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[WotMK: Hexcrawl] Session Thirty-Five
2017-Dec-19, Tuesday 09:14Dramatis Personae:
Elaphe lashed out at one of the spiders, and as he was bringing his dagger down, the spider's horns crackled with sparks and lashed out with a blast of lightning! Elaphe staggered, but his aim was true, and he brought the dagger down onto the spider's head, killing it. Amos fired at the souldrinker attacking Father James and the arrow passed through it, causing it to deflate slightly and start leaking a thin, oily fluid. Shining Star drew out her bow and knocked an arrow, then fired at the remaining spider, but it skittered sideways and advanced on Elaphe, who turned and hacked off one of its legs. Amos also drew on it, but the spider unleashed a blast of lightning that knocked Amos off his feet, sending him bouncing off a wall and into the floor in a heap.
As the souldrinker overwhelmed Father James, draining out his consciousness and lowering him to the floor, Willow moved to attack it while Elaphe and Shining Star hacked at the spider. Elaphe killed it with a savage blow, hacking off its head, and then leaped over to the souldrinker and carved it open. With a high keening wail its membrane broke open and its claws stopped twitching, freeing Father James. Shining Star immediately set to work binding everyone's wounds and examining Father James, but as near as she could tell, he was simply unconscious--anything else would have to wait. Once the bleeding had stopped and first aid had been applied, they carefully moved into the next room and looked around with Hundred Wings's help. Much of a corner of the room was taken up with a resinous nest, inside of which they found an egg, and there were several doors out of the room, but they found some money, a few loose crystals, a cord of blue threads bound in intricate knots, a pair of bracers forged of orichalcum with B'rabti writing and images of the Temple of Yarikh on it, and some potions. Hundred Wings dived down on the egg and began to feast, and Elaphe used his bob-omb to blow up the nest before they left. Then they began the long period of walking back out of the Tower.
On the bottom floor, they passed by the assessor's station, who explained the process. They would leave the artifacts and enchanted items they found in the Tower with them and receive claim tickets for them. The next day, they could return and they'd receive a tax assessment for 5% of their value, which they'd have two weeks or until they left Tower Town to pay, and how they got the money was none of the town's business. They handed over all their items, went back to the Roaring Lion tea house, and all collapsed into bed.
The next morning they woke up slightly refreshed, though most of them were still injured and Father James felt like he had been kicked by a mule. After a mug of mushroom beer, Elaphe went to check the markets to find places to sell their gear, while Shining Star and Willow sought out the Fog Chirurgeons, worshippers of an aspect of Phantom who married skill against the undead with healing prowess. The two asked around town and learned that there were two chirurgeons in town in a clinic, and going there they found an old silverback kong and his very young apprentice. They paid for healing--the room filled with fog and the old kong struck them each once directly over the heart--and then explained that they wanted to learn the ways of the Fog Chirurgeons. The elder one seemed to react especially to Shining Star's admission that she was a priestess of Nyahré, and he told them to return the next day. Then, they departed.
Amos went to the same sorcerer that Father James had gone to when they first arrived in Tower Town, the chuzan with white fur and eyes of burnished gold. His bedside manner was just as terrible as ever, but when Amos paid and the sorcerer worked his sorcery, he left feeling much better.
At noon, after reconvening in the Roaring Lion and eating lunch, and after Shining Star looked for the two starfolk and not seeing them, they went back to the Tower and collected their items. Elaphe paid the tax--at one koku, enough money to feed a peasant family for a year--and paid extra for the assessor's analysis of the items. Several items were simply decorative, but the white jade armor would allow the wearer to pass through walls, the blue cord had an air spirit bound into it that would be released by untying the knots, the jade ring had a kinokoko bound into it and the wearer could use the spirit's powers, the bracers would make the wearer's blows more deadly, and among the crystals was a powerful fire crystal that would allow its user to turn into a firebird. Their expedition had paid off.
All that time looting cursed artifacts from fighting warlocks, necromancers, and vampires, and now the party finally has some worthwhile enchanted items they can distribute! Elaphe wants to use the bracers, and I've heard multiple people who are interested in that ring. Though the way Exalted's system works, there's a cost to use enchanted items--attunement reduces a character's pool of motes of Essence, leaving fewer motes to use Charms or spells--so that may determine the user. Willow wants the ring since he's a treesinger, but already over a third of his Essence pool is tied up in his armor and sword, and wearing armor makes his spells more expensive. Wearing the ring and tying up more motes may not be the best idea.
This combat was probably the most dangerous one the party has been in yet. Father James came dangerously close to suffering permanent damage from the souldrinker, and if the first souldrinker hadn't been killed almost instantly, it could have healed up and latched on to someone else. That would have been catastrophic.
Next game is after the new year, and we'll see what the party decides to do then!
- Shining Star, mandragora sorcerer-priestess of Nyahré.
- Father James, human disciple of the pidgit-folk.
- Hundred Wings, Father James' familiar spirit bound into the bodies of dozens of ravens.
- Willow, human treesinger raised in Taira.
- Amos Burnham, a human from Earth.
- Elaphe, a chuzan junior member of the Black Rose.
Elaphe lashed out at one of the spiders, and as he was bringing his dagger down, the spider's horns crackled with sparks and lashed out with a blast of lightning! Elaphe staggered, but his aim was true, and he brought the dagger down onto the spider's head, killing it. Amos fired at the souldrinker attacking Father James and the arrow passed through it, causing it to deflate slightly and start leaking a thin, oily fluid. Shining Star drew out her bow and knocked an arrow, then fired at the remaining spider, but it skittered sideways and advanced on Elaphe, who turned and hacked off one of its legs. Amos also drew on it, but the spider unleashed a blast of lightning that knocked Amos off his feet, sending him bouncing off a wall and into the floor in a heap.
As the souldrinker overwhelmed Father James, draining out his consciousness and lowering him to the floor, Willow moved to attack it while Elaphe and Shining Star hacked at the spider. Elaphe killed it with a savage blow, hacking off its head, and then leaped over to the souldrinker and carved it open. With a high keening wail its membrane broke open and its claws stopped twitching, freeing Father James. Shining Star immediately set to work binding everyone's wounds and examining Father James, but as near as she could tell, he was simply unconscious--anything else would have to wait. Once the bleeding had stopped and first aid had been applied, they carefully moved into the next room and looked around with Hundred Wings's help. Much of a corner of the room was taken up with a resinous nest, inside of which they found an egg, and there were several doors out of the room, but they found some money, a few loose crystals, a cord of blue threads bound in intricate knots, a pair of bracers forged of orichalcum with B'rabti writing and images of the Temple of Yarikh on it, and some potions. Hundred Wings dived down on the egg and began to feast, and Elaphe used his bob-omb to blow up the nest before they left. Then they began the long period of walking back out of the Tower.
On the bottom floor, they passed by the assessor's station, who explained the process. They would leave the artifacts and enchanted items they found in the Tower with them and receive claim tickets for them. The next day, they could return and they'd receive a tax assessment for 5% of their value, which they'd have two weeks or until they left Tower Town to pay, and how they got the money was none of the town's business. They handed over all their items, went back to the Roaring Lion tea house, and all collapsed into bed.
The next morning they woke up slightly refreshed, though most of them were still injured and Father James felt like he had been kicked by a mule. After a mug of mushroom beer, Elaphe went to check the markets to find places to sell their gear, while Shining Star and Willow sought out the Fog Chirurgeons, worshippers of an aspect of Phantom who married skill against the undead with healing prowess. The two asked around town and learned that there were two chirurgeons in town in a clinic, and going there they found an old silverback kong and his very young apprentice. They paid for healing--the room filled with fog and the old kong struck them each once directly over the heart--and then explained that they wanted to learn the ways of the Fog Chirurgeons. The elder one seemed to react especially to Shining Star's admission that she was a priestess of Nyahré, and he told them to return the next day. Then, they departed.
Amos went to the same sorcerer that Father James had gone to when they first arrived in Tower Town, the chuzan with white fur and eyes of burnished gold. His bedside manner was just as terrible as ever, but when Amos paid and the sorcerer worked his sorcery, he left feeling much better.
At noon, after reconvening in the Roaring Lion and eating lunch, and after Shining Star looked for the two starfolk and not seeing them, they went back to the Tower and collected their items. Elaphe paid the tax--at one koku, enough money to feed a peasant family for a year--and paid extra for the assessor's analysis of the items. Several items were simply decorative, but the white jade armor would allow the wearer to pass through walls, the blue cord had an air spirit bound into it that would be released by untying the knots, the jade ring had a kinokoko bound into it and the wearer could use the spirit's powers, the bracers would make the wearer's blows more deadly, and among the crystals was a powerful fire crystal that would allow its user to turn into a firebird. Their expedition had paid off.
All that time looting cursed artifacts from fighting warlocks, necromancers, and vampires, and now the party finally has some worthwhile enchanted items they can distribute! Elaphe wants to use the bracers, and I've heard multiple people who are interested in that ring. Though the way Exalted's system works, there's a cost to use enchanted items--attunement reduces a character's pool of motes of Essence, leaving fewer motes to use Charms or spells--so that may determine the user. Willow wants the ring since he's a treesinger, but already over a third of his Essence pool is tied up in his armor and sword, and wearing armor makes his spells more expensive. Wearing the ring and tying up more motes may not be the best idea.
This combat was probably the most dangerous one the party has been in yet. Father James came dangerously close to suffering permanent damage from the souldrinker, and if the first souldrinker hadn't been killed almost instantly, it could have healed up and latched on to someone else. That would have been catastrophic.
Next game is after the new year, and we'll see what the party decides to do then!
