of a lamia-thing going on from the hips down. He's gained an inherent knowledge of how to move this new appendage, but at nearly 10 feet long, it is rather unwieldy to say the least. As he rose, Tolrin decided that he'd be better off just dealing with the consequences of his wounds rather than get healed by Dalthar, as losing his legs is not very high on his list. Sam took a breather, and was otherwise unharmed by the entire exchange.
With that done, the group continued down the twisting halls, finding nothing of significance until they reached an ancient-looking grate. Sam pulled it up to see only darkness below. He tossed a length of rope down to figure its depth, and it appeared to only be one floor down. He tied the rope to the grate's hinges, and after Tolrin double-checked the knot-work and gave it his seal of approval, Sam was the first to go down to the next floor, as they needed someone to make sure the local area was clear before trying to figure out a way to get Dalthar's serpent-body down the hole safely.
It turns out the rope wasn't tied that well, and Tolrin came crashing down ten feet, snuffing his torch from the impact and causing some minor injury. As he looked up from the darkness, he called for another torch, which shortly thereafter he was charged by a beast lurking within the shadows.
Fight 2 StartThe creature slammed Sam to the ground, taking a swipe with its partially rusted cudgel and swinging wide. Tolrin lit a new torch, then balanced it along the edge of the hole so that the light could illuminate the area below, but he would not need to carry it. Sam used this moment to swing at the shadowed rat-beast that wore tattered armor, connecting with its skull but apparently not causing it that great of harm. It was more angry than wounded. Dalthar slithered to the hole in order to witness the fight, then invoked to numb the creature's limbs after seeing the bludgeon it was wielding.
It swung again, this time connecting. It was momentarily confused as its swing felt clumsy and weak by comparison to its brutal potential, but regardless, it struck true, and Sam's armor couldn't absorb the entirety of the blow. Tolrin pulled two pistols and fired, but both pistols missed their mark. Dalthar attempted to further confound the beast, but he instead caused his lower half to become more constrictor-like and thick rather than the slender iteration it started as.
The rat made one final swing against Sam, to which it nearly caved Sam's skull in with a fairly critical blow. Tolrin missed two more times with two new pistols, and Dalthar gave his best attempt to enhance the poison already within the beast's system in order to put it into a coma. While he could have sworn it was successful, the beast seemed to shrug it off and look up toward the light. This caused Tolrin to back away from the opening, readying to fire upon the beast should it jump out.
It instead jumped to the hole, grabbing Dalthar and through a feat of sheer strength, managed to yank the 10-foot snakebutt through the hole, albeit a bit slowly. It attempted to cudgel Dalthar after doing so, but failed. With Sam nearly bled out completely, Dalthar took this moment to purge the unconscious man's wounds, but this did not come without a price. More importantly, it did not immediately awaken the Duergar. Tolrin returned to the hole after seeing Dalthar fall in, then took a couple potshots at the beast. His bullets struck true, making the beast fairly mad about that.
It jumped up again, this time solidly to the floor. He failed at bludgeoning Tolrin, to which Tolrin responded with pulling a scattershot weapon and firing point-blank into the rat-man's face, tearing it asunder and leaving little to recognize.
Fight 2 EndWith the rat-man dispatched, Dalthar set about a focused effort on awakening Sam. He awoke, but felt a mysterious loss of his right arm's function. After unhinging the armor of that area to get a better look, Sam realized his right arm was no more; there was just an emerald-scaled nub in its place. Concerned with his ability to climb ropes (such as the one that he'd be using to get off this floor at some point), he begged Dalthar to see if he could fix it.
Dalthar attempted once, and instead of granting an arm, his face flaked away and pushed out into that of a monstrous snake's. He tried a second time, but due to his wording, Sam's left arm instead disappeared into his body, making him the Black Knight. He asked Sam if he wished to have it attempted again, to which Sam stated that he was either getting limbs out of this, or he was going to sleep face-down in the first puddle they can find.
With confirmation, Dalthar altered his wording to specify a dragon, as Wyrms were considered serpents of a sort and it was the only serpent Dalthar could think of that had limbs. Before he could gain such a boon, Dalthar first needed to consume a rat. With so many rats sitting about, Dalthar asked Tolrin to shoot one. With complete confidence that his gods will protect him, Dalthar downed the rat whole, and was greeted with an overwhelmingly positive feeling that he should eat more rats. While Sam wasn't ecstatic about the reptilian limbs that grew from the nubs, he wasn't picky at this point. They lacked thumbs, but the claws themselves looked pretty dangerous. In addition, the wording and power placed behind this invocation caused Sam's legs to also morph into digitigrade draconic limbs. Sam figured this was good enough, and he carefully wrapped one limb around his shield and tried clawing at the air.
Sam then informed the party of that creature's origin: it is a being by the name of Dvargeld. They are distant cousins to the Duergar, but they are blindly aggressive and live in relative squalor as they don't build much of their own. Where there is one, there is usually hundreds more. For these reasons, Sam recommended the group remain very quiet, and to be careful. And it was at this point the session ended. Until next time!
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