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  1. #81
    Zenspeedstr's Avatar
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    Recap Part 2

    Sankhur healed Rowan's injuries, and the party interrogated her when she regained consciousness. Bart negotiated a deal with his old enemy that would clear him of all charges in the dockside murders, while also keeping Rowan's neck from the hangman's noose as leader of the Lotus Dragons. The plan was to pin everything on Vanthus, the proof being the maps and notes recovered from the Lotus' lair, Vanthus' confessions in his own hand to the murder of his parents and attempted murder of the party, and the corroboration of the testimony from Rowan, the daughter of one of Sasserine's Noble Houses. According to the agreement, the party would claim that the Lotus' hideout was the ruins beneath Parrot Island, the companions hoping to make use of the base within the city for themselves. Vanthus would be named as the leader of the Lotus Dragons, and Rowan's only involvement would be downplayed into Vanthus' mistress. In return, the party agreed to get Rowan out of Sasserine to nearby city of Calderone, in order for her to not only escape Sasserinian Justice, but also the (possibly murderous) wrath of her mother, Heldrath. In order to seal the deal, and to remind Rowan of the consequences of betraying them, Deacon employed Elemental Manipulation to burn the Lotus Dragon Tattoo from her arm.

    Collecting Niemen and Churtle from the Taxidermists' shop, the companions returned to the Vanderboren Estate. They struck a deal with Niemen to continue to watch the entrance to the lair as their employee. As a bonus, he agreed to identify magic items that they acquired for no charge. The party returned the Vanderboren fortune to Lavinia, filling her in about the deeds of her blackhearted sibling. They convinced Lavinia to hire Captain Amelia and Tavey to Captain the Blue Nixie for her, and persuaded Captain Amelia to take on Churtle as ship's cook. Greenie and Sankhur brought a local Captain of the City Guard to take their statements and receive their evidence. He assured Bart that charges would be dropped against him.

    Lavinia agreed to have the Jade Ravens escort Rowen to Calderone the following day. Before parting company, Rowen offered two additional pieces of information to the companions. She said that her second Lieutenant-- Kersh-- was out to steal the journal they were having transcribed at the WitchWarden Tower. She reminded them that Kersh likes to torture his victims, and pointed them to a Warehouse the Lotus used as a safehouse on the other side of the city, where they might find him. The second bit of information regarded Vanthus. Her former lover was headed to Kraken Cove on foot-- a journey that would take him a week, two days of which had already passed. Rowan assured them that if they travel by sea, they could arrive at Kraken Cove before Vanthus.

    The companions quickly conferred, and decided that they had to track down the book first, making preparations to hunt down Kresh that very night. The following day, they would get Captain Amelia to sail them to Kraken Cove aboard the Blue Nixie.
    Last edited by Zenspeedstr; November 16th, 2017 at 03:23.

  2. #82
    Awesome as always!

  3. #83
    Zenspeedstr's Avatar
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    Ayo, folks. Got another recap for you. I'm actually a day early this time (or you know-- almost three weeks late, depending on your perspective).

    Unfortunately, I won't be able to play this Friday. It's my sister-in-law's 50th birthday and my wife wants to throw her a big over-the-hill bash. I'll be an hour away at kickoff time. You have my permission to run Deacon (and Presto) as party characters in my absence. Just remember how I usually play him-- Deacon tastes all potions to make sure they aren't poisonous, opens all doors and chests, and always charges the biggest enemy in the room for melee combat. Oh yeah-- somebody PLEASE take good notes for me! It's killing me to have to miss this one.

    Without further ado--

    Recap

    Last time, in Savage Tides

    Welcome to Thunderdome

    Having learned from the captive Rowen Kolanni, aka the Lady Lotus, of a plot by her former Lieutenant Kresh to steal the notebook of Lavinia's mother Larissa from the Witchwarden Tower where the party had left it for translation, the companions quickly decided that recovering the book should be their first objective, especially given Kresh's cruel love of torture and the fact that he had captured one of the scribes whose very life was now in danger. Having made arrangements for Captain Amelia, Tavey, Niemen, Churtle, and Rowen, and having delivered their testimonies to the authorities to clear Bart's name, they made haste for the warehouse Rowen had indicated that Kresh would probably be using. It was still in the pre-dawn hours that they arrived at their destination.

    The Warehouse was quite large, standing 15-20' tall. They could see light spilling from beneath the double doors on the front of the structure. Scouting the perimeter revealed a second smaller door to the left of the double doors on the front, and another small door on the right side of the building toward the rear. Greenie was still at the Blue Nixie finalizing arrangements with the captain, and thus was not available to scout the location for the party as usual. Deacon asked Presto to climb to the roof to look in through the small skylights, since his ties to the familiar had only recently deepened and Deacon now found that he could now perceive the world through Presto's senses.

    Presto's vantage point afforded them a good view of the interior. It was well-lit with torches and lanterns. There were piles of crates and barrels, stacked almost to the ceiling in some areas. They counted seven members of the Lotus Dragons milling about, and in the center of the warehouse the crates had been stacked in a large semi-circle-- the center of which was mounded with straw, atop which a dire wolf was resting. There was also a fairly large office area to the front, which Presto couldn't see into.

    Two of the Lotus members were standing guard to either side of the large double doors, and another was on guard near the rear entrance. The companions decided to try their luck with the smaller door on the front that opened into the office area, hoping to catch the occupants by surprise. Mal listened at the door and heard a male voice crying out in pain, as another male voice shouted: "You will tell me what this means!" The door moved when he listened at it, leaving the party to conclude that it was unlocked.

    Bart rushed the door, breaking it down. Two more Lotus Dragons were inside, one with a bow drawn, facing the door. The party had apparently lost the element of surprise when the door moved, and the guards were waiting for them. Firing the double-shot pistol he retrieved from Rowan, Bart dispatched one of the guards. The door to an inner office burst open, and Kresh himself emerged. He was covered in blood and swinging an axe in each hand. Kresh managed to land a glancing blow against Bart, before being fairly eviscerated by Bart's "Marlin Spike" hook-hand. Mal thundered into the room close on Bart's heels in time to deliver the coup de grace to Rowan's former lieutenant.

    Before the party's casters had time to enter the fray, the double doors burst open and two guards rushed out, throwing daggers at Deacon, who retaliated with a split Cinder Bolt. As if on cue, Greenie arrived and came running forward, having heard the sounds of combat ahead. Sankhur blessed the party, increasing their fighting prowess.

    Meanwhile, inside the office area, Mal was hit by a thrown dagger, sending him into a berserk fury. Together, Mal and Bart began to make short work of the remaining guards along with the reinforcements from the warehouse, who rushed to join the battle.

    Outside, Greenie quickly dispatched the two attackers and stealthed through the double-doors into the warehouse, while the battle in the office raged on. The dire wolf, Bluto, joined the conflict along with several more of the Lotus Dragons. One by one the companions dispatched the remaining guards, but in spite of showing nerves of steel in dealing with Bluto's terrifying roars, they were never able to get through the animal's thick hide to cause it any damage. In the end, Bluto rushed past them and escaped into the night as the party dealt with the remaining forces. Near the end of the battle, Mal completely split one of the guardsmen in half with a single thunderous blow. The guard's viscera spilled out across the floor. The final guard, glimpsing the carnage in the office, decided to make a break for it, running toward the Warehouse door-- straight into Greenie's path, who quickly dispatched him.

    In the aftermath of the battle, the party found the scribe bound to a chair and heavily wounded from the torture he had endured. They freed him from his bonds, and Sankhur healed him back to consciousness. As soon as he learned the identity of his rescuers, the scribe-- whose name was Urrol-- began to babble excitedly about Larissa's journal and the island she had described. He requested to speak with Lavinia at length about her mother. The companions found the stolen book on top of a desk in the office area. They also found a manifest, listing cargo purloined from ships by the Lotus Dragons-- cargo that was stored in the vast warehouse.

  4. #84
    Zenspeedstr's Avatar
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    Recap, part deux

    Wanting to get the stolen goods back to their rightful owners, and also hoping to earn a finder's fee but realizing that sorting out the goods could take weeks, they brought Kora Whistlegap from the Vanderboren Estate to oversee the operation for them. Kora volunteered to hire some of her trusted clansmen to assist in guarding, sorting, and distributing the goods. The party gave her 100 gold to pay them with until the operation became self-sustaining. Kora also promised to take Urrol to see Lavinia. Having nothing else pressing to take care of, the companions traveled to the Blue Nixie, ready to set sail for Kraken's Cove in pursuit of Vanthus.

    They found the Nixie ship-shape and ready to sail, but lacking a crew. Making use of their various contacts, the companions were able to round up 15 crewmembers by early afternoon, and as the afternoon waned they set sail.
    The journey took a day and a half. In the evening of the first day, after a hearty meal and a few drinks, Bart found being back at sea was stirring up old memories. Feeling nostalgic, and a little melancholy, he related the story to the company of how he lost his hand:

    Bart had been serving under Verik Vanderboren on one of his whaling ships. It was a stormy day. Bart had been tying off a harpoon when one of the mates fired early. The rope snaked around Bart's wrist and before he could even react his hand was simply gone. Verik himself saved Bart from being pulled overboard and then generously paid to have Bart's hook crafted for him when they returned to Sasserine. Bart still feels indebted to the Vanderboren family for their kindness, and he was sad and angry to learn of Verik's fate at the hands of his own son.

    The trip itself was uneventful, and the company arrived at Kraken's Cove under cover of night. Knowing the Cove to be a refuge of pirates and cutthroats, they decided to put to shore in a hidden cove North of the port and trek the remainder of the way through the Jungle. As they drew near the beach, the jungle suddenly went black. When light returned, they could see a pillar of dark smoke rising from the direction of the beach. Picking up the pace, the party sprinted the last mile.

    They came to a clearing, where a giant boar was being attacked by a swarm of what at first appeared to be tiny monkeys. But as the party drew closer, they saw that the monkeys were actually hideous deformities with extra arms, jaws, or mouths. A wave of feear and nausea passed over them at the sight. They decided to remain hidden while the battle played out. The monkeys soon drove the boar into the treeline, and they were able to pass by unseen.

    The trail ended at a steep cliff overlooking the beach. Large rope-ladder type steps descended down the cliff face. As they looked down, a grim sight greeted them from below. The harbor was a raging inferno. A number of ships were ablaze, and even the very water itself seemed to be on fire. The beach was littered with bodies and detritus from battle. One ship to the side seemed untouched by the conflagration. Greenie thought he could see two figures moving on the beach. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the destruction they were witnesses to, the companions decided to investigate the ship that was not on fire and to offer aid to anyone who might still be alive. Cautiously, they descended the stairs.

    As the Party reached the beach, two monstrous creatures rushed to attack. Seeming almost like larger versions of the monkeys they had seen attacking the boar, the creatures were something straight out of nightmare. They sported multiple monstrous heads with jaws filled with razor sharp teeth and small soulless black eyes like those of a great white. Their limbs were long and contorted at impossible angles thanks to the addition of extra joints. Their skin was scaly and a mottled gray color like that of rotting fish. As if to heap further horrors on the atrocities, the creatures also spouted a couple of squid-like tentacles, but wore ragged clothes, and brandished cutlasses like men.

    The party quickly discovered that the creatures' drool was also acidic in nature. In spite of the monsters' tough hides and strong defenses, the companions quickly dispatched them, only to learn that in death they explode-- leaving behind a pool of virulent acid.

    The beach was a scene of carnage-- littered with battle debris and the corpses of the dead. The companions numbered the corpses as at least 20. The ship that was not ablaze was named the Sea Wyvern, and although seaworthy, it had obviously been docked for repairs. Why it was spared the destruction Vanthus visited upon the rest of the harbor was anyone's guess. Boarding her, the party removed the ship's steering wheel to take with them in order to prevent Lavinia's evil brother from using it as an escape route. Before exploring the island's network of caves, Bart noticed something glinting in the water. Diving down to investigate, he recovered the shattered pieces of a large black pearl still dripping some sort of black fluid. The party deduced that this was the delivery system for whatever was burning the ships in the bay. Steeling themselves for the horrors ahead, they prepared to enter the caverns further up the beach.

  5. #85

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    Is the game this Friday? I thought it was next week. Just checking.
    Fan of Castles and Crusades/Savage Worlds, just about any rpgs.

    I am in Eastern time zone and am fairly open most play times, but do prefer Evening or late night games.

  6. #86
    Back in the saddle this Friday.

  7. #87
    When did we get horses?

  8. #88
    Back on the beach this friday?

  9. #89

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    Woah.I guess it has been 3 weeks. Anyway, cya tonight!
    Fan of Castles and Crusades/Savage Worlds, just about any rpgs.

    I am in Eastern time zone and am fairly open most play times, but do prefer Evening or late night games.

  10. #90
    yeah holidays.

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