[WotMK: Hexcrawl] Session Fifteen
Dramatis Personae:
The enormous kong-like demon rushed toward the group, battering aside the Green Knight's attempt to stop him and deftly dodging Cheerless Sword's axe swing. It raised a hand, its claws glowing orange-red as it brought them down on Ringo, but the raptok's tail snaked out and batted the demon's attack aside. In retaliation, the Green Knight struck back, carving a deep furrow on the blood ape's back and making it roar in fury, but not as much as in a moment when Shining Star called down the fury of Nyahré and obliterated the demon in a blast of white fire.
Elaphe finally made a decision and hurled his bob-omb into the town hall, causing a partial collapse and setting the front of the building on fire. However, he couldn't see anything through the smoke.
The demon possessing the townspeople launched itself out of the amanita in one corner of the town square toward a chuzan on the other side, narrowly missing Amos. The Green Knight started moving toward the demon's new host as Elaphe sent out a call to his claw strider through the familiar bond, ordering it to attack one of the demonic hosts close to the stable. He then moved close to the town hall, peering through the smoke, but still couldn't see anything.
Bonnie ordered her iron jaws familiar to go harass one of the demon-possessed hosts as Dim Ember fired another arrow at the host which currently housed the demon. The arrow hit in a shower of rose petals, and the host soundlessly screamed as smoke poured out of his mouth, but the demon was not defeated. Nor was it defeated when Shining Star reached out with her magic, burrowing rays of Nyahré's light into the demon's host and trying to force the demon out. The demon forcefully repelled her attempt, sending her staggering backward.
Elaphe saw movement in the smoke and turned to go. As he ran away around the burning building, he felt a sudden enervation. Bonnie and Amos, who were watching, saw black wisps of something rise from Elaphe and float into the burning town hall. Kurome was obviously in there, and close enough to affect them.
The Green Knight reached the possessed chuzan and tackled him, bearing him to the ground. The demon reached out of the host and bit the Green Knight repeatedly on the shoulders and arms, but he maintained his grip and squeezed tightly with his wooden claws, popped the chuzan's head off. As the head fell to the ground, Amos saw a green pillar of flesh, asymmetrical and pulsating slightly, rise from the body. Dim Ember saw it too and fired at it, but this time her archery skills failed her and she missed. The demon, banished from the material world, moved through the air toward the burning town hall.
Elaphe mounted his claw strider and the group gathered near the town hall. Meohan, the other party's hedge wizard, ordered his pippi to enter the burning building while they debated what to do, and a few moments later he staggered backward, muttering about the link being broken. Dim Ember mounted on Ringo and road around the building, confirming that there was a back door, and the others quickly formed a plan--Dim Ember, Cheerless Sword, Meohan, and Amos, who were all relatively uninjured, would go around the back and try to go through the back door while Shining Star and Bonnie kept Kurome busy.
With Shining Star feeding her tidbits of information, Bonnie taunted Kurome as a dog of the Dragon Emperor, always the servant of one master or another, and for a moment then there was no response. Then they heard someone muttering something in the tongue of the Kappa Wastes, and then a terrifying shriek that seemed to crawl over their skin and into their hearts. Elaphe was far enough away to be unaffected, and Amos, Dim Ember, Cheerless Sword, and Shining star managed to throw off the effects of the dark magic, but a cold hand gripped Bonnie and Meohan's hearts and seemed to drain all the energy out of the world. It was followed by cold, mocking laugher until Bonnie called up a bit of Essence and sent it out, cutting off the warlock's speech.
Behind the inn, Cheerless Sword managed to use a sturdy wire device to remove the bar from the poorly-constructed door. Dim Ember opened it and revealed an enormous kappa, holding a black sword that seemed more llike a hole in the air than a weapon, and with his other hand not visible. Dim Ember made a few hand signs, and she and Amos raised their bows, and fired together, Amos launching a flaming arrow and Dim Ember sending four shots in preternaturally quick succession. All of the arrows hit Kurome, and he turned around to face the assailants. One eye was covered in an eyepatch but the other was black, like a hole into the void, and he glared furiously at the party. Dim Ember took a step back, her bow slipping in suddenly-nerveless fingers, but Cheerless Sword stepped into the doorway and Amos was unaffected.
On the other side of the building, Shining Star moved to the front door of the town hall, stepping into the smoke-filled hallway and seeing Kurome. The warlock turned and noticed her, and he made a quick gesture with his hand. As the shadows rushed in toward him, Shining Star hurled a bolt of white fire at him...but Kurome was quicker, and the star fires passed through the spot where he had been as the shadows fled.
Dim Ember and Shining Star both realized that he can't have gone far--warlocks can step through shadows, but not to any great distance--and made ready to search the town. And we ended there.
So close! At the end, I had a Wits + Occult roll-off between Kurome and Shining Star to see whose spell went off first, and it came down to a tie, which means the defender won and Kurome vanished just before the Star Fires would have hit him. It probably would have killed him if it hit, or at least incapacitated him. And now I do have to make a map of the village because they're going to do a house-to-house search to find Kurome before he can get away again. That will be the next game, and I'll need to come up with a way to make sure that whether Kurome gets away or not is impartial and there's a fair chance to find him if the players outthink him.
- Shining Star, mandragora sorcerer-priestess of Nyarhé.
- The Green Knight, mandragora briarwitch.
- Bonnie, kong Auspicious Orator.
- Amos Burnham, a human from Earth.
- Elaphe, a chuzan junior member of the Black Rose.
The enormous kong-like demon rushed toward the group, battering aside the Green Knight's attempt to stop him and deftly dodging Cheerless Sword's axe swing. It raised a hand, its claws glowing orange-red as it brought them down on Ringo, but the raptok's tail snaked out and batted the demon's attack aside. In retaliation, the Green Knight struck back, carving a deep furrow on the blood ape's back and making it roar in fury, but not as much as in a moment when Shining Star called down the fury of Nyahré and obliterated the demon in a blast of white fire.
Elaphe finally made a decision and hurled his bob-omb into the town hall, causing a partial collapse and setting the front of the building on fire. However, he couldn't see anything through the smoke.
The demon possessing the townspeople launched itself out of the amanita in one corner of the town square toward a chuzan on the other side, narrowly missing Amos. The Green Knight started moving toward the demon's new host as Elaphe sent out a call to his claw strider through the familiar bond, ordering it to attack one of the demonic hosts close to the stable. He then moved close to the town hall, peering through the smoke, but still couldn't see anything.
Bonnie ordered her iron jaws familiar to go harass one of the demon-possessed hosts as Dim Ember fired another arrow at the host which currently housed the demon. The arrow hit in a shower of rose petals, and the host soundlessly screamed as smoke poured out of his mouth, but the demon was not defeated. Nor was it defeated when Shining Star reached out with her magic, burrowing rays of Nyahré's light into the demon's host and trying to force the demon out. The demon forcefully repelled her attempt, sending her staggering backward.
Elaphe saw movement in the smoke and turned to go. As he ran away around the burning building, he felt a sudden enervation. Bonnie and Amos, who were watching, saw black wisps of something rise from Elaphe and float into the burning town hall. Kurome was obviously in there, and close enough to affect them.
The Green Knight reached the possessed chuzan and tackled him, bearing him to the ground. The demon reached out of the host and bit the Green Knight repeatedly on the shoulders and arms, but he maintained his grip and squeezed tightly with his wooden claws, popped the chuzan's head off. As the head fell to the ground, Amos saw a green pillar of flesh, asymmetrical and pulsating slightly, rise from the body. Dim Ember saw it too and fired at it, but this time her archery skills failed her and she missed. The demon, banished from the material world, moved through the air toward the burning town hall.
Elaphe mounted his claw strider and the group gathered near the town hall. Meohan, the other party's hedge wizard, ordered his pippi to enter the burning building while they debated what to do, and a few moments later he staggered backward, muttering about the link being broken. Dim Ember mounted on Ringo and road around the building, confirming that there was a back door, and the others quickly formed a plan--Dim Ember, Cheerless Sword, Meohan, and Amos, who were all relatively uninjured, would go around the back and try to go through the back door while Shining Star and Bonnie kept Kurome busy.
With Shining Star feeding her tidbits of information, Bonnie taunted Kurome as a dog of the Dragon Emperor, always the servant of one master or another, and for a moment then there was no response. Then they heard someone muttering something in the tongue of the Kappa Wastes, and then a terrifying shriek that seemed to crawl over their skin and into their hearts. Elaphe was far enough away to be unaffected, and Amos, Dim Ember, Cheerless Sword, and Shining star managed to throw off the effects of the dark magic, but a cold hand gripped Bonnie and Meohan's hearts and seemed to drain all the energy out of the world. It was followed by cold, mocking laugher until Bonnie called up a bit of Essence and sent it out, cutting off the warlock's speech.
Behind the inn, Cheerless Sword managed to use a sturdy wire device to remove the bar from the poorly-constructed door. Dim Ember opened it and revealed an enormous kappa, holding a black sword that seemed more llike a hole in the air than a weapon, and with his other hand not visible. Dim Ember made a few hand signs, and she and Amos raised their bows, and fired together, Amos launching a flaming arrow and Dim Ember sending four shots in preternaturally quick succession. All of the arrows hit Kurome, and he turned around to face the assailants. One eye was covered in an eyepatch but the other was black, like a hole into the void, and he glared furiously at the party. Dim Ember took a step back, her bow slipping in suddenly-nerveless fingers, but Cheerless Sword stepped into the doorway and Amos was unaffected.
On the other side of the building, Shining Star moved to the front door of the town hall, stepping into the smoke-filled hallway and seeing Kurome. The warlock turned and noticed her, and he made a quick gesture with his hand. As the shadows rushed in toward him, Shining Star hurled a bolt of white fire at him...but Kurome was quicker, and the star fires passed through the spot where he had been as the shadows fled.
Dim Ember and Shining Star both realized that he can't have gone far--warlocks can step through shadows, but not to any great distance--and made ready to search the town. And we ended there.
So close! At the end, I had a Wits + Occult roll-off between Kurome and Shining Star to see whose spell went off first, and it came down to a tie, which means the defender won and Kurome vanished just before the Star Fires would have hit him. It probably would have killed him if it hit, or at least incapacitated him. And now I do have to make a map of the village because they're going to do a house-to-house search to find Kurome before he can get away again. That will be the next game, and I'll need to come up with a way to make sure that whether Kurome gets away or not is impartial and there's a fair chance to find him if the players outthink him.