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TOPIC: Mummy's Mask discussion

Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 4 months ago #3419

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(Savaged) Mummy’s Mask - Session 5 - 08/10/2018

Meanwhile, across the Morning Sun district; Bes, Cluedo and Guud scaled the outer perimeter of Damej Mahfre’s walled compound and crept towards the main house. The guards stationed around the estate were attentive an vigilant despite the absence of their mistress, but for now at least the heroes remained undetected. Bes waited for the footsteps of the sentry on the balcony to fade, then quickly climbed up, before lowering a rope for the others to follow. Seeing that the mortar around the windows was crumbling, Guud took his dagger and began to chip away at the loose stone around the frame.

“You’re taking too long.” Bes hissed, as the footfalls of the returning guard grew louder.

Slipping his sword from its sheath, Bes pressed himself against the wall, around which the guard would appear at any moment. As the guard turned the corner, eyes widening in surprise, Bes struck the man with the flat of his blade, knocking him out. Guud finally removed the window from its frame and slipped inside the quiet house. Bes and Cluedo followed, dragging the body of the unconscious guard. Quickly, they stripped him of his uniform, which was a perfect fit for the Inspector. Crouching down beside the helpless sentry, Guud slashed his throat, then pressed a silver chain into the dying man’s hand. Now, when the body was discovered, blame for the party’s incursion would fall upon the Siverchain gang.

Disguised as a guard, Cluedo headed downstairs while Guud searched the upper floor. Bes remained by the empty window frame to keep an eye out for trouble. In the master bedroom, Guud found a curious chest without a keyhole. Instead, there was a strange indentation in the shape of a scarab. Unable to open the box, Guud opted to leave it alone and look elsewhere for Chenkov’s missing sword. Meanwhile, Cluedo searched the ground floor and blundered into a group of guards.

“Your memorable moustache and thick Galtan accent seem out of place….” one guard said suspiciously, “Do I know you?”

“Oui.” Cluedo replied, very (very) persuasively, “Mademoiselle Mahfre sent moi to pick up a sword from her collection and take it to be polished. Can you direct me to ze armoury, s’il vous plait?”

The guards escorted Cluedo to Damej’s personal collection. Swords adorned every wall and even more were sealed within glass display cases around the room.

“Careful!” one of the guards cried, as Cluedo followed them into the room, “You almost triggered the sword golem! Stay there, we’ll get the sword. Which one does she want polished then?”

Remembering the description furnished by Chenkov, Cluedo pointed to a two-handed claymore inlaid with Ulfen runes. The guards fetched it down and carried it over. Cluedo could barely carry the enormous weapon, let alone wield it.

“Merci beaucoup gentlemen,” Cluedo said gratefully, “I had better get zis monstrous thing to ze sword polisher! Bonne nuit!”

Cluedo regrouped with Bes and Guud upstairs and together they managed to abscond with the stolen sword. They returned to the Tooth and Hookah and Guud concealed the weapon in his room until Chenkov came back to claim it.

TBC
Last Edit: 5 years 4 months ago by mikeawmids.
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 4 months ago #3420

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(Savaged) Mummy’s Mask - Session 5 (08/11/2018)

During the party, Lord Okhenti mentions to Billu that he is running low on sacred crocodile penis, which he crushes into a fine powder with the properties of a powerful aphrodisiac. Ever the dutiful son, Billu agrees to get some more, somehow. The clerics of Pharasma consider the crocodile to be a holy animal and respond poorly the black market trafficking of sacred crocodile penis. Billu brings this problem to the attention of the group and Issa presents a daring solution; he still has the crocodile suit he wore when the Desert Storm first smuggled him out of the necropolis, if they paint it white, he can use it to infiltrate the Grand Mausoleum.

Once inside the temple, Issa attempts to seduce one of the sacred albino crocodiles, but none of them seem interested in his romantic overtures. With sinking dread, Issa realises a more ‘hands on’ approach will be required. He does what needs to be done.

Billu takes the severed member to an alchemist, who crushes it into a fine powder. He delivers the powder to his lord-father, who is so grateful he invites Billu to join in his carnal revelry. Nothing about this seems weird to either of them; when in Osirion…. Issa spends the evening staring at the back wall of the inn, wondering how he can drink himself into a stupor without any internal organs to absorb the alcohol.

The next day, the Desert Storm decide to head into the desert south of Wati to find the pyramid from Bes’s dream. The first two days of the journey are uneventful, but on the third they are caught in a fearsome sandstorm. In the eye of the storm, they find the Air Pyramid of Hesterpput. Bes speaks the name of the jinn aloud to open the tomb. The way forward is blocked by a living cyclone, a gigantic air elemental bound to the service of the dead general. Issa shouts into the wind, reminding the spirit of Hesterpput of debts owed. Suddenly, the howling wind dies and the party are able to proceed into the pyramid.

TBC
Last Edit: 5 years 4 months ago by mikeawmids.
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 4 months ago #3432

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(Savaged) Mummy’s Mask - Session Six - 15/11/2018

Vardis summoned the ghost of Boros and commanded it to secure a rope on the opposite side of the pit. With a mournful groan, the spectre complied. One by one, the Desert Storm crossed the bottomless void. The passage beyond was blocked by a series of fans, circulating dry, musty air around the tomb. Issa drew his shortsword and tried to stop the spinning blades, but the force was too great and his own was shattered, metallic fragments bouncing off his bony skull. Bes offered a quick prayer to the old gods, then stepped into the fan. Whether he had timed it perfectly - or the old gods were watching over him - he passed through the spinning blades without harm. The other heroes watched in awe as Bes repeated this feat another two times. He reached the end of the corridor and deactivated the fans.

Now that the fans had fallen silent, another sound could be heard from up ahead; the slow, methodical grinding of stone against stone. The next chamber was dominated by a wide, rotating column that rose 250ft, all the way to the top of the pyramid. Three large, bronze blades attached to the pillar spun lazily, as streaks of lightning arced and crackled between them. Four faded carpets lay on the ground around the base of the column. The heroes eyed the rugs suspiciously and steered well clear for now. The far wall was dominated by a large, stone door flanked by two equally large statues, but a barrier of flickering light prevented the heroes from getting any closer.

“Those are stone golems,” Issa said, pointing to the two statues beyond the wall of light, “They served Hesterpput in the Last War. She would issue commands to them via semaphore. We should look around for something we can use as a flag.”

Unable to proceed, the Desert Storm retraced their steps back to the edge of the pit. Another two ledges to the east and west lead into different areas of the dungeon. Bes and Guud explored the western passage; a narrow stone beam extended over a pit choked with sickly sweet smelling pink mist. The two heroes tore strips from their cloaks to cover their faces, but the effects of the gas remained potent even after being filtered through their makeshift masks. Bes’ eyes began to water and looking down, he saw he was walking over a pit of fire, the hungry flames licking at his boots. Meanwhile, Guud perceived a wall of water rushing towards him, filling the passage. Both heroes panicked as the nightmare fog flooded their lungs, but their balance did not falter and they reached the end of the beam safely. Out of the pink mist the visions quickly faded away. The room contained a single chest, containing three red flags and a pair of golden sandals (which Vardis later identified as Sandals of Leaping, which tripled the distance the wearer could jump).

The party headed across to the eastern ledge and found a long corridor. Black, leathery sacks - hundreds of them, some as small as a coin pouch, others as large as child - hung from the ceiling, rustling quietly. Billu tossed a flask of oil into the room and Guud shot it with an explosive arrow, splattering the black sacks with burning oil. Immediately, the creatures screeched and unfolded tattered wings - the party had disturbed a colony of undead bats! The party defeated the bats and moved up to open a second chest; this one contained a set of three green flags and an ancient papyrus depicting the blueprint for some manner of experimental flying machine. The plan required the bladder from a large monster and a special cage designed to contain a fire elemental. Bes tucked the scroll away for future consideration.

Having found the six flags required to issue commands to the semaphore golems, the Desert Storm returned to the large room at the center of the pyramid.

TBC
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 4 months ago #3436

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(Savaged) Mummy’s Mask - Session Six - 15/11/2018

Using the flags, Issa was able to issue rudimentary commands to the stone golems on the other side of the lightning barrier.

OPEN - THE - DOOR

For the first time in several thousand years, the statues rumbled to life and pushed apart the heavy stone doors. In the room beyond, Issa could see a golden sarcophagus set atop a raised dais; final resting place of the jinni general Hesterpput.

DISABLE - THE - BARRIER

The stone golems did not respond.

DISABLE - THE - BARRIER

Again, no response.

“Maybe we can just step through it?” Chenkov suggested.

Bes took his spare dagger from his boot and tossed it into the wall of light. There was a flash and the knife was instantaneously slagged into a puddle of molten metal.

“Maybe not.”

Standing at the base of the rotating column, Inspector Cluedo craned his neck to scrutinize the three bronze blades spinning overhead. The blades flickered with the same energy that barred their progress into the tomb. Perhaps this was all part of an ancient mechanism that generated power for the barrier?

“If we can disable ze column,” he hypothesised, “I believe ze barrier will fail.”

“But how do we get up there?” Billu asked.

Vardis stepped onto one of the carpets. Immediately, it rose a few inches of the ground and hovered there expectantly.

“What’s the Osirian word for ‘up’?” Billu asked.

Bes spoke the command word and the carpet immediately began to rise, taking Vardis up with it. The fur covering his body began to bristle as the rose into the shaft. As he approached the first turbine, Vardis noticed a dozen mummified figures set into alcoves in the walls of the shaft, lithe female figures clad in bronze armour and bandages. Suddenly, the nearest cadaver leapt at him; broad, scabrous wings unfolding from her back! The mummified harpies were armed with bronze-tipped spears that conducted the electrical currents in the air and channelled them into a powerful bolt of lightning. It was around this time that Vardis realised nobody had told him the Osirian word for ‘down’. As the other eleven mummies began to stir, he continued to ascend into their midst. The gnoll shaman summoned pure fury into his paws and shot down several of the rotting valkyrie, their bodies fell among the heroes on the ground and both Bes and Guud snatched up their fallen lightning spears. Billu and Chenkov hopped onto two of the remaining carpets and rose to join the gnoll in battle. Together, the Desert Storm defeated the tomb guardians and worked out they could stop the column rotating by anchoring a rope around a pillar in the room below and twisting it around and around the column itself. The pillar groaned ominously, but the rope held and the column ground to a stop. Immediately, the wall of light blocking the entrance to Hesterpput’s tomb disappeared and the way forward was clear.

TBC
Last Edit: 5 years 4 months ago by mikeawmids.
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 4 months ago #3437

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(Savaged) Mummy’s Mask - Session Six - 15/11/2018

Before continuing deeper into the pyramid, Chenkov decided to check the top of the shaft. A hidden door led out onto the pinnacle of the pyramid and the Ulfen warrior was momentarily frozen by the spectacular view that awaited him. Movement caught his eye and Chenkov saw another group of wanderers emerge from the sandstorm. He headed back down the shaft to tell the rest of the party what he had seen.

Billu, Cluedo and Guud decided to take the flying carpets and intercept the travellers before they reached the pyramid. Meanwhile, the rest of the Desert Storm entered the tomb of Hesterpput.

A mummified sphinx emerged from the shadows to place itself between the party and the sarcophagus.

“Shendakut.” Issa greeted the creature coldly.

“Issa.” replied the sphinx, “Have you come to pay your respects to the man you betrayed? You’re a little late, the funeral was over six thousand years ago.”

“I betrayed no-one,” Issa said, “I was discovered by General Ahkentepi and imprisoned in a false tomb under Wati. I have only recently been set free.”

“We were sent by the old gods to recover the bones of Hesterpput,” Bes said, “An ancient evil is rising and we will need the powers of the jinni to overcome it.”

“Answer me this riddle and you may pass,” the sphinx replied, “A wealthy merchant had a daughter upon whom he settled a great dowry. Unwilling to part with either, he rejected many suitors, until he was approached by two son’s of the Pharaoh’s chamberlain. Realising he could not turn them away so easily, the merchant devised an impossible means to determine who would marry his daughter; the two sons would race their camels around the city and whichever son’s camel came last would win his daughter’s hand. This way, the merchant thought, the race would never end. But the two sons were clever and devised a way to outsmart the merchant. What did they do?”

The heroes considered the riddle for a few minutes before deciding upon their answer.

“They both rode on the same camel!” Bes said.

“Wrong!” Shendakut jeered, as the ground beneath their feet began to rumble. The walls rattled and great blocks of stone fell from the ceiling. “Better get out of here while you can. I’ll see you around, Issa.”

The sphinx fled down a side passage, moments before it was blocked by falling rubble.

“Quick!” Bes cried, “Let’s get the bones and get out of here before we’re buried alive!”

Working together, the heroes lifted the heavy lid from the sarcophagus and bagged up the skeleton. They also grabbed the general’s funerary treasure; a stone mask that granted the power to create a powerful wind and a kite shield that literally functioned like a kite.

“Time to go!” Bes yelled, ushering the others back toward the exit.

---

Meanwhile; Billu, Cluedo and Guud rode their magic carpets toward the group of strangers approaching the pyramid. Getting closer, the heroes realised the other group consisted entirely of gnolls. Guud fired an explosive arrow into their midst, killing most of them in a single blast. The stragglers retreated towards the pyramid, which suddenly began to collapse! Abandoning the stragglers, the heroes flew back inside the tomb to collect the rest of the party. They escaped just in time and settled on the sand at a safe distance to watch the pyramid crumble. A few spluttering gnolls emerged from the dust cloud and the party rounded them up.

“These are members of the Gnawed Chain,” Vardis explained, “My old tribe. What are you doing out here?”

“We have orders from the Curseweaver to follow and kill you.” the gnolls answered.

“We should kill you instead!” Guud said, raising his bow.

“No!” Vardis said, “We should send them back to the tribe as a lesson to the others.”

“How many lessons must we send this tribe before they learn?” Issa cried in exasperation.

TBC
Last Edit: 5 years 4 months ago by mikeawmids.
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 3 months ago #3449

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(Savaged) Mummy’s Mask – Session Seven – 22/11/2018

Leaving the fallen ruins of the air pyramid to be consumed by the desert, the heroes broke camp and returned to Wati. The three day journey was uneventful, although the sleep of Bes was troubled by strange dreams. Again, a child-like figure appeared before him, face covered by a leering, stone mask. The avatar instructed Bes to deliver the bones of Hesterpput to the alchemist Htoht in the city of Tephu.

Back in Wati, the heroes immediately notice an increased number of guards patrolling the streets. Cluedo makes a few discrete enquiries and learns that the necropolis has been unusually lively in the last week and the dead have made several incursions into the living city. The consensus at street level is that allowing foreigners to plunder the necropolis during the lottery has angered the spirits. Remembering their brief encounter with the necromancer Nebta-Khufre, the heroes worry that there might be a more sinister explanation…. Cluedo also hears that the temple of Pharasma have authorised the deployment of esoboks to contain the situation before it escalates.

“What’s an esobok?” Billu asked, “It sounds like a Pokemon.”

“What’s a Pokemon?” Chenkov rumbled.

“Never mind that,” the Inspector interjected, “Esoboks are a kind of pyschopomp, a servitor of Pharasma. There are many different types of psychopomp and each performs a different function for the Lady of Graves. Specifically, esoboks are used to hunt down and destroy rogue undead.”

“Rogue undead like me?” Issa asked.

“Oui.”

“Oh. Then I should probably keep a low profile,” Issa said, “I’ll head back to the inn and stay out of sight until things quieten down.”

Issa slunk off to the Tooth and Hookah. Cluedo decided to visit the Grand Mausoleum and research the remaining three jinni, while the rest of the Desert Storm went to check in with Lord Okhenti.

---

Several streets away from the inn, Issa feels a pebble bounce off his golden helm. He peers around and spots a hooded figure beckoning to him from an alley. Unperturbed, Issa wanders over to have a word.

“Are you Issa of the Desert Storm?” the hooded stranger enquires in a scratchy voice that’s thick with phlegm, “My name’s Bheg and I was sent by the Fading. You can’t go back to the Tooth and Hookah. The bronzecaps are watching it now. Someone tipped them off. They know you’ve been hiding out there and they’re waiting for you to go back. Meet me at the Whispering Stone and we can talk about ways we might be able to help each other.”

Without another word of explanation, the hooded figure turned and scuttled off, leaving Issa alone in the alley. Unsure of what to make of Bheg’s message, Issa decides to join the other at Lord Okhenti’s house and discuss it with the group.

---

The entrance to the Grand Mausoleum was heavily guarded and the Inspector joined the queue of supplicants waiting to be allowed across the threshold. Two bear-like creatures with bony crocodile heads flanked the doors and Cluedo realised these were the esoboks he had been hearing about. As he approached, the nearest esobok began to growl menacingly, perhaps detecting the lingering taint of necromancy from his time spent with Issa and Vardis. After answering a few perfunctory questions to the satisfaction of the bored looking sentries, Cluedo was ushered inside the temple. He headed to the library and began poring over dusty tomes and crinkled parchment, searching for references to the jinni from Bes’ vision. After several hours straining his eyes amongst the gloomy stacks, Cluedo finds the information he seeks. In faded hieroglyphics, the scroll records the final battle in which the four generals fell to the golden masked zealots of the Sky Pharaoh. In addition to Hesterpput, the ancient document furnishes the Inspector with the names of the other three jinni; Aluash (water), Kaahbek (earth) and Okaror (fire).

As he is jotting these details down in his notebook, Cluedo overhears a conversation being held on the other side of the shelf.

“Commander Shepses, I’m sorry to disturb your reading, sir. The men you assigned to watch the Okhenti estate have reported that the suspects have returned to the city.”

“Thank-you Corporal. Mobilize the Voices of the Spire. I will be along as soon as I finish this chapter.”

Realizing that his companions are in danger, Cluedo hastily rolls up the scroll and slips it into his bag. As nonchalantly as he can manage, he leaves the library. As soon as he is out of sight of the guards at the entrance, the Inspector breaks into a desperate run to reach his friends before Commander Shepses reaches the end of his book.

TBC
Last Edit: 5 years 3 months ago by mikeawmids.
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Inept - Thu 29 Feb - 17:07

Apologies decent guys... Hell has obviously inflicted itself on my van... It's broke. Won't be there tonight.

rhodsey - Tue 27 Feb - 09:09

I can't accomodate two sorry but I'm happy if they want to come and observe for a bit at least then see if there's a game while they are here.

mikeawmids - Mon 26 Feb - 17:36

Two people have contacted club through Facebook page to join a game. Can any of the R2 DMs accomodate two more new players?

mikeawmids - Thu 22 Feb - 16:17

Warlock players, I cannot make club tonight, plz see message in Discussion thread. Apologies for short notice.

Kaltek - Thu 15 Feb - 18:14

Nexodrath, I'm happy to run a one shot if all else fails

TheRanger - Thu 15 Feb - 17:37

Hey Nedroxath players, wont be there tonight as work has killed me off today, just really tired atm. Be there next week for our thrilling conclusion

mikeawmids - Tue 13 Feb - 16:02

Anyone planning to run a third/fourth game in R2?

MellyMel - Thu 8 Feb - 19:09

sorry can't make it tonight. find my eye!

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