Session 48 – Akiovasha Wins a Falling Contest

Dramatis Personae

+Frotz Self as Varouj
+Adventures of the Mind as Don Harper of Mars
+Linlin Kins as Umquat
+Ronnie Whelan as Ronnina

Loot

A number of items were acquired through negotiations with The Hangman:
-4 Space Suits
-4 Aruks (Fast mounts)
-The opportunity to borrow up to 10 more space suits at a time, only paying for any repairs or replacements that are necessary.
The party also purchased a few items at a Curio Shop:
-Umquat purchased a small piece of paper in a frame, with a portal on it. The portal is just big enough to get your arm through, up to the shoulder. It’s unknown where it comes out, but it apparently comes out in a wall, with a floor within reach. Looking through allows you to see floors/walls of worked stone.
-Ronnina purchased a hand mirror which connects to a mirror on another world. People on the other side believe it is a magic mirror which gives sage advice, and will rejoice whenever a face appears in it to speak with them. The mirror is worth 8,000 credits, which can be used as Magic Laboratory value.
-Don Harper & Umquat split the cost of Mr. Mungo’s Portrait. A painting of a man in dapper clothing, with a squashed orange salamander head, and a pencil moustache. Apparently the painting absorbs any aging/misfortune which would befall Mr. Mungo. The magic will be undone if he ever looks upon the painting.
The party also retrieved a big tube with buttons on it, whose function is not yet clear.

NPCs

Albert – Impressed by the flawlessness of this plan, and how smoothly it was carried out. (LOYALTY IMPROVES TO 11!)
Norno – Had a nice time with Albert and Faylana (Loyalty improves to 8)
Faylana – Had a nice time with Albert and Norno (Loyalty improves to 8)
Sheniqua – Got her ear talked off by Samsuel, and is kinda annoyed. (Loyalty remains 9)
Lugud – Liked that he didn’t have to put himself in too much danger. Also, explosions, woo! (Loyalty improved to 7)
Robot Monster – Has no particular feelings today. (Loyalty remains 7)
The Hangman – Negotiated with the party for gear.
Little Curio Shop Man – Sold a lot of good stuff to the party!
Man in a Tube – Is asleep. So, technically hasn’t encountered the party yet.
Bobbert – Was rescued by agents of Akiovasha! PRAISE AKIOVASHA!
Samsuel – Appreciates his rescue, and forgives the party for their sins.
The B-Team – Also appreciates their rescue. It was swift and efficient. They are officially Internet Friends.

Political Happenings

The link between The Cult of Akiovasha and Trumpquatia has not gotten out. The few people who are even really aware that the The Breakfast Club was involved in the rescue assume it was a paid job, not something they had a personal interest in.

After the terrorist attack on The Black Cathedral, the conflict between the Cult of Akiovasha and the Rulers Beneath the Black has gone mainstream. Even in less zealous territories, the shrinking majority of those who worship beneath the Black are becoming increasingly intolerant of anyone who expresses Akiovashan beliefs. None the less, the ranks of the church grow.

It has not escaped The Internet’s notice that Internet agents, using Internet resources, are poised to establish a new faction within the Dome.

Haven Turn

Only a single Haven turn this time.
Don Harper – ???
Umquat – ???
Varouj – Training up to “Skilled” with the Gladius (Month 3 of 3) Congratulations! You’ve learned “Close Quarters.” When fighting with a short sword, you gain a +2 in cramped conditions.
Ronnina – ???

Highlights Recap

The party negotiated with the hangman for the equipment she’d agreed to give them in payment for capturing the aliens during the previous session. In addition to some material goods (Notably, 4 space suits and 4 Aruks), the Hangman paid to have a veritable fleet of people from the Human Mailing Service stand by in the sewers, pre-paid to transport all of the rescued prisoners back to Trumpquatia.

From there, the party mostly decided to follow their plan as outlined in the report for Session 47. And so, they set off for the Black Cathedral through the sewers, along with their cart pulled by their 4 new Auroks.

On the way, they found a wall which had, in the few hours since they’d last been there, been mined out to create an alcove. Hanging strings of beads covered the entryway, and a tiny man stood outside offering to show his wares to anyone who passed by. He only had three items to show, but the party happily purchased all of them.

Further along in their journey, they saw a massive metal cylinder It was about 4′ in diameter, and 7′ long, floating down the river of sludge. Frotz used his 15′ telescoping pole to meticulously roll the object towards the walkway the party was on. Through a window in the tube, the party saw a man–about 38 years old–who appeared to be sleeping. They also noticed that the tube had a variety of buttons and controls on it.

With a protracted effort, they heaved the tube out of the sewer, and popped their heads out of the nearest sewer grate to hail a taxi, which took 300cc to transport their tube back to Trumpquatia for them, so they wouldn’t have to haul it around everywhere they went.

Finally, the party reached The Black Cathedral. Lugud took his Hovercart up a nearby hill, with the Building Buster bomb on it, and was able to find a spot to hide in a narrow alleyway. The rest of the party made their way to the roof of a nearby building, and set to work.

Varouj fired the Bazooka at the 16th floor, and struck exactly where he was aiming easily. Then he fired the grapple gun, and got the zipline in place.
Two by two the party ziplined into the building, leaving Albert, Norno, and Faylana behind to guard the zipline. Don & Umquat set to work opening cells, and were happy to discover Bobbert in one of them, even more enthusiastic about Akiovasha now that he was being rescued by her providence. It wasn’t long before the group were accosted by 10 guards, but the party were able to make short work of the Peons. Ronnina raised four of them as Skeletons.

The party split up, with most everyone going south, while Varouj, Ronnina, and two Skeletons (Skelly and Mellie) went North. The Southern group was able to move around with relative freedom, opening the other cells, while the Northern group almost immediately ran into trouble: 13 more guards, led by a Priest of the Black.

The priest immediately placed a sphere of darkness (“A Shrouding of the Black”) around the party. Varouj grabbed Mellie’s hand, told her to grab Skelly’s hand, and told Skelly to grab Ronnina’s hand. He then felt his way along the wall, attempting to exit the darkness towards their foes. In the meanwhile, however, the guards had formed into a Phalanx, 4 wide and 2 deep. As soon as Varouj emerged, they struck with held attacks, dealing Varouj some damage. Ronnina ordered the Skeletons to leap out and grapple with the center of the enemy line, which helped to slow their attacks, but the struggle was a grueling one. Fortunately, Ronnina was able to take out the Priest before she could do any more harm, striking out from the darkness with a magic missile.

Meanwhile, the group that split South encountered the 5 guards who had not formed into the phalanx, attempting to make their way around the prison to flank the Northern group. Umquat managed to kill them all with a single, bloody spray from her Spandau. Once that was taken care of, the path to open the rest of the cells were open. Happily, the B-Team was recovered. The party also found a cell where a single individual had been isolated from the rest. He introduced himself as Samsuel, and immediately asked if the party had heard the good word of Akiovasha. It took only a moment of listening to Samsuel’s patronizing preaching to realize why he’d been separated.

The Phalanx had very nearly been defeated by the time the Southern group managed to come around to flank them, and Sheniqua took up a position guarding the stairwell. And it was a good thing she did, because not a round later a new group of 11 guards and 4 priests came charging up the stairs, and Sheniqua was able to incinerate every single one of them to death with a single Fire Portal.

With the battle more or less concluded, the last two guards surviving from the Phalanx were dragged over to the hole in the wall the party had entered through. Ronnina cast Feather Fall onto a group of the Akiovashans, and made a speech about whether Akiovasha, or The Black would prove more merciful. She then had her skeletons push everyone out of the hole. And, of course, the Akiovashans drifted gently to the ground, while the guards who worshiped Beneath the Black plummeted to their deaths.

Unfortunately, despite preparing the spell 4 times, Ronnina wasn’t able to cast it on all 37 freed prisoners, as well as the whole of the party. So she risked casting it again with spell failure, and was thankfully able to get everyone covered with only minor hiccups. The whole group drifted down to the ground, where they were met by Albert, Norno, and Faylana.

They gave the signal to Lugud, then disappeared into the sewers as the hovercart rolled into the side of the Black Cathedral, detonating its Building Buster Bomb. Lugud joined them in the sewers soon after, and the whole group returned quickly to Trumpquatia.

So ended May 2517.