Champions of Tibault vol 10

     The Big Tussle is one of my favorite NPCs who came as a result of a PC playing a villain. Way back in the first campaign I ran a one shot to have the PCs be the villains of the battle for the druid grove, to let me feel out how the villains would be fighting and handling the PCs. The Big Tussle was from the prototype of the Pit Fighter class. She was played as a blood thirsty brawler who sought out bigger and bigger fights. The player had a potion that turned the imbiber into a dire bear, she shoved that into the mouth of a bear, hoping it would turn the bear into something more manageable. Then she killed the direbear. after that game I kept that one in my back pocket as a villain for later.

    I also got to play around with some multiverse stuff. Silver Star is actually a character from an old Heroes Unlimited game, the house of legacy is the result of a player basically making her own version of justice league unlimited. I have long since tabled that system and setting but I still like to use it in the event of multiverse stuff.  

 

 

Session 10:

Egrat hired some people to go harvest the wood from the talking tree, determining that it was time for him to start to make a wizard’s staff. While this was happening Pheadrus summoned the party to his office in the arena. They answered quickly to remain in the wealthy minotaur’s good graces. Pheadrus wanted them to rob Wounded Animal. They accepted before even hearing the terms. They would need to find where his secret stash is and steal it, keeping it for themselves and leaving him with nothing to cover his debts, which the rest of the city’s high rollers could then call and bankrupt the evil Featherfolk.

The party sought out a former body guard of Wounded Animal, The Big Tussle, and found her in a bar known as the broken sword. She demanded Egrat as her price. Him as her slave. Naturally the party refused and employed every trick they could think of to battle her. The Big Tussle seemed to be ready to fight mages, having featherfolk on hand with guns to wake her up if put to sleep. A one woman wrecking crew, she smashed her way through the party, even when magic was used to grow Witherbone to make him more dangerous she didn’t even flinch as she stabbed a table leg into his now massive eye. Talshu, always ready with an ace, called on the architect and spent luck to push the limits of her invoke patron roll. She was whisked away along with those members of the party who were still conscious and The Big Tussle, to the house of legacy. In the house of legacy they met this woman of silver who may have been a fury known as Silver Star. She was instantly casual and friendly until Big Tussle threatened her. Silver Star laughed it off until Big Tussle broke her nose and made Silver Star question how that happened before using unnatural powers to drain the energy from Big Tussle and send her off to unconsciousness. Finally, The Architect arrived and explained he would be keeping Big Tussle in the house of Legacy and giving her something called “Therapy” which he assured them was a fitting punishment. They were sent back to Tibault where they had been taken from, healed and whole. 

Meanwhile Egrat has been unconscious and the featherfolk working for Big Tussle had put him in chains and dragged him off to her tent, assuming that she would still want him as a slave. In no condition to resist or free himself, Egrat accepted his fate for now, hoping to regain his strength and find a way out. Fortunately this was not needed as the party showed up and broke him free before anyone was any the wiser.

 

Champions of Tibault: Vol 9

 Something I adore is when a PC makes a connection or helps someone and it has a chance to come back around. I think it's good storytelling. This time, the people of Sweet Water got to deliver on the aid they had been given. The party ended up with some not quite magical but still unusual variations of the standard equipment. Leather armor that granted a claw attack, rawhide shields that granted more AC than a standard shield, a staff made from one of the massive bones, and other treasures from Sweet Water.

    Additionally, I LOVE patron stuff. I love to see it come back around. I love to see a player remember they have a patron. I love to see a player remember that the relationship with patrons is transactional. Talshu was always pretty good about that stuff. The player continues to be good about that kind of thing as they continue to play in other campaigns. 

 

Session 9:

The village of sweetwater delivered! They brought leather armors and a rawhide shield made of this “primal” leather, granting additional benefit. With their reward in hand the party decided to mess with wounded animal further, hoping to find something condemning on the featherfolk slaver and arena master. While Talshu broke into his home she released a demon from an iron cage who offered her a wish. She suspected that he would twist the wish and the demon shrugged and more or less confirmed that he was a bastard. She wished for a book detailing all the accounts and information of the old empire, everything possible, no matter how frivolous. The demon gave her a book which she quickly got out from under before it smashed through the floor of the wagon that wounded animal called home. Unable to move the book Talshu called out to her patron, the architect, offering him the book as part of her continued service and possible future reward. He immediately rewarded her with a patron spell, dimensional sundering while he took her to his pocket dimension, The House of Legacy, where she met a strange group of adventurers, Spingsinger, Brother Gavin, Saldru, and Squire, all of them seeming like larger than life heroic figures, he said they were visitors to the house of legacy from “another system” some distant place he called “five-e”. He briefly explains something called an Eternal Champion and says that sometimes he’s not addressing her but the eternal champion before returning Talshu home to scramble away from the wreckage of wounded animal’s wagon.

Talshu unfortunately didn’t get away with no witnesses and as a result Wounded animal demanded justice, Talshu had been summoned to the Arena to fight and prove her innocence. Witherbone and Egrat battle in her stead, against a 4 armed gorilla monster who almost kills Egrat. Fortunately Witherbone is able to put the beast down and a Mountainborn in the crowd with a talent for healing is able to bring Egrat back from the brink.

 

Champions of Tibault: Vol 8

     This session brought the most wealth I think the party has ever held at a single time. The players sold a tube fed shotgun to the Gunsmith's guild who were all too eager to pay for this strange new design that didn't at all follow the rules of firearms in the setting. Eskel has yet to see any royalties from this yet, behind the scenes the Gunsmith's Guild is suppressing the technology, worried that it might change the balance of power if guns are no longer difficult to produce works of art. As time passes in the setting a new type of firearm will be released eventually but for now, the tube fed system remains a secret.

    This was also the first time someone use the DCC multiclassing rules. I gotta say it was pretty cool. This person saw a chance to make their character a better fighter and took it, letting her support herself in the arena, in a pinch.

 

Session 8:

Eskel courted with featherfolk gunsmiths about selling his newly acquired weapon. They asked him to come back when they could have more experienced look at the strange new weapon. He hired Quill, a featherfolk lawyer to represent him to this gunsmith and the gunsmiths guild. Wanting to help her friend, Talshu hired the Black Eye kobold gang to watch the featherfolk overnight. The expert gunsmith who came to represent the guild was an emperor penguin who seemed very eager to get his hands on this weapon. Ultimately the deal was that Eskel would receive 1000gp in advance, a favor worth 400gp, and a 5% royalty on any weapons made based on this design. Interested in becoming a better hand to hand combatant, Talshu started to study under the gladiator Arin. 

The party then decided they needed closure on Eskel’s death and returned to the Macphadin clanhold, finding his spirit residing there in the hero’s tomb. In his final moment he was elevated to the clan’s new Hero spirit. Here, in this place of heroes, The Architect arrived to make a formal patron bond with the party, making them truly bonded as patron and petitioner. To celebrate, on the way home they killed the petulant tree on the road, damaging it until it could no longer talk or move.

 

Champions of Tibault: Session 4

 This is probably one of the first times I really got to use Orcs in Hodas. Our orcs are very much the standard pigmen who are more or less just evil creatures who survive through the suffering of others. I wanted a bag guy race who are consistently evil and won't be talked down from their position or redeemed (unless it's a specific quest for it moment) through a simple talking to. 

    So what makes Orcs in Hodas so evil? Orcs are created, they are not born. Every orc carries within themselves an ancestral memory, how to make more orcs. when a tribe is reduced in numbers enough to risk being wiped out or grows large enough to splinter, an orc's generic memory activates. They dig a pit, they fill it with water, orc blood, and perform rites of sorcery over it. from this spawning pit is where new orcs come from. Living creatures are thrown into these bubbling pits and painfully they are turned into orcs, loyal to the tribe, with no memory of themselves before. Each orc tribe has their own secret they add to the spawning pits, creating unique traits within the tribe. The twisted spine clan, talked about in today's post, add in a grass local to their region, known as coil grass. This gives them the ability to "launch" their upper body up to 30 feet away to make melee attacks before springing back into place. they use this to slingshot ranged weapons and harass on the run.

    This process isn't perfect, 1-in-10 orcs are born with a mutation. They are simply accepted into the tribe as another orc. sometimes it's a conjoined twin, sometimes it's one massive strong arm and one vestigial arm. some tribes even place their dead back into these pits to bring them back, making mutants 1-in-5. 

    This is how I got my bad guy race. They need to kidnap people and put them in these pits to propagate their species. Because they were made to be a weapon of genocide they do not know any different and cannot escape their cycle (unless someone quests for it). In setting almost no one actually knows any of this. they assume people are taken back to orc camps to be eaten or worse and orc women and children simply are not kept among raiders or war camps. The benefit of a small world is that such things aren't widely known. 

 

Session 4:

Party Geared up and rode out to battle against the twisted spine orc clan, meeting them in an open field. They clashed in a bloody conflict slaying more than 20 orcs, including a pair of chiefs, a shaman, and a mutant. Unfortunately the party underestimated the low cunning of the orc tribe and had their retreat cut off by burning grasslands behind them as more orcs raced into battle. Deranged and Halcyon fled through the flames, suffering painful burns and smoke inhalation as they rushed through the fire. Talshu chose to flee along the path of the fire, hoping that her steed would carry her to safety. Unfortunately for her the orc’s alatlatl claimed the life of her horse. Her escape seemed hopeless until Eskel decided to bring honor to himself through deed and steel. He charged the orcs and felt a strong spirit guiding his blade as it found orc flesh. His charge gave everyone enough time to flee to the safety of Tibault. 

Upon regrouping and finding that they were missing their friend the party mourned him while the city celebrated. It seems word had gotten around that he was a hero who single handedly repelled the orc tribe, taking hundreds of them with himself. The tale grew each time a balladeer spoke it and women (were paid) to weep in the streets for him. It seems Eskel had many secret lovers in the city.

During the private funeral Orkov showed his face, and offered to cover the loss of his equipment, no strings attached, as a thank you for the work Eskel did to rid the city of the orc problem. The party refused and chased him out of the funeral but later Deranged accepted the deal with the understanding that he could recall the debt at any time, adding strings now that he had been insulted.

Champions of Tibault: session 3

 This week, I introduced a foe to the party who was obviously evil and a political opponent in a good position to keep the party from just killing him. Wounded Animal, the featherfolk. In Hodas Featherfolk names are sounds, when introducing themselves or talking about other featherfolk they use those sounds. translating those sounds into words is done for the benefit of people outside of featherfolk culture who cannot mimic sounds. Featherfolk often choose their favorite sound as their name, which paints a hell of a picture for this fella named Wounded Animal who runs an arena where men face off against beasts. Everyone immediately hated him and you'll see in later episodes how deep that hate runs.

    The beast in this case was actually an allosaurus the setting's first introduction to the fact that there are dinosaurs running around in the setting. I love dinosaurs. I think I never grew out of that phase of being a little boy. When this setting was being cooked up in wasteland I was constantly thinking about how to integrate dinosaurs into the setting. This armored human and his unknown heraldry introduced mystery and danger that the party just ignored and went on to proudly proclaim that they had killed a dragon, sometimes changing the story to "we have slain a satan" as a joke. The setting took them at their word though, they are called dragon slayers, this allosaurus is the first "dragon" that has been seen in more than 1000 years and it is already creating a mess of rumors through the setting. 

 

 

Session 3:

The session began with an invite to meet with the featherfolk businessman, Wounded Animal, at his home. The party debated this, discussing his obvious cruel nature with a name like Wounded Animal. Ultimately they met with a goblin in the city named Obedient who tasked them with locating a single large gemstone, any kind, worth at least 100gp.

Deranged met with some dwarf smiths in an attempt to sell an artifact and finds that the dwarven concept of ownership is different from everyone else. This lead to a disagreement between the dwarven smiths and Deranged who got frustrated and challenged them to an arena battle. Ultimately Aerin agreed to represent Deranged and defeated the dwarven champions.

Feeling charged from their winnings the party met with Wounded Animal. The beastmaster charged them with capturing a beast in the nearby village of Sweetwater and bringing it to him for payment.
Arrival in Sweetwater was met with joy, someone was here to defeat the great feathered monster that had been eating its people daily. The party rushed to the lair of the creature and set an ambush. At great risk they ambushed the beast and decided they would not be bringing the creature back to Wounded Animal, he would be too dangerous with such a creature. With the death of the beast the party found the corpse of an armored human in the cave it was making it’s home, not decayed enough to be from the old empire but wearing heraldry none of them recognized. Bringing the beast back to the village the party is heralded as heroes and treated as such. The villagers agreed to make what leather they could from the creature but made no promises and sent the party on their way home with as much of their sweet whisky as they could spare. 

On the return trip the party encountered the furies Electra & Max, and the goblins Open, Honest, & Clear. They explained that they were trying to look for a way into the forest of Evernight and invited the party to make camp with them and share stories. In the morning they parted ways, having made friends.

When the party finally returned to Tibault they quickly settled their contract with Wounded Animal, glad to be done working with the twisted little bird. They were also approached by Phedrus who they offered to share their reward from sweet water with, making nice with the minotaur who runs the largest arena in the city.

Champions of Tibault: session 2

     Been a while since I posted on this story! I've been trying to stick to one of these every 2 weeks but it's not been working out that way, too many things I want to talk about on the blog. So here is our next part, session 2!

    Just like with the previous entries on this one, I'm gonna talk about them a bit before. The minotaur clan hero here is a piece of that world building I've talked about where spirits are somewhat common. in a minotaur clan, the spirit of a hero is actually an important thing. The minotaur have gods, but they don't pray directly to their gods or make direct offerings. The clan's hero acts as their voice to the gods, petitioning the gods on behalf of their clan. The hero can be given rest when another member of the clan who has performed heroic deeds passes on and replaces them. As long as there is a single living member of the clan, the hero will persist. When we publish the Minotaur of Hodas Zine this will be covered in more detail. 

    Magic items we see today included the dagger with a soul trapped in it that takes over the bearer under the right conditions. This is something that I remember from playing with my dad when I was little and first getting into RPGs and it's just a small way that his games have influenced mine. The player naturally got a save and several red flags but pushed forward, no risk no reward. The other magic item is the crown of the mog king and gosh did witherbone's player hate it. Moglins will not recognise witherbone as the moglin king and their strange and illogical inventions will work for him. Additionally each day, 1d4 mogs per HD of the wearer, will find their way to the wearer. The moglin king is determined by the death of the last king and whoever wears the crown, making this a dangerous position to be in.

     

Session 2:

The party is faced by a surge of moglins rushing up the stairs at them and a terrifying moglin champion. The moglin champion is massive in size and strong enough to break the stairs with his fists. Eskel fights valiantly against it alongside Witherbone and Deranged while Talshu takes up position to bring her daggers down onto the creatures back, ending it’s life. With their champion defeated the surviving moglinss flea down the stairs. The party seizes the momentum and rushes after them hoping to catch them during the route. When they reach the bottom they find many dead moglins, all headless. A faint blue glow from one of the passages into the tombs gains their attention and they encounter an apparition, the spirit of the minotaur clan’s hero, Seoras Macphaidein. They explain that they are not here to loot the place but instead kill the mogs. He charges them with killing the moglin king and the party agrees. Upstairs they find hundreds of mogs in the great hall. Through his familiar Witherbone generates an acidic fog cloud that snuffs out hundreds of lives in only a few minutes. The party considers the morality of their position for a moment before laughing about the funny screams the horrible little mogs make as they die. With the great hall cleared the party rushes the mog king who flees and is stabbed in the back by another mog who steals the crown. Four more mogs repeat this before one escapes with the “elite” guard. The mogs are chased to a treasury and swiftly slain. Witherbone looks at the twisted and ugly crown of the mog king and places it on his head. Deranged finds a strange dagger with a light in the gem that adorns it. They look closer and in a flash of lightning Deranged is no more, an ancient cleric known as Balthazar now inhabit’s their body. They return to Seoras and are rewarded with The Lilly of The Hero. upon returning to Tibault the party lies to Orkov about their findings and fold a feast for their friends and allies with Orkov weaseling his way into the feast.

 

Champions of Tibault: Session 1

This week our game took the survivors of the funnel and had the city of Tibault move into the next season, giving them time to train and grow into their level 1 classes. I use something called The Tome of Level Up, written by the creator of The Hexanomicon, in order to simulate events over the course of the PC training in their class. I've always liked it because it grants PCs some story to how they got their training in their class. I've got a version for the Hodas races which includes Ooze, Fury, Minotaur, Goblin, Featherfolk, Kobold, and Mountainborn, leaning into their niches and flavors. We also randomly generated things like mentors, a gang that the thief was in, and some other gladiators that the party is friendly with.

The players fought a lot of Moglins in this session and you might be asking, "what is a moglin?". In Hodas, Goblins are not like in most settings, they take some notes from them, they are small, communal, and inventive, but aren't evil little annoying creatures. so what fills out the roll of goblin kin and the more traditional goblins? Moglins. These are horrible little green goblins that invent things that seem to only work because they think it will, they eat anything that they can, they have massive numbers and somehow they fill up all the dark places of the world. When the Goblin Zine is released we plan on having a section talking about Goblin Kin and their roles in the world.

As for the magic items in the tale below: the returning boomerang is directly from the carnival of the damned and the Lantern of revealing is what I replaced the magic lantern in that adventure with. The lantern of revealing functions as a normal lantern with oil but when it's light is shined on a secret door or a weak illusion it consumes all the oil, snuffing itself out but revealing the secret door or dispelling the illusion.  

Session 1:

Following rumors of an easy payday the party consisting of Deranged, Talshu, Eskel, & Witherbone, heads to an abandoned minotaur clanhold nearby, expecting to plunder it of treasure. What they find is an army of moglins. The plateau that the clanhold sits on seems to be well defended as the moglins fire off artillery at the party. The party assumes the mogs will run out of their comrades to fire out of the crude device and try to bait them out. The mogs did not run out of mogs and a change of plans was needed. They rushed the base of the plateau, knowing they couldn’t be targeted after a certain angle was achieved. This was an excellent plan until moglin war chariots burst forth from hidden caves in the base of the plateau. The returning boomerang devastated a chariot before being destroyed, which was enough to break the morale of the mogs charioteers. With their path clear the party rushed forward to the stairs carved into the plateau. The lantern of revealing showed a secret tunnel on the path which was taken. Once inside the clanhold they are attacked by a mob of moglins with Derranged barely surviving the mogpile. Exploring their immediate surroundings Talshu finds the moglin “workshop” and after a brief battle with the “inventor” they recover his strange device which seems to be cobbled together garbage. They exit this area which once prepared bodies for their final resting place and decide to head down the stairs into the darkness deeper in the clanhold, seeking out the crypts.

Champions of Tibault Prologue

     This post will kick off our next campaign, Champions of Tibualt.  In Hodas Tibault is a traveling city made of tents, wagons, and arenas that can be broken down and re-assembled. Fortunes are made at the edge of a blade or by incredible luck. Games and gladiators can be found everywhere and disputes are always settled in the pits.

    The adventure I borrowed heavily from for the funnel was Carnival of the Damned, flavoring the rooms of the funnel as arenas, pits, or stages that the players faced these challenges in with onlookers in bleachers above placing bets. I used the arcade as a sort of place for the players to have a sort of meet and greet with the wealthy gamblers in the city who were seeking new gladiators and champions for their stables. I ended up cutting out the final battle and mostly just using various rooms. Some of the treasure needed to be re-flavored but it's not a huge deal to change a clown nose that grants +1d to attack and damage rolls against clowns to be a mask that does the same but against other gladiators. 

Having run this adventure both as intended and chopped up, I strongly recommend buying and reading Carnival of the Damned, it is a wonderful one for getting the juices flowing. 

 

 

Session 0:

The traveling city of Tibault, passes by a village and the locals hear of the wealth to be made, should someone have the will to take it. A group of them leave their village behind and travel with the city. When the city stops, they make some money helping set up tents and prepare an area. They spend their money quickly and find themselves in deep debt, some choose slavery to pay their debt but others choose to enter a series of games. The peasant mob struggles against blind mole beastmen, a creature in a ball pit, a pie eating contest, and a collection of deadly midway games. Many friends are lost along the way but those who survive find their debts cleared and quite a bit of wealth in their pockets. Better than all that, they have some small fame and find patrons to teach them skill in arms and sorcery, emerging as champions and gladiators.

Crew of The Traitor: Epilogue

 

Epilogue:

The crew split in some ways and stayed together in others. Cedar found herself in The House of Heroes among people more like her that could help her adjust to the new world around her. Lookout remained lost in the multiverse, having traded places with Cedar while the woman was in The House. 

Puddle returned to ooze port and acted as a herald to the new god, Bottle. The faith spread like wildfire through the populace of oozeport and the first temple was built in less than a month.

Alister remained in the city on the water, claiming it for his god, and naming it “New Kraath”. The beacon in the tower was replaced by the will of his god who took up residence there, finding that the tower was almost made to allow a god a foothold on the mortal realm. The first immigrants arrived only a few weeks after the stories of the city on the water spread through civilized lands. 

Bluebell took Macphade as her 1st mate and continued to sail on the Disgrace, now known as “The Heart of the Traitor”, becoming something of her own pirate legend and welcomed among the pirates of freeport. Eventually she and Macphade would clash with Blacksoul Harris and challenge his position as their overcaptain, becoming free pirates who answered only to the ruling council of freeport.

Ubo and his first mate yipe and their all kobold crew of Blackbacks took to the seas on “The Flying Kobold” acting as a sort of sporting rival to the crew of the Disgrace, even helping them eventually sink and maroon Blacksoul. A crew of nothing but Kobolds had never been done before and more experienced captains assumed they would last a month. The yipes and snarls of the hundreds of kobolds squeezed onto the ship has become a terror on the waves and somewhat unpredictable. 

Crew of The Traitor session 8

Session 8:

One of their crew, the ooze known as lookout, had been magically replaced by a powerfully built woman with a strange weapon, through seemingly random happenstance. The crew found they were unable to communicate with her as she spoke no language they knew. Puddle, taking no risks, used his magical nova to eat away at his gemheart to open communications with the strange woman. She introduced herself as Cedar Heinrich and captain Kasey quickly drafted her into the crew. Cedar seemed to accept this. 

Hopeless noticed that Studs was flying a white flag of parlay and split the crew, half would be going into the city to get ready for a fight and to get the shard. The other half would take the ship and meet with Studs to parlay. 

Bluebell, Hopeless, Alister, and Ubo joined the captain on the ship while Puddle, Yipe, Cedar, Dishonest, and Macphade entered the city. Macphade told Hopeless that he hoped everyone came back and he would be upset to see his crew members die. Everyone made fun of Macphade for this and said he would buy the first round when this was over. With that, the crew split, but not before the captain could give a bottle containing an ooze to Puddle, telling him to destroy the shard if it would fall into the hands of Studds.

Inside the city half the crew rushed for the tower while looking for a good ambush location. Eventually dishonest realized they needed to start to prepare and picked a narrow street that would force Studs’ crew to pack together and asked Macphade to set the cannons down. They parted ways, some of them knowing this would be the last time they saw dishonest. As they continued their rush for the shard the party noticed movement in the empty buildings. Puddle, now able to communicate with all things, approached and spoke to the things moving. The language was ancient but his magic prevailed and he learned that they were the Constructed, left behind when the humans who created this city marched to war. They were the street sweepers, the lamp lighters, the repairmen, and a hundred other jobs that were left behind when the combat constructed were taken to war. Puddle negotiated their help getting to the tower of the shard, known to them as the piece of divinity. The constructed began to lead the party through the literal maze of a city speaking of their possible worthiness to bear the shard. 

On the ship, the crew met with Studs who was joined by several of his more intimidating crew. A dingy launched from each ship and met halfway. The captain, Bluebell, Cherub, Ubo, and Alister, leaving Hopeless on the ship to ensure nothing funny happened. Studs, an arrogant man, demanded the treasure they sought and offered Bluebell a place in his crew. Naturally the crew disagreed and their counter offer was for him to fuck off. Tense words were exchanged and some of the crew noticed Hopeless in the water, rising next to The Lust of Revenge and slowly attaching goblin bombs to the ship. The crew began to discuss that there was no one here who could out them as breaking the rules of parlay, threatening Studs. Studs reminded them of their position, a smaller ship with no cannons, less than half crew, and open to a broadside from his ship. Studs went on to promise Ubo that his new wife would find a home among his crew, perhaps as his new plaything. Ubo had enough and leaped the distance of the two dinghies to attack. All at once chaos exploded around them as Stud’s crew drew weapons and Hopeless screamed in defiance at the evil pirate as he detonated the bombs, blowing a hole in the Lust of Revenge at the cost of his own life. Studs, realizing he needed to save his ship cursed Kasey and her ship, swearing he would chase her to the city on the water and kill her crew to the last. Kasey, never one to pass up an opportunity, quickly got her crew back to the Disgrace and fled at full speed to the city. Ubo spoke words for his now dead shipmate, “that how it go”. Not bothering to raise the sails she called all hands to brace for impact and smashed into the pier, abandoning her ship and rushing into the city.

As the captain lead the crew they noticed the same movement as the other part of the crew and chose to sneak past them, breaking through buildings to make a direct path to the shard. A brief reunion with dishonest pointed them in the right direction. Hearing about the loss of Hopeless, Dishonest expressed that he never liked that guy. Eventually they came out onto a street with a canal and noticed that down the way was the other half of the crew. When reunited the party had some laughs at Macphade’s expense as he told Ubo that he was glad they made it back. They caught the captain up on what was happening and the captain accepted they would have to follow the constructed to the tower. Just as they heard the sound of Dishonest’s cannons going off. They knew their time was limited. Ubo spared the words “that how it goes” for his shipmate. Strangely, the sounds of battle followed, it seems that Studs has chosen to cut through the constructed instead of ignore them.

Finally the crew arrive at the tower, its brilliant light shining high above as they looked up at it, feeling a sense of vertigo. As the constructed with them began to discuss the matter of worthiness the captain rushed inside, soon followed by the crew who all laughed about this silly concept of being worthy and who could judge such a thing. 

Their first test was a flight of stairs spiraling into the darkness above. For someone with one foot the captain raced up them rather easily. Ubo told Macphade to carry him and created a grove of trees to feed the minotaur. Bluebell looked at her lovely angel Cherub the saltwater crock and her little legs and asked Macphade to carry her. He agreed but stated that he wanted her bandana.

Next they found themselves in some bizarre waiting area. An ancient man told them to take a number and wait to be called. Some of the crew took numbers, getting numbers in the fifties as he called number sixteen. Bluebell wrote in the number “16” on her slip and left with no issue. The captain put a gun up to the man and demanded she be allowed to pass. She was told to take a number and the crew tried to talk her down. Tensions rose and she pulled the trigger, killing the man and racing for the exit. 

Again the crew was confronted by stairs. Macphade scooped up Cherub and simply told Bluebell that she owed him. Ubo, said Macphade agreed to carry him up the stairs and had to do it again. Soon they found themselves racing up, the kobolds hitching a ride on one crew member or another. When they reached the top they found a door which lead to a chamber full of crabs. Thousands of them simply covering the floor. Kasey decided to rush past and immediately began to sink into the crabs, screaming in agony. She was fished out and as they heard the door open down in the darkeness below. they reminded puddle that he could speak to all things. Puddle simply asked the crabs to allow them to pass and the path was made. 

Another flight of stairs, another free ride for kobolds and another favor that Bluebell owes Macphade. This time, as they reached the top of the stairs they heard and saw the explosion of fire in the darkness below. Studs was gaining on them.

Opening the door at the top of the stairs they were confronted by a comfortable tavern… people here that they knew. Bluebell’s parents waved her over. Her father disappointed and a little hateful of her life choice, her mother glad to see her. Ubo met the high scribe of the blackbacks, who offered him the crown, as a sign that he was always meant to be the king of the tribe. Puddle recognized the minotaur children who looked after him and eventually spilled their mothers jewels into him. Yipe saw her father and her six mothers, who were proud of what she was doing and agreed to stay in this room to fight for her, to buy her and Ubo more time to which Ubo offered a “that how it go”. Macphade seemed occupied speaking with two people who looked remarkably like him, clan members of his. Alister was met with the man who brought him into his faith and looked after him, asking what could be happening and telling his student that he should allow him to bestow a blessing before he leaves. The captain seemed to be meeting with a beautiful goblin woman wearing a beautiful dress and heavy makeup. Cedar saw a man in strange pajamas, Keith Fischer, her friend and paramour who was confused but glad to be with her. Alister seemed to be sure this was an illusion and dismissed the offer for help and herded the party out of the room, knowing danger was close. Just as they closed the door behind them they heard all hell break loose on the other side of the door as Studs and his crew entered the room and began fighting.

A new set of stairs and another ride for the kobolds, even this close to danger, spirits remained high as Macphade stated this was another that he was owed and everyone joked about having to carry the kobolds as they rushed up the stairs. Interestingly, it seems that the room was no illusion, Ubo still wore his crown and Keith Fischer was with them. 

As they reached the top of the stairs they found themselves in a large flat area with the brilliant light of the shard nearly blinding them. The massive domed ceiling above them held up by a series of pillars around the edge of the platform. Puddle raced for the shard ahead of everyone and they heard a call to stop. Studs had caught up. In his arm was the captain, with a gun pressed to her ear canal. Kasey seemed defeated. The wind out of her sails and had no more fight left in her. The crew hesitated, unsure of their next move before Kasey looked to Ubo and simply said “that how it goes” before the crew sprung into action, puddle racing to the shard and pouring the bottle of ooze on it. 

Battle begun, The crew seeming to have the upper hand with luck and the powerful and strange combatant Cedar Heinrich on their side. Studs’ larger crew seemed to matter little as the funneled up the narrow stairs and those that were here fought to the last. Studs himself was thrown prone by Yipe’s tangle-centepede. As things seemed to turn in their favor Studs summoned a hulking cyclops, nearly 26 feet tall. With its massive club it seemed to tie up the crew of the disgrace’s best fighter. Studs, ever prepared, drew a pistol and nearly killed yipe, even as Macphade, bluebell, Ubo, and Cherub struck down a pair of Studs’ crew who had rushed into battle. As more pirates poured from the stairs Alister drew his bow and killed one, helping to control the flow. Finally Yipe blinded the giant and allowed Cedar to slip past it. She wasted no time dispatching Studs’ unable to understand his words as he surrendered and begged for his life. With Studs dead, his crew started to die off, their hearts exploding in their chests.

With the chaos of battle dying down the party took an assessment of itself even as the shard reflected light strangely. It seemed the ooze poured on it had created something new. It called itself “Bottle” and its power was clear, a gemheart ooze formed with a piece of divinity in its heart. Its first act was to bring back the captain who was returned to the prime of her youth, her body restored. She thanked the crew for following her into hell and back, for being ready to lay down their lives for her and her foolish dream. She told them simply, she wasn’t going to stick around, she was done, her story was told and this is where it ends. She gave her ship to Bluebell, what was left of it, and Ubo was quite upset, he had dibs. She laughed and offered him what was left of Studs’ ship. The captain was laid to rest again and Bottle told the crew that what they had done was nothing short of incredible. The odds they had overcome, the things they had seen and done. He could see it all and offered each of them a gift, anything within his power. With each of their gifts given they were scattered, Bluebell, Ubo, Puddle, Macphade, and Yipe returned to oozeport with a wave of Bottle’s pseudopod. Acastus remained in the city on the water, claiming it for his god.

 

Detailed below are the wishes of the crew:

Bluebell: wished that Blacksoul Harris sneeze every two minutes for the rest of his life. 

Ubo: wished for his new ship to be restored and a crew of kobolds to man the ship

Cedar: Wished to go home. She could not because she was already home, Keith could because he was not. Cedar was sent away, to a place of heroes, a place that Bottle called "The House of Legacy", they would find her true place in the multiverse as she was not from Hodas and did not belong here.

Alister: wished for dominion over the city on the water and its maze like structure for his god. Bottle agreed, he was not meant to linger here and knowing it would have a new divine spark to protect it would satisfy him

Puddle: wished for there to be more oozes than ever before and was told that it will be.

Yipe: wished for the hold of the Lust of Revenge to be full of apples

Macphade: Felt any wish he would have wanted would be dishonorable. Despite the crew telling him that he was a real pirate now and didn’t need honor he persisted and gave his wish to bluebell, wishing for her to have a psychic connection to Cherub. Bottle, moved by this, poured power into Macphade’s weapon, creating “The Shipwrecker” from his massive boarding ax.

Cherub: Wished for big fish. 

Crew of The Traitor: Sessions 6 & 7

 

Session 6:

The ship arrives in Oozeport and is put into drydock to be properly cleaned. The crew spreads out and looks for a fence to sell the finery that Bluebell stole from the silver talon kobolds as a priestess. Unfortunately this lead them to meet a criminal ooze named “buckle” who attacked when the party decided to back out of the deal. Fortunately, puddle caused chaos with a use of a charm spell and turned the criminals on each other.

Bluebell offered to the only survivor, Beathan Macphade the minotaur, a place in their crew.

Before heading into the jungle Beathan joins the party and after some challenges, hiding from jungle orcs and an attack from a tiger they arrived with no casualties at the hermit’s home.

 

Session 7:

The party finally found the hermit in the jungle, a featherfolk who had taken up residence in the ruins of an old human settlement. It seems he did have a map, a sailing map to a city beyond the edge of the world, it was tattooed on “his skin” a dead kobold. The featherfolk demanded  a trade of magic for the map. The party parted with the floating vest for the map and instructions on how to return to the city of oozeport quickly. 

Upon returning to Oozeport the crew began to make preparations to leave, Ubo sought out additionally supplies. An old friend of the crew, a constructed named “Ringo”, something of a mud sorcerer, met with them as they lowered the ship back into the water. The crew welcomed their old friend into the crew for the last leg of their journey.

Ubo, meanwhile had found supplies and ultimately brokered an alliance with the Pink Talon kobold tribe by marrying into the clan, brokering a deal for supplies and a pretty new wife for himself who joined the crew.

The crew of the traitor headed east, to the edge of the known world. They were met with a terrifying obstacle as their ship suddenly stopped. A massive giant rose from the water and attacked the crew. The crew sprung into action and fended the giant off with magic and steel, striking it down and freeing their ship. Taking trophies and magical components from the giant the crew sailed on, past the edge of the map and towards their destination. Another obstacle presented itself, a storm. They fought against it and saved their cabin boy, Mepo, from being swept overboard and lost.

When the storm cleared, in the distance, they could see a city, rising from the ocean in humanity’s defiance. At its tallest tower like a second sun, a brilliant light could be seen clearly even from miles away at sea. Kasey declared they had found the shard and as a cheer went up, she reminded them that its not theirs until its sold.

They docked at one of the many stone docking structures and began to make preparations to explore the city. As they began to work out their landing party one of the crew’s goblin gunners pointed out a ship on the horizon. As kasey looked in her telescope she recognized the flag, The Lust of Revenge, the ship of Studs Reid, a cruel man who uses gemheart oozes as weapon and kept his crew of beautiful tongueless women under magical compulsion. Kasey told the crew they couldn’t beat him in a battle at sea but might have a enough strength on board to fight him in the city if they were clever and careful. The crew agreed that abandoning the Disgrace of Delight would be the best bet and trying to steal the Lust of Revenge later or try to find another method of leaving.

 

Crew of The Traitor: Sessions 4 & 5

 

Session 4:

The party investigated some of the mystery surrounding the mudpit before going in. the reason the peace keepers were here was due to some disappearances. A mysterious bronze sword that makes the bearer go mad, a bronze ring that draws in the sanity of anyone who wears it… they took this information and went into the mudpit.

After dealing with some of the local authorities they managed to get into the digsite where the sword was found and locate an ancient book, one that detailed rituals and rites of an unknown and ancient god of humanity. Alistar’s god gave him a healthy warning that the book could be extreme danger but nothing more. They set out to leave the mudpit.

On the return trip from the pit they were attacked by strange kobold’s wearing RED who killed other kobolds, the Red Eye gang. Worrying about overwhelming odds the party fled into Silver Talon territory. Unfortunately the Silver Talons demanded bluebell as payment for safe travel to the surface. Curious about where this was going, Bluebell agreed and told the crew she would see them on the ship soon.

When they returned to the surface Ubo and Alistar returned to the ship and began to discuss locating the captain, rallying more of the crew to search for her. 

Bluebell was taken into what she was able to recognize as the beginnings of a dungeon forming and lead to a collection of human women who lived in the lap of luxury inside a newly forming temple. She learned from them that the kobolds provide for all their needs as long as they pretend to be priestesses of the temple. Bluebell tried to warn them that this place would be a dungeon soon and that they should leave with her. They declined and bluebell pretended to receive visions that lead her and a kobold war party to the surface. Unfortunately this raised tensions between the local goblins and this army of kobolds who came to the surface. The ensuing fight torched a street and ended with the death of 100 kobolds and 2 goblins, a fair trade by kobold standards. 

Bluebell managed to escape the initial explosion by climbing up the side of a building and throwing herself into an open window. She scurried back to the ship and decided to lay low, having sparked a pretty major political incident here in Drebas.

Session 5:

The party searches for the captain in earnest after some prodding from Alistar. They manage to track down a crime boss who claims to have the captain, a goblin known as “astounding”. Ubo doesn't trust her and demands proof of the captain’s imprisonment before they agree to take on her debts. Astounding agrees and shows the party the captain’s foot. Still unconvinced Ubo talks his way into the dungeon below to see the captain herself. 

The party realizes that they can ill afford to pay the captain’s debt and agree to do some work for Astounding until the debt is cleared. They agree to kill a goblin known as Supreme to knock 500 gold off the debt. They head to the tavern where Supreme likes to wet his whistle and locate him. They instantly flip on Astounding and lead Supreme and his milita back to Astounding’s hideout. After a raid on the hideout the party recovered the captain and returned to the ship with only a couple casualties among the milita.

The Captain, missing a hand and a foot now, reveals that she got good intel, there is a man in the jungles near oozeport and he has a map to the shard of radiance tattooed on his back. The crew said this sounded pretty stupid but trust the captain as she had yet to lead them wrong.