Murdicog's Manse Session 15: I don't think we're in Zurth anymore...
Players: Osric III of Kikstahta, Swashbuckler (EvilTables); Grappadora Hamaques, Swashbuckler (Jay_zer0); Buster Diamantis, Theurge (Mistuh), Xaldun of Portage Town, Swordsman (roguewithwhimsy)
Summary
Lost and bewildered in a strange dungeon, the adventurers (after some debate) decided it would be prudent to venture outside and scan the horizon for landmarks. Sure enough, from the top of a nearby rise they espied a distant, narrow tower.
Rather than set out after it immediately, however, they decided to try to find some treasure in the dungeon first. At Buster's urging, they attempted to map out corridors before exploring doors.
One corridor ended in a dead-end where enormous horseshoe crabs skittered around a vat of steaming yellow acid. Seeing ample peril and no treasure, the adventurers reversed course.
The appearance of four Skeletal Velociraptors drove the adventurers down a long, disorienting passage wherein they felt a sense of dread. At the far end, the sense of dread lifted. Grappadora withdrew his YGSÐÐ and felt as though it was exuding a strange sense of longing in this place.
After arriving in a passage that looped around an interior room with four doors, they finally tried opening a door. Inside, they surprised 7 Molemen as they were relaxing and playing a game of Nōm Poker. The adventurers quickly realized that the Molemen communicated by wiggling their star-shaped noses, but thankfully a Moleman officer was brought forth with the ability to write in crude Zurthine. The officer's side of the ensuing conversation is recorded here for posterity:
ITS OK
BUT WHO U
WHY U HERE???
WE NOT VOLE WE MOLE!!
NONE TAKEN
U DEEP IN TUNDRA
U FROM ZERTH?
NO PILLAR SORRY
U WANT BALOON
YES
DAYS WALK OVER TUNDRA
ONE PER WEEK MAYBE MORE
BIG TALL THING
SAFER THAN HERE
I CAN GIVE U WORM BUTTER AND SOME DRINK
MOLE FOOD U MAY NOT LIKE
KEEPS U WARM THO
U KNO WAY OUT?
WHERE? WE KILL
U GO OUT AND LEFT FAST WAY OUT
Per the officer's instructions, the adventurers went left from the Molemen's room, but first they decided to check a few more doors. A poison gas trap in one was thwarted by the hazmat suits and gas masks they had looted from the Xanthic Vault. Another room contained a dormant computer terminal and some technical manuals, as well as an unfinished rom-com screenplay about a species with three genders.
An attempt at venturing through an outer door was thwarted when Golden Scarabs began swarming out and attacking Osric's apprentice Bekhtar Amphibia. The adventurers decided to flee rather than fight.
A very long curved passage brought them (via secret door) back to the door they had entered from -- they surmised that the disorienting passage may have involved some warped space.
Outside, they began to trudge over the snow and tundra grasses. After roughly eight hours, they reached a metal gantry with a wooden platform mounted on it. Around the base, a few warehouses were protected by a tall iron fence.
They were greeted at the gate by Phoebe Feldspar, of the Wayguild.
Phoebe confirmed the nagging suspicion that had haunted the adventurers since they first touched the glowing pillar in Vul Anoryith. They were, in fact, not in Zurth anymore. Or anywhere near it, for that matter.
She explained that they were currently at "The Omphalos", and that their homeland of Zurth was beyond her reckoning. Her balloon stop ("D") was on a route that connected to three stops in The Nine Valley Kingdoms ("A, B, and C") and one outside of Guamatra ("E"). The following approximate map was provided (pictured here with additional annotations):
After some debate, they elected to venture knorth, as that seemed the more direct route back to Zurth. Grappadora fronted a fee of 239gp for a ticket to stop E. During the 7-day flight, they subsisted on worm butter and witnessed the awesome vastness of the Antarctic continent from above: mighty rivers snaked over nameless plains. Herds of woolly mastodons seemed as small as ants, while some white Tundra Ants were nearly as large as woolly mastodons. Nomad caravans pursued Titanotheres over snowdrifts, and in all directions the horizon stretched into a haze of continuous becoming.
When the airship aetheric locomobile touched down, the pilot instructed them to venture knortheest toward the nearest settlement. Sure enough, after about 12 miles they found a tulou flying two banners: one depicting a white-and-blue fish and the other a white-furred ape.
(Art by Forlorn Skulk)
They were greeted by a burly, gregarious man named General Nobotake, or "The Yeti". He greeted the foreigners warmly and invited them to join his dinner table. Inside, soldiers in white coats could be seen drilling slave-soldiers in the art of war. All, it seemed, was not well in the land of Guamatra.
Aftermath
Treasure Found:
- Script for an unfinished rom-com about a species with three genders.
Foes Encountered: 20 Reanimated Xiphosuran Fossils (evaded), 4 Skeletal Velociraptors (evaded), 7 Moleman Pioneers (befriended), 1 Moleman Officer (befriended), Golden Scarab Swarm (evaded)
Rumors:
- Guamatra is in the midst of some kind of war.
- The computer terminal next to the Molemen's room is powered by connections to an adjacent room.
Deaths: None.
XP Awarded: None.
Notes
- Today's session featured material by brwagur, Forlorn Skulk, Hags, and msquixotic. It's been enormously fun running material by other jam participants, likewise seeing how the players react to things with a different vibe from the Murdicog/Zurth keys they've been exploring previously.
- I did some improvising based on pre-existing plans to expand Hags' balloon network into unkeyed areas of the map. This was a good nudge to actualize them.
- Per Jay's (half-joking) suggestion, I need an aerial encounter table.
- I feel like I'm a bit too lenient when it comes to letting players evade combat in the dungeon. Probably the Skeletal Velociraptors should have led to a fight. But, I guess, the draw of the game for me is exploration, and I think the role of random monster encounters in that mode is to force alternate routes rather than to stage regular combats -- so ultimately, I'm pretty ok with letting players evade easily if they have a plausible plan for doing so.
- I'm proud of my Nom Poker rules but I should make an abbreviated ruleset, or one that can be resolved with a perchance generator or something. I felt bad that Grappadora didn't get to join the Molemen's game.
- It's very exciting to get to engage with the scale of the Antarctic map in this way!