Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

Message
Author
User avatar
Urson
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 8019
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:23 pm

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#21 Post by Urson »

Jake

Seeing that he has slowed down the Eld, Jake repeats his grapple-tackle, intending to bear the Eld to the ground.
Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything.

User avatar
Starbeard
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 4615
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 2:09 pm
Location: California

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#22 Post by Starbeard »

The Princess glides over to the table haughtily to retrieve her property, and a weapon as well if she finds one.

User avatar
Pulpatoon
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 6262
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#23 Post by Pulpatoon »

Wikerus delivers a blow to the prone Eld's head. (Unarmed attack is 1d4, but since you have him prone and pinned, we'll upgrade it to 1d6). He then leaps up and heads towards the remaining pole-arms. The Eld leaps up and dashes after him.

Jake continues to grapple with Cucumber-and-Rose.
[1d4] = 1 -1 (armor)
Cucumber-and-Rose, still unable to bring the cylinder to bear due to Jake's close quarters, attempts to hit Jake over the head with it.
[1d4] = 4

Horton and the remaining Eld spare with pole-arms:
Horton: [1d8] = 3
Eld: [1d8] = 2 -1 (armor)

The Princess retrieves her crystal wand, and Splinters grabs the mirror engine. Deet, with a groan of despair, sweeps the disassembled parts of the Crooked Theodolite into a sack.

Outside, there are sounds of clashing weapons, and the roar of a ape.

Actions!
Given how bogged down so many of us are at present, I'll schedule the next update for Friday.

User avatar
Urson
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 8019
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:23 pm

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#24 Post by Urson »

Jake

You son of a whore! Jake slaps at the knot raised when the Eld clobbers him, then wades in, trying to grapple and bodyslam the Eld.
Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything.

User avatar
coil23
Ranger Lord
Ranger Lord
Posts: 2508
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2015 2:11 pm

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#25 Post by coil23 »

Horton continues to desperately attack with the polearm. Under his breath, I wasn't made for this but these arrogant gits deserve a slap.

polearm attack [1d8] = 6

User avatar
Starbeard
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 4615
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 2:09 pm
Location: California

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#26 Post by Starbeard »

The Princess runs over to the exit and peers through the wall with the aid of her crystal wand, hoping to see what action has befallen the ape and who in that fight is winning.

User avatar
ChubbyPixie
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 6101
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2012 12:07 am

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#27 Post by ChubbyPixie »

Aware the EWld is hot on his heels, Wikerus will attempt to snatch a pole arm off the rack and swing it behind him in an 180° arc without looking, hoping to catch him with a surprise swat to the short ribs: "Take that, you creepy elf!" he yells, perhaps overconfidently.

User avatar
Pulpatoon
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 6262
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#28 Post by Pulpatoon »

Jake and Cucumber-and-Rose continue to grapple. They lock arms, each trying to overpower the other, but neither gaining the upper-hand. Jake has the superior strength, but the Eld has the advantage of height and reach. They both grow visibly tired.
Jake: [1d4] = 4 Now that both parties are equally committed to the grapple, I will not give the Eld benefit of armor.
Cuke: [1d4] = 3
"Son of a whore!" cries Jake.
"Atavistic lubberwort!" spits the Eld.

Horton and an Eld continue to apply polearms to one another's anatomy. With a sudden lunge, Horton skewers to lanky Eld, ramming the polearm entirely through his torso. But the Eld's final blow still lands, the butt of his polearm swinging up and knocking Horton's great blocky head right off his shoulders!
Horton: [1d8] = 7 I mistakenly attributted armor to this Eld, last round, so I'll apply a +1 to damage, this round
Crit Damage check: [1d20] = 18 Failed.
Eld 3:[1d8] = 7 -1 (armor). This brings Horton down to STR 8.
Crit Damage check: [1d20] = 13 Failed.
Horton's decapitated head is still alive, and vaguely aware of what is happening around him, unable to control his prone body. The blocky head is immediately kicked by the wrestling feet of Jake and Cucumber-and-Rose, and tumbles into a corner.

Wikerus takes up a polearm and attacks the Eld pursuing him.
Wikerus: [1d8] = 6
The Eld jumps back to avoid the arcing blade. Swinging the polearm back and forth, Wikerus is able to hold the Eld at bay, preventing him from arming himself with the last remaining polearm.

The Princess turns the vestibule wall transparent, revealing an eerie tableau: against a background of blue-green fire and purple smoke, three bears have cornered a great white ape. Another bear and ape lie, unmoving, at their feet. Two of the bears are armed with spears. Another moves as though several of its limbs are useless, but backs up its more capable colleagues.

Deet says: "There's bears out there, yup yup, and horse-men, too!"
Schroff barks assent.

Actions!
More on Saturday!

User avatar
Urson
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 8019
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:23 pm

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#29 Post by Urson »

Jake

Remembering many fights in the barnyard when he was a kid, Jake tries to kick the Eld in the knee.

[1d20] = 20
[1d4] = 1
Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything.


User avatar
coil23
Ranger Lord
Ranger Lord
Posts: 2508
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2015 2:11 pm

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#31 Post by coil23 »

Horton's dismayed head rolls into the corner, bleating at Jake: try not to damage that lovely cucumber and rose armor, please!

User avatar
Starbeard
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 4615
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 2:09 pm
Location: California

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#32 Post by Starbeard »

The Princess removes her wand from the wall, satisfied that there is nothing beyond with which she wishes to interfere.

Returning her attention to the activities of this room, she gathers up Horton's head and moves it back to his body, hoping to find a way to rejoin the two.

User avatar
Pulpatoon
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 6262
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#33 Post by Pulpatoon »

Jake misses his opponent's groin, and badly jams his wood-meets-flesh knee against lovely enameled armor. As he winces, Cucumber-and-Rose is able to spin behind him, pinning him from behind. The Eld puts his weight against Jake and frees up a hand to aim his cylinder at the other combatants, seeking a clear target.
Cuke: [1d4] = 4
Jake is down to 5 STR. Crit Damge check: [1d20] = 17 Fail. Jake is now grappled. He can attempt a STR check to break free, next round.
Wikerus, witha fine theatrical flourish, plunges Longaxe into the chest of the unarmed Eld, dropping him where he stands, only to be attacked by the Eld who had so recently decapitated Horton.
Eld attack: [1d8] = 7
Oh dear. This drops Wikerus to -2 STR. Instant death.
The Eld perfectly imitates the maneuver Wikerus had just performed, and with identical results. The wicked blades slides, unresisting, through the poor man's chest. Wikerus is dead before he hits the ground.
ChubbyPixie, if you are up to rolling up another character, let me know. There's some juicy options, for replacement characters just down the hall.
The Princess grabs up the startled head of Horton, seeking to reunite it with its body. The mechanics of the thing look simple enough—there is a stout peg at the bottom of the head, and a peg-hole centered between the painted shoulders of the wooden soldier's body.
unfortunately, the injured Princess' STR is down to 3.
Despite her best efforts, the Princess is not able to jam the peg back into its hole—surely the hole is just plain too small. Perhaps if she could find a hammer she could force it?

Deet and Splinters attack the Wikerus-killing Eld. They fire twin blasts from their muskets.
Deet: [1d8] = 1
Splinters: [1d8] = 8
Best: 8
Crit Check: [1d20] = 6 Success.
The Eld staggers, bleeding, but remains on his feet.

A great bear, one of the warrior-beasts previewed via the Princess' crystal wand, appears now in the door. It takes in the chaotic scene with feral surprise.

Actions!
More on Saturday!

User avatar
Urson
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 8019
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:23 pm

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#34 Post by Urson »

Jake

Being grappled, Jake is pretty much stuck. He'll struggle until he ( I) can attempt to break free.
Expect Nothing, Appreciate Everything.

User avatar
ChubbyPixie
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 6101
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2012 12:07 am

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#35 Post by ChubbyPixie »

Unseen by the others, Wikerus' spirit rises above the battlefield, helped from his body by a pair of malformed and severely wall-eyed angels - proving that his carving was not so much very, very bad, but was, in fact, visionary. He smiles, then is no more.
Let's talk about a new character!

User avatar
kensanata
Tracker
Tracker
Posts: 122
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:15 pm
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Contact:

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#36 Post by kensanata »

Splinter activates the Mirror Engine again. He mutters, We need to distract the Eld. We need to distract them. I don't want to die! I don't want to die!
I run a blog. I also run a site for campaign wikis. I wrote a face generator, a character generator, a dungeon mapper, a Traveller subsector generator, and a hex map generator (editable as text).

User avatar
Starbeard
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 4615
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 2:09 pm
Location: California

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#37 Post by Starbeard »

The Princess dumps the table of equipment onto its side to protect herself and Horton's two parts. She calls out to the others, "Watch out for that bear! Fall back into a protective position, perhaps we shall see if these two creatures dislike each other."

User avatar
Pulpatoon
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 6262
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#38 Post by Pulpatoon »

Rose-and-Cucumber, grappling Jake from behind and using him as a shield, begins to back towards a far corner. He fires points the cylinder at the bear, and fires a blue glob at it—instantly recognizable as the same substance that you had recently been bound with. The glob spreads out, entangling the bear and blocking much of the door.

The second Eld jumps in surprise as the room is suddenly crowded with wooden boys screaming about distractions. He falls back behind Rose-and-Cucumber, and uses his polearm to knock open a hatch in the ceiling. A metal ladder deploys smoothly from above. The two Eld are clearly intending a retreat.

The bear roars in frustration as it attempts to break its bonds.

Actions!
More next weekend!

User avatar
kensanata
Tracker
Tracker
Posts: 122
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:15 pm
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Contact:

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#39 Post by kensanata »

Splinters wants to help Jake break free. A quick dash and a wide swing with the musket, holding it by the barrel, using it as a long club, aiming for a knee-cap, perhaps? It seems to me that this might offer a better chance of getting Jake free than simply shooting Rose-and-Cucumber?
I run a blog. I also run a site for campaign wikis. I wrote a face generator, a character generator, a dungeon mapper, a Traveller subsector generator, and a hex map generator (editable as text).

User avatar
Pulpatoon
Rider of Rohan
Rider of Rohan
Posts: 6262
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Chapter 4: The Cold Chains of Hell

#40 Post by Pulpatoon »

Splinters swings his musket at Rose-and-Cucumber's armored knee.
[1d6] = 3
[1d20] = 17 Crit Damage.
The knee bends at an uneasy angle, and buckles under the Eld's weight. He goes tumbling to the ground, releasing his grip on Jake.

The second Eld disappears up the ladder and through the ceiling-hatch. He looks back and, seeing his comrade laid low, slams the hatch shut.

Behind the goo-encrusted bear, a pair of hands appear, cutting the bear free. The released bear, his fur still painfully matted with blobs of blue goo, stumbles into the room and immediately checks on the fallen Eld.

Back in the doorway is a scrawny centaur, cleaning blue goo off a small knife.

The bear scoops up both Eld bodies. Sniffing Rose-and-Cucumber, he says in a deep bass grumble, "This one breathes." Looking around, he takes note of the party, including an inordinate profusion of wooden boys, and calls over to the centaur, "Blix, herd them down to Master."

The bear shoulders his way back out the door with the Eld and disappears into the smoke and haze beyond.

At this point everyone has recovered their arcana, but all your other items are missing. (Oh dang! I had Deet and Splinters fire muskets they didn't have! Uh... I guess we'll say that the muskets were also on the table. And loaded, no less. Whoops!) Scattered on the floor are two Eldish pole-arms (one still held by Wikerus' dead hand) and the Eldish goo-cyclinder. The table contains some inscrutable Eldish devices, and those disquieting flesh-lumps.

The Crooked Theodolite has been partially disassembled. I don't think mb. is rejoining us, and so, we've lost our mapper. If anyone wants to take up these duties, they can grab the parts and reassemble the Theodolite. If not, then it can be left in pieces. mb. set a high bar, graphically, for the campaign's maps, and a successor should not feel they have to live up the the example of a guy who does digital design professionally.

Lastly, please welcome back Chubby Pixie, now playing Blix the Centaur!


Actions!
More next weekend!

Post Reply

Return to “GARGANTUA - Into the Odd”