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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 3 months ago #3450

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

“Halt!” cried the surprised guards on the gate of Lord Okhenti’s manor, as Cluedo ducked beneath their raised spears and hared across the grounds. The rest of the Desert Storm were seated around the nobleman’s pool, just as they had been on the first day that they came together. Issa had just finished telling the others about his encounter with Bheg when the Inspector arrived in their midst, red faced and puffing from his run across the city.

“Guards – on their way – arrest everyone – have to run!” Cluedo gasped between breaths.

“They will not take the Pale Bowman alive!” Guud snarled, “I say we barricade the doors and kill anyone who comes for us!”

“Dibs on the bodies!” Vardis barked.

“Where are we going to go?” Billu cried, “They already know about the Tooth and Hookah!”

“The Whispering Stone!” Issa said, “Bheg said to meet him there. We can lie low in Bargetown until all this blows over!”

“We don’t even know that we can trust this Bheg character!” Bes argued.

“We don’t have much choice!” Chenkov rumbled.

Steel-shod boots rang on the flagstones as the Voices of the Spire swept into the compound. The heroes fled across the garden and scaled the back wall of the estate. They split up, taking different routes to the Whispering Stone, gradually trickling in over the next two hours. The only hero not to make it was Chenkov. The hulking Ulfen paladin had not been able to shake his pursuers and had been run down and apprehended.

Bheg outlined his proposal: the Fading (a gang of ghouls operating out of the necropolis) had long held a monopoly on the mummia trade in Wati. Recently, the Silverchain gang had set up a lab in Bargetown and started knocking out a vastly inferior product. In exchange for putting the Silverchain mummia lab out of business, Bheg offers Issa a soul ring that will conceal his undead aura from the servants of Pharasma and allow him to traverse the living city undetected.

“Why can’t you do it yourself?” Billu wanted to know.

“With all the clerics and psychopomps in the streets right now, it’s too dangerous for my boys to be out in the living city,” Bheg answered, “Since you lot are at least partially responsible for riling them up, I figure you can deal with the fallout. Plus, you’re getting a sweet magic ring for your trouble.”

“Maybe your ‘boys’ are more interested in my coin than your excuses?” Billu announced, brazenly, slapping a bag of daddy’s gold down on the table between them.

Bheg snarled. Bheg’s boys snarled.

“I think they might all be undead,” Cluedo whispered, “I don’t think they want your gold.”

“They’re totally undead.” Vardis confirmed.

“Lads, why don’t you escort Moneybags out back and ‘take his gold’,” Bheg suggested.

The other ghouls grabbed Billu and manhandled him behind the Whispering Stone, where they relieved him of his pouch (which to their surprise, turned out to be full of stones) then threw him in the river.

“It’ll do that boy good to learn not all his problems can be solved by throwing money at them,” Cluedo admitted, before turning back to Bheg, “Sorry about that. Where do we find this mummia lab then?”

Bheg explained that the Silverchain operated out of a boat moored behind a fishery on the edge of Bargetown. The fishery was a front for all manner of shady operations, but the mummia lab itself was located in the hold of the ship. The Desert Storm took their leave and prepared to blow up a boat.

TBC
Last Edit: 5 years 3 months ago by mikeawmids.
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 3 months ago #3452

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

Paddling a leaky boat he had bought ten minutes previously from a drunken fisherman, Billu approached the Silverchain ship from the water, hoping to remain hidden in plain sight among the many small boats plying the river. Covered by a ratty blanket beneath his bench was a wooden cask brimming with flammable pitch. The young nobleman was still smarting from his humiliation at the Whispering Stone and his mood was not improved when his small vessel was caught in a violent eddy and collided with another tub.

“Oi!” yelled the old riverdog piloting the other boat, “Watch where you’re rowing, you floppish fop!”

The noisy altercation drew the eyes of the Silverchain sentries aboard the large ship moored behind the fishery. With their attention fixed on the river, nobody noticed Vardis and Cluedo scaling the wall of the fishery building. Up on the roof, Cluedo used his vanity mirror to flash a signal to Guud, positioned on another rooftop overlooking the entrance to the warehouse. The Pale Bowman was lying prone beside a meticulously arranged row of ‘speciality’ arrows. Pursing his pallid lips, Guud made a bird call indistinguishable from the cry of a sun falcon. In the street below, Bes heard the cry and knew everyone else was now in position. He removed his stone mask and started walking towards the entrance to the fishery.

“Hello there!” he called to the Silverchain goons guarding the door, “I’d like to buy some fish!”

Before the thugs could answer, three of them exploded. From his rooftop vantage point, Guud reached for another explosive arrow. Bes and the one surviving goon were showered in gore. Without hesitation, Bes finished off the last man and re-donned his mask. He opened the door to the fishery floor and immediately leaps back as four more Silverchain thugs rush out to investigate the blast. Seeing a masked swordsman painted in their friend’s blood, the four goons surround Bes and draw their own weapons.

Back on the Silverchain ship, two bald bruisers emerge from the officer’s cabin. The first (Melu) has a wicked-looking axe chain coiled around one muscular arm, the second (Krem) brandishes a matching pair of bronze battle axes.

“What is going on h- ” roared the man with the twinned axes – then he exploded.

Guud had recommended the shop where he bought his explosive arrows to the rest of the Desert Storm and Inspector Cluedo had taken the opportunity to stock up. As the smoke cleared, Cluedo realised that the two men below were very much alive and very much angry. The Silverchain thugs turn away from Billu and open fire on the rooftop. Cluedo and Vardis are forced to retreat.

Unobserved, Billu paddles over to the Silverchain ship and starts applying a generous coat of pitch to the hull. After emptying the barrel, Billu pushes the boat away and readies the lightning spear he salvaged from the ruins of the air pyramid. With a crackle of blue sparks, he ignites the trail of pitch between his little boat and the Silverchain ship. Moments later, the larger vessel is ablaze!

From his position at the front of the fishery, Bes cannot see the plume of smoke rising from the rear of the warehouse. Even so, he is far too busy fighting for his life to take in the view. The Silverchain brutes are not expert swordsmen, but there are four of them and only one of Bes. Guud evens those odds by shooting another explosive arrow into the crowd, unfortunately Bes is also caught in the blast. The wall of the fishery is blown inward, depositing Bes in a pile of smoking rubble and stinking fish guts. Picking himself up, Bes sees Krem and Melu abandon the burning ship and enter the warehouse. The brute with the twinned axes heads for a ladder and starts climbing towards the roof. The brute with the axe-chain spots Bes and advances carefully, swinging the axe around his head.

THWUM. THWUM. THWUM.

Above, Vardis opens the hatch of the roof and sees the axe-wielding maniac clambering towards him, a murderous glint in his eye. Cluedo fires his crossbow, injuring the man but hardly slowing his determined ascent. Vardis summoned pure fury into his paw and blew apart the wooden mounting bracket holding the ladder to the wall. Krem wailed in despair as he plunged 30ft to the fishery floor.

Bes cringed as the man hit the ground, then turned his attention back to the chain-wielding killer moving towards him. Deciding that he wants no part of that, Bes scrambles out through the hole in the wall with the Silverchain enforcer in hot pursuit. Seeing Bes emerge from the fishery, Guud leapt from his sniper nest, reaching his friend in a single bound thanks to his new, magical sandals. Two Silverchain marksman took aim and fired at the Pale Bowman, arrows sprouting from his chest like flowers from a grave. Sluggishly, Guud returned fire, killing the two grunts. He reached for another arrow to shoot Melu, but found his quiver empty. Guud grunted in surprise as the axe-chain whipped out and cut him clean in half! His bow slipped from his pale fingers as the two halves of the albino’s body fell apart at the waist.

TBC
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 3 months ago #3453

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

Bes watches in horror as the light behind his friend’s eyes goes out and barely reacts in time to duck below the next sweep of Melu’s deadly axe-chain.

“Clearly, the legend of the Pale Bowman was exaggerated,” Melu snorted, “He’s not half the man he’s made out to be.”

“You’ll die for that jest.” Bes said, discarding his sword and readying his lightning spear.

Before he could discharge the power stored in the weapon’s core, whistles sounded in the surrounding streets and a horde of bronzecaps swarmed out of the stonework.

“Throw down your weapons!” Commander Shepses bellowed, “You are all under arrest!”

Faced with overwhelming numbers and unwilling to start shedding the blood of the city watch, Bes tossed his lightning spear to the ground. None too gently, he was seized and secured by the Voices of the Spire and taken to the Grand Mausoleum for questioning.

Atop the fishery, Cluedo and Vardis watched as Bes was taken away. Creeping to the other side of the roof, they spotted Billu’s little boat bobbing in the shallows behind the warehouse. Rather than submit to the fickle hospitality of the temple guard, both Cluedo and Vardis leapt into the crocodile-infested river and splashed over to where Billu was waiting for them.

“What happened to the others?” Billu asked, as he hauled Cluedo out of the muddy water.

“Captured or dead.” Cluedo groaned, “And we will share their fate if we do not leave immediately.”

Billu hesitated, unwilling to abandon his friends.

“We cannot help them from ze inside of a Pharasman gaol,” Cluedo argued, thrusting the oars into Billu’s hands, “We must run now, so that we can fight another day! Now row, damn you!”

Grudgingly, Billu complied with the Inspector’s command, propelling the boat out into the river, where their escape would be hidden by the column of rising smoke.

---

Disarmed and de-masked, his weapons confiscated and wrists shackled, Bes is escorted from his cell beneath the Grand Mausoleum to an austere interrogation chamber. Waiting to question him are Commander Shepses and Sebti the Crocodile.

“Before we begin, you should know that you are seated within a circle of truth,” the High Priestess explained wearily, “You will be magically compelled to speak the truth, so I advise against any futile attempt at deception.

“Bes of the Desert Storm, you stand accused of violating the laws of this city and consorting with a creature of necromantic origin. You stand accused of smuggling the aforementioned abomination out of the necropolis and harbouring it within the living city. How do you plead?”

Bes explains how on the first day of the lottery, the Desert Storm were trapped in a flooded room and would surely have drowned if not for the intervention of a friendly skeleton, who they had inadvertently released during their exploration of the tomb.

“That you felt indebted to this creature and honour-bound to repay its kindness does not excuse the contempt with which you flaunted the commandments of this temple.” Sebti said sternly, “Also, there is a more serious accusation that we must now address….”

“Tell us about the Daughters of the Desert.” Commander Shepses said, his voice as cold as an executioner’s smile, “Tell us about the woman you murdered and skinned.”

“Ah!” stuttered Bes, “I was present during the incident, but I didn’t help. Also, we only attacked the Daughters because they had already killed and robbed another group! We bumped into them as they were dumping the bodies.”

“And you didn’t think to report any of this when you returned to the living city?” Sebti asked.

“You know how it is,” Bes answered, “What happens in the necropolis stays in the necropolis.”

“That’s not a thing.” Commander Shepses snapped.

“What do you know about the recent surge in necromantic activity?” Sebti asked, “Is that anything to do with you, your pet skeleton or that dog-faced necroshaman?”

Bes explained how on the third day of the lottery, they had encountered a man calling himself Nebta-Khufre beneath the Sanctum of the Erudite Eye. He described the exquisite funerary mask the necromancer had claimed and the conversation between him and the cultist Ikram Effek.

“Where is this Ikram character now?” Shepses asked, “We will need him to corroborate your story.”

“Ah.” said Bes, “He jumped out of a window and broke his neck.”

“Where is the body now?”

“We filled its pockets with raw meat and threw it in the river.”

“Which bit of the river?”

“The bit with the most crocodiles.”

“You’re going back in your cell until we sort this mess out,” the commander said, “No doubt the rest of your friends will be joining you shortly. Make yourself comfortable. You won’t be leaving any time soon.”

TBC
Last Edit: 5 years 3 months ago by mikeawmids.
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 3 months ago #3467

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(Savaged) Mummy’s Mask – Session Eight – 29/11/2018

While Bes and Chenkov languished in a Pharasman prison, the rest of the Desert Storm anonymously checked into a flophouse on the wrong side of the river to hide from roving bands of belligerent clergy. After spending an uncomfortable night on the lumpy, lice-infested pallets, the heroes rise to find a dark cloud has settled over Wati. It hangs above the necropolis like a great, black tumour. Dark rain fell like ichor over the dead city and flashes of sickly green light boiled within the diseased smog. This apocalyptic vista seemed familiar to Cluedo as he stood surveying the scene, he had seen something eerily similar in the scroll he pilfered from the Grand Mausoleum. Carefully unfurling the ancient papyrus, the Inspector examined the scroll for some clue as to the cosmic horror the dark cloud foretold.

“Gentleman, I have some bad news,” Cluedo said solemnly, “According to this surprisingly informative document, ze mask Nebta-Khufre recovered from beneath ze Sanctum of ze Erudite Eye was ze funerary mask of ze Sky Pharaoh Hakotep III. This Hakotep was a bit of a - how you say, bastard – and when he died, a secret sect cleaved his soul from his body to prevent him from ever being returned to life. Ze sect sealed the Pharaoh’s soul within his golden funerary mask, then spirited the mask away and concealed it here in Wati. When ze Plague of Madness decimated ze city, ze mask was walled away and forgotten along with ze countless dead.

“It is my belief that ze necromancer is channelling ze soul of ze Sky Pharaoh to summon that unsightly cloud. I do not know for certain what will happen when the storm breaks, but you can bet your last baguette it won’t be anything good.”

“But what can we do about it?” Billu cried, “Bes and Chenkov are captured - Guud is dead! There are only four of us and Vardis is wounded!”

“I agree that we’re a little shorthanded right now,” Cluedo replied, “Which is why we’re going to the temple.”

---

One hour later, Billu, Cluedo and Vardis stood on the steps of the Grand Mausoleum facing a bristling wall of spears. They had left Issa back at the flophouse to avoid escalating what was already likely to be a volatile situation. The Pharasman clerics disarmed the heroes and tied their hands behind their backs, before frogmarching them to join their friends in the dungeon. Sebti the Crocodile was waiting to criticize their poor life choices as they were ushered into their cells.

“I must say I’m disappointed. I expected better from heroes of your caliber,” she said, tutting mercilessly, “Tell me where we can find the abomination you call Issa and I guarantee leniency when your own sentences are settled.”

“Pardon moi, High Priestess, but one lost soul is not your biggest problem today!” Cluedo said, “Perhaps you have noticed ze evil looking storm brewing on your doorstep?”

“We’re evaluating the threat posed by that strange cloud and precautions have been taken to secure the living city. Your concern is noted, but you would be better served thinking about your own predicament.”

The heavy prison door clanged closed with the ring of finality.

After half an hour staring at the bars of his cage, Billu asked; “So what was the plan again?”

TBC
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 3 months ago #3472

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(Savaged) Mummy’s Mask - Session Eight - 29/11/2018

As the morning passed into afternoon and afternoon headed toward evening, the glowing cloud hanging over Wati grew darker and its rumbling more ominous. It sounded like the stomach of a predator that had not eaten and now scented easy prey. The first bolt of lightning struck a merchant in the Sunburst Market as he packed up his stall. One moment he was grumbling about his poor take for the day, the next he was ablaze with green fire as a twisted spear of lightning zig-zagged from the heavens. The marrow boiled within his bones and his flesh was burnt away from his superheated skeleton. His eyeballs popped in their sockets and his teeth melted in his mouth. Other merchants cried out in fear as the glowing green skeleton stood swaying in their midst, the smell of burnt meat rising from the crispy ashes at its feet. Without warning, the skeleton lunged at the nearest person, raking its burning claws across their face! The crowd panicked and ran. Merchants abandoned their wares to join the mad exodus. Another bolt of green lightning fell, another living soul was transformed. And then another. The storm had broken and the city was doomed.

---

From their prison beneath the Grand Mausoleum, the Desert Storm listened to the screaming. Bes gritted his teeth and gripped the bars of his cell as though he could bend them apart through sheer force of will. What use was a god if he could not save his people?

“Patience,” Cluedo urged, noting his friend’s agitation, “We will not have long too wait now.”

“And if you’re wrong?”

“We had all better pray that I am not.”

The dungeon door swung open and Sebti the Crocodile returned, flanked by two officers of the temple guard. The expression of anxiety on her face was hard to miss, even before the tremor in her voice betrayed her desperation.

“Recent developments have given me cause to reconsider your case,” she said, as the temple guard unlocked the heroes cells and returned their gear, “That cloud is a necromantic super weapon and it is decimating the population of my city. You five are the only living people in Wati who have seen the man responsible, this Nebta-Khufre villain. I am releasing you and pardoning your earlier crimes on the condition that you enter the necropolis and eliminate the necromancer.

“Commander Shepses has not agreed to this course of action, he believes that the Voices of the Spire can contain the situation. I no longer believe this is possible. The storm has driven the esoboks into a frenzy and they are no longer under our control.

“I cannot condone your alliance with the undead creature you released from the tomb of Ahkentepi and if it is found within the living city it will be destroyed.”

The heroes agreed to the High Priestesses’ terms and exited the Grand Mausoleum as free men, charged with the task of saving the city from certain destruction. Issa had been hiding nearby, waiting for the rest of the party to emerge. He was wearing the soul ring given to him by Bheg and appeared as he had in life, as a muscled Osirian warrior with long, red dreadlocks.

“Look!” rumbled Chenkov, pointing to a plume of smoke rising from the other side of the market, “The Tooth and Hookah burns. We should make sure Farhaan and his daughter are safe. They were not bad people.”

“We should also visit the auction house and check on my lord father,” Billu added.

“We don’t have time to rescue every NPC we’ve met so far!” Cluedo decided, “Our priority is killing ze necromancer and stopping this storm before Wati becomes one big city of ze dead.”

“No!” Billu cried, “I grew up not knowing who my father was, I won’t continue until I know he’s safe! You go on ahead, I’ll catch up as soon as I can!”

Billu hared off toward the Canny Jackal auction house, the rest of the Desert Storm made a beeline for the gates of the necropolis.

TBC
Last Edit: 5 years 3 months ago by mikeawmids.
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Mummy's Mask discussion 5 years 3 months ago #3477

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(Savaged) Mummy's Mask - Session Eight - 29/11/2018

The gates to the city of the dead were barricaded and watched by the Voices of the Spire. Issa donned the gusting mask of Hesterpput and blew into the kite shield to launch himself high into the air. Now he could see what was going on beyond the gate. A horde of undead had gathered at the threshold of the living city, clambering over one another like ants to create a groaning, writhing ramp to the top of the barricade. A slow but steady trickle of zombies clambered over the gate and fell onto the swords of the waiting guardsmen - but how long before that trickle became a deluge?

Not long at all, it seemed. A sound like a horn full of custard sounded from the necropolis and a huge, mummified elephant charged the barricade, scattering skeletons under its great grey hooves. The gates broke open on impact and the Voices of the Spire retreated from the wreckage as the undead behemoth stepped through. Behind the elephants' ears, which flapped like the ragged sails of a ghost ship, a mummified rider held the reigns that directed the monster's sluggish - but seemingly unstoppable - progress. Two more mummies stood on a wooden platform secured to the titans' broad back, hurling spears down at the wavering guardsmen.

"Steady, men!" Commander Shepses ordered, " We must hold the gate! "

Despite their previous conflict with the man, the Desert Storm could not but admire his bravery in the face of certain death. They rushed forward to help the Voices of the Spire defend the gate!

Chenkov and Vardis focused on damming the flood of zombies through the broken barricade. The rest of the heroes leapt onto the back of the mummified elephant (issa used the kite shield, Bes clung to the edges of the scarab shield and Cluedo was wearing the sandals of leaping recovered from the lower half of Guud's corpse) and quickly dealt with the other passengers. Bes grabbed the reigns and attempted to turn the elephant around. With a mighty heave of the chains, he suceeded!

"You are all under arrest!" Commander Shepses yelled, "Again!"

"That's a funny way of saying thank-you," Bes observed , "We just saved your life and now we have to save the city. Best you stay here and guard what's left of your gate."

Shepses was grinding his teeth loudly enough to be audible over the storm, but common sense prevailed and the commander relented, gesturing for his men to stand down.

" We're going. " Issa said.

"I'll be here when you come back."

"Not coming back, chief." Issa said, as the Desert Storm rode their undead elephant mount toward their doom.

TBC
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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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