Getting to the bottom!

New party motto courtesy of Ezme

Present:

• Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
• Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
• Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
• Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane
• MARMALADING: Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
• MARMALADING: Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
• Willow. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
• Lois Price. Human Female Wizard of Porn City – Ian
• Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl

by Jeff

We all huddled together around Cody’s light in the sewer tunnel and discussed our current predicament. The creature was back in the chamber, presumably to recover the remaining eggs from the Throak warehouse located directly above. It could potentially break through at any time using its vibration powers, but our own power was significantly diminished. 

And it was tough, bloody tough. 

Its piercing scream had toppled Lois instantly, and its first blow had immediately smashed Tom to the ground.

We were in need of rest and healing! But where?

“It’s much more efficient to rest up comfortably in the guild” stated Cody.

“But what if that thing gets the eggs, and we aren’t even here? "countered Willow.

“So what if it gets the eggs?” pondered Ezme, “Maybe we should just help it get them, and then it’ll leave everyone alone”

“Yeah right; and what about our web-snot infections?” countered Lois, “That’s potentially going to kill me. Not to mention Jack, Tom, and all those other town folk”

“Anyway, it’s gone now” interjected Munch, who had been keeping an eye on the creature back in the chamber.  “The vibrations of the chamber ceiling just died out, the creature stared angrily at the ceiling in there for a few minutes, then retreated back down the spiral shaft”

"See Willow" crowed Cody, "back to the guild will be fine!"

So, we followed Willow to the nearest manhole exit to the city, cracked the manhole lid slightly to check where we were and to make sure no one was around, and exited the sewers. First stop was to view the Throak warehouse to see if there were any obvious signs as to why the creature had stopped his vibration attack, but it looked just the same as last time we were there.

Then we split up for our well-deserved rest. The wizards made their way to the Wizard's Guild; the priests made their way to their respective Temples (Jack decided not to try and sneak in through the cordon to the Aqua Marina Temple and joined the rest of the non-magic folk); and the non-magic folk made their way to a nearby Inn.

"let's just test something on the way" declared Ezme.

Ezme figured that if fire and lightning were helping the creature, then perhaps ice would not. A small experiment with a bucket of ice and a sample of the web-snot appeared to show that cold "burnt" away the snot, success! At least, success until about 15 minutes after the ice melted and dried out, at which point the web-snot slowly grew back to its former extent.

"But not larger!" noted Ezme hopefully, "This is brilliant. Let's try acid too"

But no one could locate any acid, so this additional experiment was put on hold.

Rest and recovery was performed, with spell points and hit points somewhat restored.

In the wizard's guild, Julius turned up at Lois's door.

"Why didn't you report straight to me yesterday?" he demanded grumpily, "And what have you discovered?"

Lois gave a report of the party's efforts and discoveries, to which Julius only had more questions.

"What is the cause of this strange vibration effect?"
"Where is the creature now?"
"Why did it stop trying to recover the eggs?"

"Don't worry, we are onto it immediately" Lois stated, "But could you perhaps check with the Throak's if anything happened in the egg storage warehouse yesterday"

Julius confirmed he would try and find out, and Lois and Cody returned to meet up with the rest of the party and prepare for their next sojourn down to the depths of the sewers below Porn City.

"First, let's test out the acid theory" suggested Ezme.
"And I'll try Healing" added Cody.

Acid didn't work; in fact, it accelerated the web-snot growth by 100%.
Healing did work, albeit temporarily, and was deemed a potential measure against the creature.

"What's the opposite of acid?" wondered Ezme, "Do you think urine would work?"
Despite being pretty keen to watch Ezme produce some urine for a test, Jack confirmed that urine was acidic, and as such would probably not be a good idea.

"Baking soda you losers" muttered Munch, "That'll mix up to a weak alkaline"

Willow leads the way

Then it was back through the manhole into the sewers. Willow led the party back towards the chamber where we had found the creature yesterday, and once we were close, Cody and Munch crept down the final length of tunnel to see if there was anything there. There wasn't.

"Now what?" wondered Jack.
"Down that spiral tunnel, or back to the metallic smelling pit" noted Cody.
"The spiral tunnel" suggested Lois.
"I'm not going down there!" stated Tom.
"Back to the metallic smelling pit" countered Munch.
"I'm definitely not going down there!" stated Tom.

[Tom's character fault is "Stubborn", once he has made a decision, he sticks to it. After Tom had climbed down into the metallic smelling pit and immediately fallen unconscious, he had decided that the metallic smell was unable to be fought and so he wouldn't be going anywhere near it] 

"Well maybe it isn't too smelly down the spiral tunnel" suggested Willow, "I'll go first"

Turning himself into a fat rat, Willow slid off down the spiral tunnel, and the rest of the party followed after 10 or so minutes.

Tom stays and stands guard

"I'll keep guard here" stated Tom, settling himself down near the top of the spiral shaft.

After about 30 minutes, Munch popped back up from the tunnel.

"Willow found increasing numbers of dead rats down there, and although the metallic smell got stronger and stronger, Cody's magic totally eliminates the smell and any of its effects. You'll be fine and won't even notice any metallic smells"

"No" said Tom.

"Oh, come on" pleaded Munch, "We really need you. You are our best fighter; you have the best chance of overcoming the creature's horrible scream; and have the magic club!" argued Munch.

Eventually, after a lot of cajoling and promises, Tom reluctantly agreed to follow.

Cody had successfully cast an Airy Water spell, creating a large bubble of fresh air that the whole party could crowd into. Proceeding slowly and cautiously, they continued forward along the smooth tunnel, which had flattened out and was heading towards the location of the metallic smelling shaft. 

"I think we are deeper though" noted Willow, who never forgets anything.

Passing a scattering of dead rats on the floor of the tunnel, they approached a vertical shaft that cut down in front of them. It looked like the horizontal tunnel they were walking in T-ed off the side of the vertical shaft, both about 3m in diameter, with the vertical shaft extending up and down ahead.

The strange "singing" effects previously observed near the metallic smelling pit could be heard clearly here, and Tom, Jack, and Lois all noticed that the web-snot infection could be felt thickening up through their respiratory systems.

Peering into the vertical shaft, Cody noticed a bulbous mass blocking off the shaft about 5m above, and an odd domed surface blocking off the shaft about 5m below. It appeared to be metallic, quite smooth, and was vibrating at a high frequency! And there was another odd blur of motion from the centre of the raised dome below.

"Watch ou..." Cody yelled, jerking backwards.

The fight begins ...

A horrendous squealing screech rang out from down the shaft, just before the creature leapt up out of the shaft and landed on the tunnel floor in front of us, tentacles flailing wildly towards Tom and Jack. Munch crumpled to the floor, overcome by the squealing noise that penetrated right into his brain. [Failed his saving throw against Arcane magics, and fortunately the only one who did]

The tunnel was relatively confined, so only Tom and Jack with their one-handed weapons could engage. Ezme had drawn her double handed sword but wasn't able to get in a swing without potentially striking the others by accident. Cody also let loose a Magic Missile, confident that it would damage the creature. "It did the last time we fought it" he reasoned.

Tom and Jack made successful hits, as the creature's tentacles swung harmlessly over their heads. But as Cody's magic missile struck the creature, the magic was somehow absorbed, and the fresh cut from Jack's strike immediately closed back up. "Bugger" muttered Cody, as he backed up from the combat zone, as Tom and Jack went in for another round, both striking again, and Willow wielded the magic wand of Cure Major Wounds on Munch.

 Tom managed to hit again on his backswing [Tom has the Heavy Hitter talent and is able to make an additional damage roll if expending 2 points of Luck] but the creature's arm (its secondary but heavier attack) struck Tom across the side of the head and sent him reeling backwards [The creature dealt 3D6 + 6 damage with this secondary attack, and Tom wisely expended another 3 Luck to reduce the inflicted damage by D6. Tom was still conscious but was on very low hit points. Another strike like that would likely take him right out!]

Jack gulped, stepped up, and prepared to take the creature. Ezme boldly leapt past Tom to join the fracas, and it was all on again. Jack's sword cut through the tentacles, slicing sections off, and hit the creature in the chest. Ezme's sword swung nimbly over Jack's shoulder, also clipping off a few tentacles, and smacked the creature soundly in the head. The creature's eyes glazed over, and it began to topple backward. Unfortunately, its arm strike slipped past Jack's sword and thudded into his face. Staggering back, Jack groaned, slumped down onto the floor, and watched the creature tumble back into the shaft.

"One hit" boasted Ezme.
"Heelllpppp" slurred Jack, saliva frothing out from his mouth and his limbs writhing uncontrollably.
"Oh shit" called Willow, "Looks like poison. Stand back"

[It was indeed some sort of poison. After the strike, Jack failed his saving throw against Poison and was suffering a D6 of damage each round]

As Jack slumped into an unconscious state, Willow immediately cast a Slow Poison spell to halt the ongoing damage effects, then attempted to cast Neutralise Poison. That was unsuccessful (i.e. he failed to get the spell off, not that the spell wasn't effective against the poison). Ezme uncorked her flask of alkaline baking soda slop and dribbled it over Jack's wound. It fizzed and bubbled but Jack himself did not respond. Willow then managed to successfully cast his second attempt at Neutralise Poison, phew.

Cody and Munch (conscious again but with only half his original hit points) peered over the edge of the shaft to see the creature sprawled across the top of the dome below. Both the dome and the body were vibrating up and down. Munch turned towards Cody.

"Is it dead?" Munch asked.
"Looks like it" noted Cody.
"Could the magic dome thing down there regenerate it?" Munch asked.
"Looks like it" noted Cody.
"Shall we go down there and make sure?" Munch asked.
"Definitely" noted Cody.
"Will your breathing spell thing still cover everyone?" Munch asked.
"Definitely not" noted Cody.
"Bugger" muttered Munch.

The party hastily retreated back down the tunnel to where the air was clear, leaving Munch, Willow, Lois, and Ezme there, while Cody and his Airy Water spell hastened back to the shaft with Tom and Jack. They jumped together down the shaft onto the top of the dome, hacked off the creature's head, and looked down at the surface of the dome.

"Zumding wong" mumbled Tom, his throat closing up with active web-snot.
"Eeling ick" mumbled Jack, his breathing laboured.

Cody realised that both Tom and Jack were suffering from enhanced respiratory ill-effects from their web-snot infections, somehow accelerated in the presence of the strong vibrations generated by the strange metal dome beneath their feet.

"Climb" commanded Cody, sending Tom back up first, himself following, and Jack at the rear. They all hurried back down the tunnel to meet up with the others, where Willow treated them to a large dose of the baking soda slop. That seemed to help immensely, with both Tom's and Jack's breathing returning almost to normal.

"Can I look at that dome now?" asked Munch.

Cody, Ezme, and Munch returned back to the dome to investigate further, leaving the web-snot infected with Willow.

Back at the vibrating dome, Cody, Ezme, and Munch went through the usual investigation tricks.

"I'm picking up good vibrations" hummed Munch.
"I'm hearing the rock walls sing" commented Ezme.
"The metal surface of the dome is cold, and hollow" noted Cody, "And its riveted together".
"Stand back a sec" commanded Ezme, lifting her two-handed sword.

Ezme's Accidental Lightning

"WAIT" yelled Cody, but it was too late.
"THUD" went Ezme's magic sword against the metal surface of the dome.
"BOOM" echoed the huge electrical discharge from the dome's surface.

[3D6 lightning damage, save against Arcane magic for half. Cody saved and took 3 points of damage, but Munch and Ezme both failed and took the full 7]

"Oops" stammered Ezme, immediately casting a Cure on herself. And then on Munch.
Cody cast a Detect Magic spell, but nothing obvious was revealed.

Munch spotted a small circular disk shape on the top of the dome and peered closer.

"Look" he called, "This has writing stuff on it"

Ezme tried to push, pull, and twist the small disk, while Munch tried to copy down the symbols. Nothing happened for Ezme, and Munch made a mess of the symbols.

"Dolt" laughed Cody, "Those are runes, but not in any language I recognise"

Cody then cast the Comprehend Languages spell and read off a series of numbers.

"1, 3, 4, 7, 2, 8" Cody recited. Nothing happened.

Munch then noticed [Having made a Spot Hidden roll] that there were nine faint raised "buttons" on the disk, arranged in a three-by-three grid.

"There" suggested Cody, "It's a lock. Starting with 1 at the top left, push down on those buttons in the sequence 1, 3, 4, 7, 2, 8"
"Why top left?" asked Munch.
"It's always top left with magic" replied Cody smugly.
"You do it then" said Munch, backing off.
"Pussy" huffed Cody, bending down to push the buttons.

"BOOM" crackled the massive lightning discharge, throwing everyone back and down the sides of the dome shaped seal.

"Oops" squeaked Cody from one side of the dome, "Maybe not magic then"
"You presumptuous git" muttered Munch, picking himself up from the other side of the dome.

Nothing from Ezme though, she was unconscious, having failed her saving throw and taking the full 13 points of electrical damage.

"How are we going to lift her?" wondered Munch aloud, "She'll be 70kg if she's a pound"
"Can't leave her to get help either" mused Cody, "She would die from that bad metallic air"
"What about that magic floaty thing?" asked Munch, "Make it under her and lift her up"
"Yes, but 'up' being the issue with that plan" grumbled Cody, "Good thing I have a Healing potion"

The Healing potion was trickled into Ezme's open mouth and proved sufficient to raise her to consciousness. Then they all climbed up Munch's magic rope and beat a hasty retreat back to the rest of the party.

"Don't tell them" whispered Cody.
"Nope"

Gathering up the rest of the party as they passed, they all retreated to the surface, the creature's decapitated head wrapped in Ezme's cloak, where Lois and Cody went off to the Wizard's Guild to report their amazing discoveries to Julius.

"Verry interesting" replied Julius, after getting a full briefing from Lois.
"And I found out that the Throaks moved the eggs out of the warehouse after they noticed the floor vibrating" Julius continued.

"Why didn't you tell us that earlier" grumbled Cody, "You dick"

"PZZZFF", and Cody made his saving roll against Arcane magics and Julius's spell spluttered out.

"Know your place boy" Julius glowered, "You're just ugly, incompetent, and offensive"

"Cunt" muttered Cody under his breath.

"PZZZFF", again Cody made his saving roll against Arcane magics and Julius's spell spluttered out.

"And lucky" Julius concluded, "Now go and crack that code!"

Sewer Crawl

Present

Lois Price

• Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
• Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
• Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
• Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane
• MARMALADING: Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
• MARMALADING: Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
• Willow. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
• Lois Price. Human Female Wizard of Porn City – Ian
• Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl

by Ian

After recovering in town after the river trip, we find our group of scholars, recently rejoined by Esme, in the Porn City general library.

Esme stumbled across a dusty old tome with the auspicious title of 'Ye Olde Porn city'.

The book had a reference section that dated 60-70 years ago. A log of events that covered:

• Two giant eggs dredged from the Porn City River
• The Throak (pronounced "throck") family quickly whisked the eggs away from public eye (pun intended).
• One egg hatched and a large creature appeared.
• Soon after, a disease spread across localized parts of the city and went down the sewers.
• The sewers started to 'sing'.
• The Throak militia sent a unit into the sewers to investigate and no one returned and none were recovered.
• The singing eventually stopped and the spreading disease went away.

Back out in the city and around the docks the cordon is being toughened. Many of the side alleys are now blocked entirely. Escapees that try to make a break are being cut down. Workers are out sealing up the sewer covers. There seems to be more web snot around. 

Lois and Cody return to Julius to get an update on the web snot testing.

"Hello Lois!" He was a lot less abusive to Lois than Cody. "Nice to see you back. Yes, we have a few initial findings:

1. It is not plant based
2. It is not fungus
3. It is not magic, evil or poison
4. More like a web
5. Grows with the song
6. Seems that with enough song, the web will invade the victims lungs and body and eventually explode out.

Bring the creature back so we can investigate fully".

"Certainly" replies Lois, "That is exactly what we want to do."

To the Sewers

The party stock up with Continual Lights on croquet balls, rope and all manner of dungeon-crawl gear.

Before light, they head to a sewer cap in a street outside of the cordon, close to the perimeter.

The party enter the empty, damp sewer system and start carefully moving toward the docks (under the cordon), via the first level of underground sewer. The intention is to descend to lower levels 2 or 3 to locate the monster and eliminate, returning the body to Julius. 

The lower sewers are in a grid pattern, Lefts, rights and straight a-heads. Progress is reasonable as the party navigate the slimy corridors and tunnels.

As they near a down-sink, they hear noises from ahead. Not scary, monster slishing and slashing, but rather a team of workers. 

work team

Munch sneaks forward and confirms that there is a five man work crew sealing the down-hole with a metal grid. Essentially stopping any potential cordon escapees from climbing out the shaft. 

The party select a different path, retreating - changing paths and advancing back toward the docks. 

They eventually approach a different down-shaft that had a splattering of web snot surrounding the opening. This hole appears to have been 'ripped outward' from below. 

Everyone stops at the edge of the web snot and ponders how to proceed, while not touching the slime nor closing near to the hole opening. 

Lois tries an experiment of using a burning torch on the web snot and the web like filaments do indeed burn away! Success? Not quite... turns out that the remaining web snot uses the fire as a life source and GROWS as a result. Fire is no good. Lois and Jack (infected last session) also note that their own web snot tingles and activates. Everyone hears the singing. 

The hole is two paces in diameter. Lois considers that she is already infected so walks to the edge and confirms that the hole drops to the next level down. 

Munch climbs from the outside walls to the middle of the ceiling. After a nervous slip, locates a climb rope anchor point directly above the centre of the hole and lowers his magic rope. 

Anyone standing on the edge of the hole (like Lois) can simply reach to the rope and climb down. However, anyone that does not want to step on the snot, has to make a dexterous roll to not fall 3m down to the solid bottom.

Jack walks to the edge and easily climbs down into the lower room. While there is plenty of web snot, it can be easily avoided for those that do not want to touch it. Lois and Munch join Jack. Tom rouses from marmalading in time to decide on how he wants to get to the lower level. He decides to jump also.

• 

  Esme falls

  Esme takes strong steps, gracefully jumps and misses the rope entirely. Falls a storey to the room floor. Whump! Lands in a little bit of web snot but that does not seem to cause any trouble. 
• Fat Willow launches his immense bulk, flies toward the rope - misses and falls to the floor. Whump! 
• Cody takes a gangly run of all arms and legs, jumps and grabs the rope! He climbs down without any issue.
• Tom launches, scrambles to grab the rope and descends.

The fallers take various amounts of falling damage and significant wounds to their pride, but after picking themselves up, dusting off and resetting, all are ready to head forward on level 2. 

The party get to a collapsed tunnel on their direct path that the smaller people could get through, however the likes of fat Willow and the monster would never fit - so they retreat a little and find a different way. 

Where the party are in this part of the sewers, there is no sign of the web snot or any other signs of the creature they are hunting. 

Eventually, another down-shaft appears in the floor of a sewer room. Again one storey down, however this time the way is clear with no web snot in the way for the fearful paranoid party members.

Ropes deployed and everyone lowers to Level 3. There is a pile of old sewer worker shovels and gear with long dead skeletons with dusty worker fatigues. Nothing worthy of more than cursory inspection or retrieval. 

From this level 3 room there are four ways out and no web snot. 

Taking the exit that leads to the docks, the party eventually get to an outlet to the river. However, there is a new, strong grill on the exit. 

The party retreat to the down shaft room, climb back to level 2 and navigate to where they think they are above the grill and there is no exit there.

Recovering Old Ground

At a bit of a loss as to where to head and at a lose end, they decide to head to the 70 year old dead monster. Fat Willow knows exactly where that is within the sewers and they trudge off.

As the old carcass nears, the walls start singing louder and louder. Lois, Jack and Tom hear the humming and their noses run with web snot.

Lois decides to perform another experiment and places her hand on the vibrating wall. She immediately is overwhelmed by the vibration and her web snot expands dramatically. She collapses on the floor choking, coughing and spluttering. Lesson learned for all, and in particular those that are infected, the web snot can quickly overwhelm.

Cody sneaks off

Cody sneaks off to investigate. Passing the corpse, he carries on for 20 mins, tracking the web snot. He eventually stumbles upon a large cavern that is somewhat different to the sewer system. 

A massive, wonderfully finished and ornate chamber which he carefully sneaks in to observe.

A number of notable findings:

• There are no direct exits from the room (well, except the one Cody is standing by and one that will be described shortly). Shall we say, one typical exit.
• The ceiling is vibrating madly.
• There are various clumps of snot, again easy enough to avoid if wanted. 
• There IS a hole in the centre of the room

But most importantly, there in the middle of the room - obsessively staring at the ceiling, is the tentacle headed creature. Cody freezes and silently withdraws back down the tunnel and to the group.

The Assault - Plan A

The party proceed to the chamber Cody found and form a plan. The creature is still there and the ceiling vibrating away. Cracks forming and dust falling.

A Silence spell will be cast up to the edge of the tunnel door and entrance to the room, so the less sneaky (like Lois) can get to the front, step outside the silence and cast spells.

Lois and Cody want to blast the creature with Lightning Bolt. Esme seriously questions the wisdom of this, considering the web snot grows with fire and, days ago the up-river egg did not get hurt when it was shot with the same bolts.

"Nahhhh, it will be fine. Magic Missile hurt it last time" Cody confirms with authority.

"Yes!!! Two Lightning Bolts will HAVE to hurt it, and this is totally different to the egg" Lois chimes in with confidence.

Plan is for Lois and Cody to blast with a surprise attack, then Cody will use a Web spell to cover the hole in the floor to stop the creature escaping that way. The fighters will then rush in and cut down what little is left of the monster. Should be very little to do after the magnificence of the bolt hits.

BLAM!!! [Lois spends luck to ensure a hit] Cody blasts away. Two magnificent direct hits!!!

A direct hit

The powerful electrical bolts cross the room instantly with a crack. They encircle the monster. The power forms a bright blue and white sparking shell, which the creature absorbs with a pop. The monster visibly grows bigger but is otherwise unscathed. It SCREAMS its well-known, predictable first-defence action.

Lois drops to the ground immediately. Out cold. For the others; due to a large amount of good fortune and the lavish application of luck, magics and protections, the rest of the crew are all up and ready to go.

Cody steps to the side of the tunnel entrance and Tom and Esme wade in and quickly cross the floor. Tom hits, Esme hits. However one of the tentacles lashes Tom (critical hit at a really unfortunate time). A big chunk of Tom's heath disappears and he saves vs poison (makes it). Esme does slash at the monster and the monster loses some flesh and bleeds.

Jack and Munch enter the room.

As the creature won the attack, it makes a direct jump for the hole in the floor. At the same time, Cody casts Web. The creature has just enough head start that it gets past Cody's web and down the hole, and is gone.... It seems that the creature has no desire to stay and fight, and will retreat to safety as soon as it can. It did not try another scream so it either can't and waiting for a cooldown, or would rather run.

Aftermath

Fat Willow gives Lois a Major Heal via Julius's wand [8 charges down to 7] which fixes her unconsciousness, and performs a number of mundane Cures on Tom.

Lois licks her wounds, brushes herself off - notes the need to buy a new adventuring outfit. This one is ruined. After the wound to her pride and the embarrassment of making such a bad decision subsides, She thinks maybe helping the group will restore a little respect from the others? Spending her last remaining luck point, Lois considers where they are underground and how they all got there and concludes, with confidence, that this chamber would be directly under the Throak warehouse that houses the remaining eggs! No wonder the creature is here trying to collapse the ceiling.

Willow is overwhelmed and falls with a crash, marmalading.

They investigate the hole the creature escaped down and it is a very smooth downslope (rather than vertical hole) that descends in a curve, at about 45deg. The hole is three paces in diameter.

Munch fearlessly sets a rope and descends carefully down the hole. It spirals downward and back under itself, eventually flattening out to a straight line toward the river, well below water level. More than likely past the old corpse. Munch thinks this is about level 4 or 5 of the sewers.

He gets a strong metallic taste and smell and quickly retreats back to the room.

A close inspection of the hole reveals many scratch and scrapes on the hole and tunnel wall, as if something heavy had graunched past.

Something hard, spiky and just under three-paces in diameter. Hmmmm.....

Cody decides its time for an experiment and casts Cone of Cold on a large patch of web snot. This time the snot seems to have been frozen and NOT grow in size, nor activate vibration, nor activate the web snot away from the area of effect. Hmmm, this is worth knowing and seems to work.

While the crew are watching the frost thaw, pondering life choices and working out what to do next, a slithery set of steps is heard approaching from deep down the hole.

"Bloody hell, that damn thing is coming back already..."

The party retreat to the tunnel and leave a couple of quiet, expert observers in Munch and Cody. 

The monster reappears and sits itself to one side of the hole again. It stares intently at the ceiling and the roof vibrations start again. It seems that it has returned to its original size from before the attack. Its behaviour is simple, its defences are horrific and it is terrifying to attack.

Hopefully Willow wakes soon and we can think of a plan B.

 

Web Snot

 

Present

• Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
• Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
• Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
• MARMALADING: Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane
• MARMALADING: Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
• MARMALADING: Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
• Willow. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
• Lois Price. Human Female Wizard of Porn City – Ian
• Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl

by Darryl

As light suddenly flicked on and the land was bathed in the light of the day, our intrepid adventurers can be found, hidden down a little creek, well camouflaged, off the main stream of the Porn river (that flows down to Porn City) and about one hour down-river from Greybank, the little town where strange and dangerous looking experiments are being undertaken on one of the mysterious large black eggs.

Lois: "He will just send us
back to destroy it."

"Well, we done all asked of us by Julius McKraken our great patron has asked of us, we knows whose got the egg and what they are doing so do we goes back and tells him all this or do we just sit here like namby pambies?" Cody asked the group.

"Well, there seems no point going back and asking uncle what to do when most likely he will just send us back here to destroy it." replied Lois.

A general muttering and scraping of jowls and distance stares could be seen through the rest of the group as the usual quandary then raised it's ugly head, leered at the group and sneered at compromise and wise counsel.

"Um should we go and  destroy the egg then?" asked Munch.

"Sure thing" replied Cody.

"We could sneak up to the house..." said  Tom.

"And?" asked another member of the group.

The usual back and forth then did it's usual thing, talk around and around and eventually the group put together a highly detailed plan of action, known from past activities as plan A. The general plan, walk up to the estate, hide until dark, go into the stable where the egg was placed last night and then chop it into little pieces.

So the group then with this great plan set forth a few hours before dark and began walking the approximate one hour distance to the estate. After a short while, the group came across an elderly country estate type gentleman and his dog, who was rather indignant and suspicious of the group in the first instance, but after initial questioning and believing the group was on their way to Greybank, simply told them to make sure they shut all gates as they tramped onward. 

The group made pretty good progress with Munch and his ability to find his way through wild and rural areas leading the way. Dark fell with its normal precision, but Munch's night-sight was still able to lead the group forward. About 30 minutes before arriving at the house and stable, Cody hears noise ahead and with this warning the group was able to hide themselves in a hedgerow near the path they were on. 

As they quietly waited, the noise of people and dogs grew slowly louder. After a few moments two men and some dogs walked past with the men quietly talking to each other. The dogs were in good order and the men very-well-armed with hand weapons and crossbows. Cody's warning had been quite important as the group had just entered into the Shi estate's grounds and the feeling was that these were estate guards being sent down to watch the borders of the estate. They moved off and soon the group was once again on their own.

The group became more cautious at this point and moved off again but this time more slowly and listening and looking around with greater attention. Lights were seen moving ahead of the group and moving towards them, and so once again the group moved off the track and silently hid in the bushes three well-armed men passed the group by and now all were fully aware of the dangers and difficulties ahead.

Moving even more carefully the group proceeded forward and after a short time, a small pale glow could be seen in the distance. 

"Hide here you guys, I will go and check things out." says Munch, who disappears off into the darkness. 

He sneaks forward, very badly, and realizes the glow is coming from the copse behind the main estate house and that the egg is already in place here and not in the stable as the group had hoped. He sneaks a little closer, climbs a tree and looks down on what is happening. Tonight, there is a series of rocks placed in a circle around the egg and there is a white fungus looking dusting over the rocks. A large black man, who Munch recognizes from last night’s foray, is here, and another older man that he has not seen before. 

Suddenly, the branch Munch is leaning on cracks breaks and Munch falls to the ground. The men are deep in conversation and seem to not be worried by the sound, thanks to Munch's beating heart and puckering sphincter. He quickly scurried back to the group and fills them all in.

"I also saw a group of men and dogs wandering about so will go and check out that nearby copse of trees, to see if it might have more guards in it, whilst you buggers figure out what to do next." whispers Munch as he hurries off.

The group quickly and quietly discuss potential plans of action, all involving screaming charging and waving about great big weapons. In the mean time, Munch ensures that the nearby copse is empty and has another quick look at the egg. The two men have gone and the stones seem to have even more of a white coating than he first saw. quickly he returns to the group.

"Right all clear." says Munch. "what's the plan, and me orders?"

The group quickly and quietly moves towards the egg, munch climbs the tree the egg is hanging from and cuts the rope so the egg falls onto the ground. It rolls a little to the side, but is still inside the ring of rocks. A couple of the group walk in grab the cut rope and haul the egg out of the circle. Jack pulls out is magic weapon and begins attacking it. His weapon bounces and flays around, he is making no impression at all. A piercing scream begins in his head but he is able to shake it off. 

"Leave this to the professionals." says Cody as he rolls back his sleeves points his hands towards the egg and wiggles his fingers. The usual effect of a lightning bolt is a large flash and the crack of thunder. Instead a fizz, pop and the light sizzles scatters across the egg and seems to be absorbed by it. Piercing screams suddenly are heard in the heads of  Tom, Munch and Lois who all fall to the ground unconscious.

"Oops, that didn't work" mumbles Cody.

Fat Willow works quickly and uses two Major Healing spells get Tom up who then carries Lois, and a second on Munch as without his skills the group would be lost in the dark. The luck of the group holds and they are able to slowly work their way back to the barge over the next few hours. After arriving back Cody has the bright idea of casting a (4th level) Wizard Eye which because he has been to the place, he is able to do and he does the spell so that he can see the copse where the egg is. In his mind’s eye he sees the egg being retied up from the tree and eight occultists standing around and chanting (Wizard Eye yields no sound). The white fungus material is now coating the rocks even more, and there are also a group of guards and their dogs standing around watching outwards and guarding whilst the occultists sway wave their arms and appear to chant. From the noses of the guards can be seen white wisps of fungi dripping out of their noses. A white light begins emanating from the egg and the large black man can be seen observing from the side. After some time the group seems to stop what they are doing and leave.  

Cultists and egg

Cody continues to watch on for an hour more but now there is just the guards and all else is quiet. He concludes that the activity is finished for the night and switches off his Wizard Eye.

The next day, in their well-hidden position, the group rests and heals and it is decided that it is too dangerous and pointless to return to the Shi Estate, instead they will simply wait on their barge and allow Cody to keep everyone abreast of what happens via his Wizard Eye.

That night the group waits awhile and Cody fires off his spell and recounts what he sees.

Once again the copse is dimly lit, guards and their dogs stand outside of the circle but look ready for  trouble. At about 9pm a man with a glow between his hands and the black man arrive wave their arms about and depart. Nothing happens for the next three hours but around midnight the occultists return form a circle and begin their chanting being watch on by the black man. A white light begins emanating from the egg and the cracks in it seem to grow larger and larger. Suddenly the egg cracks open and a large bipedal creature with tentacles all over it's head steps out. 

Priest Horatio has a bad day

It grabs one of the chanters and rips his head off. The creature begins attacking all around it. some of the chanters fall to the floor with their hands over their ears whilst others scatter and run as fast as they can. during the melee, the creature grabs Methuselah priest Horatio and rips him apart before it finally runs away into the dark. 

The white fungi like material had been spreading from the rocks and was right through the circle of stones, but Cody as he continues to look on, notices it retreating back towards the rocks and disappearing. As he continues watching and about 20 minutes after the attack  the black man, now in full chain mail, Marjorie and her magic staff, and some guards appear within Cody's vision. They pick up the wounded and disappear from view. He watches on for another hour but nothing further happens and so he decides that nothing more is worth watching for and turns off his Wizard Eye for the night.

Web snot

At first light after a short amount of sleep, the group rises and begins to discuss what the next step is. As they do so it is noticed that Tom, Jack and Lois have a fine white powdery material coming from their noses. On closer inspection it is not a powder or fungus but a whispery web like material.

"Don't get too close to me you buggers." says Munch and Cody, almost in unison. "I don't want no web snot. They is dying of that back in Porn City"

Jack tries a Detect Evil on Tom, nothing. But all three of them have a sort of humming in their heads, almost as if something or someone is trying to communicate with them. Willow tries a Neutralize Poison  on one of them and this too fails.

With nothing more to be gained at this stage and the concern of the web snot on some of the members, the group decide to head back to Porn City, travelling downstream with no issues, and even giving back the horse they had hired to a more than surprised farmer, who thought he had seen the last of it quite a few days ago.

On arriving back in Porn City, the web snot issue was gaining traction as something important for the group to sort out, and so as soon as docked Tom, Jack and Lois head off to the Aquamarina temple. One of the priests there tries a Remove Curse but this does not work either.

In the meantime Cody and Lois head to the Wizards' Guild to see Julius McKraken, and Lois fills him in on what has happened. He then says that quite a number of years ago something similar happened, though the writings are vague and incomplete. But there is some writing about a similar sort of creature, web snot and the background humming that eventually just died away and has not been seen since. The Throak family and Wizards guild deny any connection or knowledge about what is going on. He says the group should take down one of these creatures and that this should be our next step. When Cody asks him to explain more about the web snot he says not to worry unless one is infected, because it is quite safe unless one is, in which case at some point one dies.

Mace, staff and bracelet

Lois is able to negotiate the use of some magical equipment, after she explains that only magic works against it, and that it is very dangerous and powerful and that much healing is going to be needed. Cody and Lois return to the group carrying some items

• a magical mace
• a bracelet of protection +2
• a staff of Major Heals

Nothing more is needed for the group to move on to the next step in their adventures other than very big hankies.

Unnatural Acts in Greybank

Present

• Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
• Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
• Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
• MARMALADING: Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane
• MARMALADING: Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
• MARMALADING: Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
• Willow. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
• Lois Price. Human Female Wizard of Porn City – Ian
• Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl

by Jamie/Jack

Ardern, Ezme and Rock continued to marmalade quietly in the corner.

I sailed the barge up the Porn River. We got word from the Poncho and Cap Inn that a badly-steered barge had passed by a few days ago. 

We reached the township of Bodkin coming on dusk. We stayed at the Bodkins Rest. I talked to the dock workers and heard that the barge had passed through a couple of days earlier. The dockers had noticed a strange fog around the barge. We tried to get a (barge draught) horse from the dockers but there was none for hire. Lois went up to a farm house and managed to buy a couple of horses from a farmer. They were the oddest looking creatures you have ever seen. I am sure that ‘orses were supposed to have 4 legs. I suspect that they had been intended for the knackers yard. Still, somehow they did the job. 

We passed another small village called Pestard. Same story. A barge passed through three days earlier. We decided we needed to press on so we decided to keep the barge going into the late evening.

Late at night we reached Wittenburg and decided to stop there.

The following morning we set off and reach Thrumming Brook. Some dark fellow had gotten off the barge and gone into to town. He returned after a couple of hours. Lois and I went down to the only pub to see if he had visited, the Swillers Ditch Inn. The inn keep hadn’t seen anyone so we went to the general shop. No luck. We went on to the apothecary. Orin at the apothecary lied about not seeing him. He said he worked for the Throaks and was involved in trying to working out what was infecting people. I don’t right know if that were true but he was clearly hiding something. 

We pushed on and a little before dark we pulled in to a place where barges occasionally pull up. We camped for the night. It pissed rain but was otherwise a quiet night. In the morning we headed up river toward Greybank. The river was quite tricky and I had to steer the barge through some shallows. We noticed straight away that there was a Throak barge tied up. Knock me down with a feather, Lois immediately noticed that the Throak crest on the boat was a forgery. We paid off some dockers and they confirmed that the barge had docked two days ago and that the cargo had been transferred onto a cart and headed into town. Some of the group headed into town. Munch said that the Jamiesons and the Shis are the big families in town.

Willow's Cup

The group decided to stay at the Willow’s Cup. Marjorie Till was the owner and she was very friendly. Told us that the horse and cart had been seen heading through town but hadn’t seen it herself. She told us to go to the Unicorn and Vibrator and talk with Mistress Foss. The man with the cart had stopped here and his driver went to the Methuselah temple (Time). The Methuselah temple is run by Horatio Shi. Willow’s Cup was real nice and we didn’t even get food poisoning. I had a great sleep and felt much better the following morning.

We headed down to the Methuselah temple. Horatio was polite but unhelpful. I went outside and I saw tracks and a what looked like a heavy horse but it could have been a sheep. I had a look in the stable and there was a cart and horses but not the ones we were looking for. Munch snuck into the back room to see if there was aught there. There wasn’t. Horatio politely told us to leave. He told us that he had a meeting in 24.16 minutes and he headed off on a cart and buggy. Willow followed as a starling. Horatio went up a side lane and then turned up a drive that had a Shi crest on the gate. He was greeted by a woman, who Willow thought was his wife.

Unicorn & Vibrator

We wandered into town arguing. A variety of not very sensible ideas were discussed. The ability of dogs to see through invisibility was discussed in detail. I wandered down to the docks and asked about the driver. The dock workers were friendly but they couldn’t remember the other driver of the cart. We went back to Mistress Foss’ at the Unicorn and Vibrator to ask about the driver. 

Lois and I went back to the Willow’s Cup and asked Marjorie about whether anyone had recently arrived in town. No one had but she told us that the Shis had had financial problems ten years ago. Then they came into money. They are also quite aloof.

It all adds up. The Shis must be involved in whatever is going on. The following evening we headed towards the Shi estate and sent Willow as an owl, in to have a look. Willow’s owl peaked into the stable. The large black horse from the barge was there. Willow took position in a tree to observe things. 

Willow got lucky

Then Willow got lucky. Two people, the one we were looking for came out (dark man with dreadlocks). The other was Horatio. They walked over to a copse and seven more people including our inn keeper (Marjorie) came out. They had hoods with distorted Methuselah masks. The egg was brought out of a warehouse and then hanged under a tree. They started chanting and the egg started to gradually crack. Willow was running out of time so he flew back. Munch snuck onto the grounds and watched the rest of the ceremony. The egg was clearly being worked on. It didn’t hatch tonight. The cultists had white fungus appearing on their masks.

As the ceremony finished Munch ran back to the group. We made our way back to the inn. The inn run by an unnatural cultist. We decided to wait till morning and then lie to Marjorie to tell her that we had given up and were going back to Porn City. She semi tried to dissuade us from leaving but we highlighted that we thought that the cart and its cargo was probably long gone. To keep up with the ruse, we headed down to the dock and sailed off.

Two hours downstream we docked and hid the barge under some willow trees. We then argued again about what we should do. Munch suggested running away and letting the egg hatch. 

"Not our problem," he said. 

Tom, Cody and I felt that we had to do something before the egg hatched. 

Off on an Egg Hunt

• Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
• Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
• Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
• Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane
• MARMALADING: Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
• MARMALADING: Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
• Willow. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
• Kippy Hunt. Human Male Barbarian of the Central Plains – Ian
• Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl

 

Bleeding Jack

"What was that thing?" indeed.

Ezme gave a choked cry, and collapsed as only a buxom wench can. She lay on the ground, drooling marmalade.

All that was left of the sewer expeditionary force, conscious, was now Cody and Tom.

Kippy and Munch were watching the pods on the docks, else watching the party's new barge. Fat Willow was in the Druids' Grove. Rock Hammer and Ardern were still suffering Chronic Marmalade tucked in safely in the inn.

"I suggest we execute a tactical withdraw," voiced Cody. Tom readily agreed.

Tom hefted the unconscious Jack - his ears still bleeding - onto his massive shoulders. Cody busied himself bundling up the marmalading Ezme so that she could be carried (Marmaladers were now almost weightless. This was a recent side-effect that the group discovered, so it made the hapless droolers easy to move.)

Tom and Cody made their way out of the sewers, and onto a street in a quiet part of town. It was 4 be'light, [3am] so the streets were empty. 

There were three bodies on the street near the exit manhole, dead, with a white fungus around their mouths.

"The Porn City Militia can handle these," Cody said.

Around the next corner, the four stumbled into a group of Militia. [ failed luck roll ]

"Halt!" came the cry from the Sergeant.

Cody clutched the limp Ezme in a lover's embrace, copping a good feel, and getting a good feed of marmalade from her open mouth. Tom stumbled about, dragging the bleeding Jack, as if drunk from a night of reveling.

"Evenin' officer," slurred Tom. "Jus..jus.. headin' home with me mates."

"Good eve-able cuntsta-ning" slurred Cody, his mouth spattered with Ezme's marmalade.

[Tom made a 1 Persuade roll - good success!]

The soldiers saluted. "On your way, citizens."

The four returned to the barge after an hour. Kippy and Munch had been left on watch while the others were down in the sewers. But the barge was unoccupied. There were signs of a fight: knocked over boxes, and a broken oar on the deck.

Munch returned - he had been on watch over the pod/egg storage. He reported that one of them had been lifted by derrick cranes and loaded into a barge. The barge then vanished into the mist, and Munch couldn't even tell if it went upstream (up the Porn river), or out to sea. The barges were not really ocean-going barges, so we suspected it was upstream.

Still no sign of Kippy.

At light, fat Willow arrived. His curing magic manages to fix Jack. Jack's last memory was when the creature screamed. 

Tom got cured too.

Lois Price

"I can still feed him to the pigs," offered Willow, helpfully.

Cody, rather low on magic, then went to the WG to get recharged. He connected with the patron, Julius McKraken who demanded a meeting.

"I have my Niece. Lois Price," said McKraken. "She is young and naive and I'd like her to join your group."

Cody looked the 28-year-old up and down. "Yeah, sure, sir."

So Lois joined the group. [This was Ian's new character to replace Kippy. ]

What was that thing?

 Present:

• Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
• Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
• Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
• Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane
• MARMALADING: Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
• MARMALADING: Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
• MARMALADING Willow. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
• Kippy Hunt. Human Male Barbarian of the Central Plains – Ian
• Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl

 

by Jeff

The Disruption

A year had passed since the Amelia debacle.

Grim had been volunteered to meet whatever fate Amelia had decided for him, Thespian had conveniently disappeared from the Porn City Wizards' Guild, and Cody had spent the intervening months being almost cheerful. Not good looking, obviously. Nothing that miraculous had occurred. But cheerful.

The news that his mother might still be alive, and that a beautiful ageless Red Witch had been seen at the Elessari Circle enclave in the Central Plains, had given Cody a new lease on life.

The rest of us had returned to our usual activities. Jack was back around the docks, Esme had returned to the warm embrace, and occasional other limbs, of Soixante Neuf, Ardern spent more than a little time in jail, Willow went back to burying people and making sure some stayed buried, Munch did whatever Munch did, and I was working the doors down at the dockside pubs, mostly the Swilling Monkey.

So, naturally, the Wizards' Guild decided we owed them another favour.

Cody called us together at the Green Pickle.

"Julius Cracken wants us to investigate something at the docks," Cody announced.

"Julius Cracken?" asked Jack.

"My new contact at the Guild," Cody replied. "Since Thespian vanished."

"Convenient," muttered Esme.

"Very," agreed Cody. "And don't bother asking about it. I tried. Stony silence."

Apparently there had been some form of "disruption" down at the docks. The Throak Militia had closed down a section of the port. No one in, no one out. A strange mist was swirling across the area, not thick enough to hide everything, but enough to make it bloody annoying if you were trying to see what was going on.

And, of course, the Wizards' Guild wanted facts.

Not opinions. Not guesses. Facts.

"Well then," said Jack, "we should go somewhere we can see the docks."

"The Swilling Monkey," I said. "I know the place."

"The Swilling Monkey?" asked Kippy.

"Near the docks. Just outside the closed area. And the beer's only half poison."

"Perfect," said Munch.

The Swilling Monkey

We relocated to the Swilling Monkey and took two rooms on the second floor overlooking the dock area.

From the windows we could just make out part of the wharf, though the drifting unnatural mist made everything shimmer and blur. A section of the docks had been covered in heavy tarpaulins. About ten metres by eight metres of canvas, with lumps and bumps underneath.

"Looks like a cheap brothel blanket," noted Jack.

"Smells better," said Esme.

Down in the tavern we found Joric Pike, a dock foreman, and Lisa Muir, one of the dredge workers, already well into their cups. Rumours were flying around. Something had been pulled up from the harbour floor during recent dredging. Something strange.

"Strange how?" asked Kippy.

Lisa shrugged. "Strange like everyone suddenly gets told to shut up, bugger off, and pretend they didn't see anything."

"Ah," said Munch. "Official strange."

Plan A was to sell our services to the militia as experienced investigators of the unknown and arcane.

This sounded plausible for approximately six seconds.

Tom and Esme presented themselves at the interdiction gate and spoke with Sergeant Latter. Esme smiled, breathed, stood in a certain way, and Sergeant Latter forgot whatever regulations he had previously believed in.

"Best speak to Captain Venn," he said, leading us through.

Unfortunately, Captain Venn was made of sterner stuff. Or dead wood. Hard to say.

Esme tried charm.

Venn remained unmoved.

I tried looking professional.

Venn remained unmoved.

We were given the short shrift, marched back to the gate, and ejected. The captain's tent was not even close enough to the covered area to give us a decent look.

"Well," said Esme, "that went well."

"Plan B?" asked Jack.

Eyes Over the Docks

Plan B was Cody casting Wizard Eye.

This actually worked, which made a refreshing change.

Cody sat in one of the upstairs rooms at the Swilling Monkey and sent his invisible peeping magic across the closed dock area.

"There are six militia roving patrols," he reported, his eyes unfocused and unpleasant. "Three guards at the single entrance. Three more on the dredge out in the harbour. Dock workers are tying large rope nets. Thick rope. Mesh about two and a half metres."

"What are the nets for?" asked Kippy.

"Wrapping something big," Cody said.

He frowned.

"The perimeter fence has a magical shimmer."

"Alarm?" asked Esme.

"Likely."

"Or?" asked Munch.

"Death trap," Cody grinned.

That night we rested up and prepared Plan C. Jack would undertake a swimming incursion from his Aquamarina temple, which was not far outside the closed zone, but on the far side of the harbour from the Swilling Monkey.

Nothing disturbed us overnight.

The next morning the tarpaulins had changed.

There were now six items, roughly circular, about two and a half metres across, each wrapped in tarpaulin, then wrapped in the thick rope nets we had seen the previous night. They hung about three metres above the wharf from a large derrick.

"Those things could easily be loaded onto a barge now," noted Jack.

Beneath one of the suspended objects was a smaller tarpaulin thrown over something on the ground. Something protruded from underneath it.

"Is that a leg?" asked Kippy.

It looked very much like a leg.

The Priest of Super Fosfait

Jack headed off to his temple, saying he would also hire a barge for the next few days before going for his swim.

Munch set himself up in our room to keep watch on the gate and the docks. The rest of us stayed downstairs, drinking carefully, listening to rumours, and trying not to start fights. Or finish them.

Jack returned later and reported that there were two militia guards under the wharves. They were well positioned to watch below, but not particularly attentive.

"Easy enough to get around," he said.

"Everything is easy enough until something bites your face off," said Cody.

Soon after, Munch spotted a commotion at the interdiction gate. A priest of Super Fosfait, accompanied by a temple guard, arrived and was admitted.

Cody attempted Wizard Eye again.

Nothing.

Then he attempted it again.

Still nothing.

"How many times can you do that?" asked Kippy.

"Currently?" Cody snapped. "None."

[Spell failures still use the magic-point cost of the spell, so Cody had managed to exhaust himself magically without achieving anything. This is known in professional wizarding circles as "being Cody".]

From the tavern we saw the Super Fosfait priest inspect the hanging objects, look at the covered body, and disappear into one of the warehouses for a while. A few hours later he and his guard left.

Kippy followed them back to the Super Fosfait temple.

This did not feel like a coincidence.

Night Watch

That night the party split up.

Most of us slept on Jack's hired barge. Munch stayed in the upstairs room at the Swilling Monkey, watching the dock area. With his Night Vision talent, he was easily the best choice for the job, and also the least likely to get bored and wander off to steal something. Probably.

The hanging objects were well lit by militia lamps. Munch noticed that one of them had a large tub below it. A slit had been cut through the tarpaulin and something was slowly dripping down into the tub.

"Yuk," Munch thought.

Later a horse and cart arrived at the gate and was let through. Munch watched as three bodies were loaded onto it: the one from under the tarpaulin and two more from one of the warehouses.

The cart left.

Munch followed.

"To Super Fosfait," he figured.

Sure enough, the cart went straight to the temple stables. Creeping through the shadows, Munch watched three men come out the rear of the temple with stretchers. The bodies were loaded and carried inside through the rear door.

"Very interesting," he mused.

Very interesting indeed.

He decided not to break into the temple by himself, which showed an unusual degree of restraint, then returned to the Swilling Monkey to continue his watch.

The rest of us slept peacefully on the barge, achieving nothing, though Cody at least recovered some of his magic points.

The Egg

Sometime before dawn, a sudden movement snapped Munch out of a light doze.

One of the hanging objects was thrashing.

It swung wildly on its chains, shuddering back and forth above the tub. The movement grew more violent until the whole thing tore free, crashed down onto the tub, then rolled aside.

Munch lurched to the window.

The tarpaulin-wrapped thing continued to convulse on the ground.

Militia rushed in, weapons drawn. Then the tarpaulin ripped open and something emerged.

It was a slender bipedal creature, eight or nine feet tall, with dark mauve rubbery skin covered in glistening slime. Its head bulged like an octopus. Tentacles thrashed around its mouth, two of them longer than the others, lined with tooth-like barbs.

Munch leaned closer.

"What is that thing?" he wondered.

One of the approaching guards suddenly dropped to the ground, yards from the creature.

The thing turned, raced for the wharf, and went over the side into the ocean.

In the torn tarpaulin Munch could just make out a large black sphere, cracked open.

"Like an egg," he concluded.

Facts

In the morning Munch reported everything, then took himself off to bed.

Kippy took over the watch while the rest of us argued.

"Sounds like a greater Mind Flayer," said Cody. "That, or a Stranger Things demogorgon."

There was a brief silence.

"Not good?" asked Jack.

"Not good," said Cody.

Cody headed to the Wizards' Guild to report to Julius Cracken.

He returned later, unimpressed.

"He wants a sample of the egg material," Cody said. "And he wants us to follow and locate the creature."

"Into the sea?" asked Esme.

"Maybe sewers," said Cody.

"What did he say about the creature killing a guard and escaping?" asked Kippy.

"He said he needed facts."

"Those were facts," said Jack.

"That is what I told him," Cody replied. "Except with more shouting."

Around midday we heard rumours of deaths nearby, just outside the interdiction zone. Leaving Kippy watching the docks and Munch asleep, the rest of us went to investigate.

The Bodies

A street one block away had been closed by two guards. Three bodies lay on the road near a sewer manhole. Two looked uninjured. The third had a nasty slash across his face.

Esme distracted the guards.

This was not difficult.

The rest of us slipped close enough to see more.

Cody noticed a white powdery fungal growth around the bodies' facial orifices. Jack spotted the sewer manhole lid was slightly open. There were tracks leading to it.

Large tracks.

"About twelve inches," Jack said. "Three toes."

Cody took samples of the white powder and sticky slime from the wound.

Then I saw movement.

"Hey, something moved in that guy's mouth."

Cody leapt back with admirable speed for someone who usually moved like a sack of diseased potatoes.

We told the guards they should be careful and keep everyone away from the bodies. There might be dangerous creatures breeding inside them.

That was when Cody noticed one of the guards had a dusting of the same white powder around his nose.

Lovely.

I offered to help keep the gathering crowd back, and the clear guard ran off to report. The infected guard stayed near the body while I used my Intimidate skill to keep people away.

"Back off," I growled. "Unless you want whatever is in his mouth crawling into yours."

That worked.

Jack headed off to the small local church of REAL, which seemed the best available option for parasite infection, given there was no Panadine church handy.

About an hour later a large squad of militia arrived, led by a very officious female colonel, who shooed everyone away and enlarged the quarantine zone.

This included all of us.

Except Jack, who was still at the church of REAL.

Typical.

We retreated back to the Swilling Monkey and gathered in the rooms with Munch and Kippy. Esme cast Detect Disease to make sure we were all safe.

All clear.

From disease, at least.

Cody peered at his sample.

Something moved inside it.

"What is that thing?" he wondered.

Into the Sewers

That night Munch and Cody snuck through the expanded interdiction line to report to the Wizards' Guild.

They returned with Julius' instruction.

"Follow that thing into the sewers."

"Of course," said Esme. "Because why wouldn't we?"

The next day we prepared for a sewer excursion. Munch arranged through his underworld contacts for a sewer map to be delivered that night. Kippy watched the docks.

During the day Kippy saw two barges arrive, each with space to carry two of the tarpaulin-wrapped egg things. But the eggs were not loaded. They remained hanging from the derrick, surrounded by militia.

That evening we collected the sewer map and formed the excursion team: Cody, Jack, Esme and me.

Munch or Kippy would keep watch on the docks while the other rested.

The four of us made our way to a sewer access some distance from where the creature had entered. We climbed down, and I pulled the hatch shut behind us with a dull thud.

Cody conjured a light and led the way. I followed immediately behind, with Jack and Esme bringing up the rear.

The sewers were exactly as pleasant as expected.

The stench was foul. The splashing and dripping drowned out most other noises. Munch's map was useful enough, and Cody led us through the tunnels, past where the creature had entered, and onwards into the darkness.

After about an hour the tunnel opened into a larger drainage hub. A bigger tunnel continued out the far side.

"What is that thing?" asked Esme.

There was a hump on the floor off to one side.

It was a dead dog, with a large vicious bite wound in its side.

"Best keep clear," said Cody.

For once, nobody argued.

We bypassed the dog and continued.

Further along we found a side passage to the left. It sat slightly higher than the main tunnel. The floor was dry and dusty, and a faint breeze blew towards us from within.

We followed it.

Before long we found a fresh rockfall blocking the passage. Air wafted through small holes near the top.

"This looks fresh," I said. "Let's dig."

It took an hour to clear enough space to pass through.

Beyond the rockfall was another hub chamber, smaller than the first. A shaft rose up to an open manhole above, and the floor of the chamber looked as though it had been ripped open to expose more tunnels below.

Meanwhile

Meanwhile, back at the Swilling Monkey, Munch watched as one of the egg pods was finally loaded onto a barge. A small militia crew lowered and secured it in the centre of the deck.

The barge slipped away from the dock.

No lights.

No noise.

Just silently sliding into the night.

Munch abandoned his watch, slipped through the interdiction line, and made his way to our own barge to see if anyone was back there.

No one was.

Because we were in the sewer.

Obviously.

The Thing Below

Back below the city, we dropped through the torn floor into the space beneath.

Almost immediately, a piercing squeal came from the dark.

Something huge charged us.

I was looking the wrong way and did not see it coming for my back. Jack did. He stepped into its path and braced himself.

The thing hit us like a nightmare with limbs.

Cody spat Magic Missiles, one each round. Jack struck it cleanly, doing a decent hit.

Then the air twisted.

We all had to save against Arcane magic.

Everyone succeeded except Jack.

He collapsed unconscious, blood trickling from his ears.

"Jack!" yelled Esme.

I stepped forward.

The creature came at me through a swirl of tentacles. I swung my club and connected heavily. Then I used my Heavy Hitter talent, turning the backswing into extra punishment.

It felt good.

For about a second.

Then I hit it again, harder. A perfect blow. Right into its arm.

[Critical hit. Rolled a 1 on the d20 attack roll.]

And that was when I realized the bastard thing did not seem to care.

"Must need a stupid magic weapon to hit," I figured.

I did not have one.

The creature ignored me and turned towards Esme.

That was not happening.

I shoved myself into its path, using Dodge to make myself harder to hit.

It hit me anyway.

The blow smashed into me and sent me sprawling backwards across the chamber floor. Pain flared through my ribs and shoulder.

[13 damage in one blow. Another like that would probably have finished Tom.]

I lay there groaning, not dead, but giving the idea serious consideration.

Fortunately, Cody's Magic Missiles were doing something. The creature recoiled, reassessed whatever passed for tactics in its hideous head, and lumbered off into the dark.

Esme rushed over and cast Healing.

Jack still lay unconscious, blood at his ears.

Cody watched the creature vanish into the darkness.

"What was that thing?" he wondered.