Savage Spelljammer, Session Two
When last we left our heroes, they were face-to-face with the neogi captain and his monstrous umber hulk slave - but it held up its hands to parlay. "No weapons, I," it told them. "Talk, us. Cost many slaves, you, slaves taken, ship destroyed. Ask restitution, I." The creature demanded the sextant, which Captain Antamiir refused. His point that they had freed the slaves seemed lost on the neogi, but it was clear the negotiations were going nowhere-and then the door was kicked in revealing a quintet of well-armed and rough-looking mercenaries.
Reinforcements? But the neogi seemed as surprised as they were, and the mercs charged in to the sound of orders being shouted: "Capture them - find the sextant!" Antamiir snatched the case up and dashed for a side door, diving through only to find it led to a balcony hanging off the side of the tower, over a precipitous cliff. Reynard locked eyes with the neogi as it cast a spell, and he was seized with the desire to retrieve the sextant for his new captain. He burst through the other door onto the balcony and levelled his blade at Antamiir.
The elven captain spun, flinging the case full force into the face of one of the mercenaries - biut it wasn't latched, and the sextant spilled out, sliding across the floor. Antamiir, the mercenary and the neogi made a dash for it, but the merc got there first - and fell under the neogi's spell as well.
Meanwhile, Falathar had successfully dropped one of the mercenaries and seen another reduced to a thin red paste - the umber hulk had pried a flagstone from the floor, creating a hole in the floor and providing a handy missile weapon. Sloan had magicked the carpet into enveloping one of their foes and Reynard, stuck on the balcony, began to scale the walls of the tower to try to circle around and seize the sextant.
Antamiir fended off the neogi as he grabbed hold of the sextant, engaging in a furious tug-of-war with the mercenary captain - a battle which ended when he smashed the basket hilt of his rapier into the merc's face, leaving him bruised, bloodied, and stunned enough to let go. The captain made a dash for the front door and the steep cliff path to the city of Bral.
Falathar covered his retreat, leaping across the room using the furniture as stepping-stones and swinging on the chandelier to come down square in front of the door, his swords slashing out at the neogi, who was already in retreat, fleeing through the hole its slave had made in the floor. Lamp oil sloshed out onto the floor, and Falathar took a nasty blow from the mercenary captain, who dodged past him as he was stunned. He regained his senses just soon enough to see the umber hulk reach back for another throw, one that would surely shatter his head…
…but the rock caught the still-swinging chandelier instead, bringing the contraption crashing to the ground. Flaming lamp oil spread in an ever-widening circle across the floor, trapping the sage and igniting the luckless mercenary still entangled in the carpet. Reynard, emerging from the stairwell, snapped out of the neogi's control. He managed an incredible leap across the flames, not singing so much as the plume on his hat, while Santo had to trust to his thick robes and considerable bulk to protect him.
As the crew and the mercenaries chased each other up the switchbacks, they heard a plaintive cry from the tower - "My reagents! My lab!" Sounds of cracking glassware accompanied fumes, thick clouds of oily smoke, and bursts of flame in colors not quite natural. Sloan cut the pursuers off from the captain with the masterful use of a spell - pulling a figurine from his pouch, he cast a spell to transform it into a bodyguard - but as he completed the spell he flung the figure over the heads of the mercenaries to land on the path before them. A devastating blow by Falathar caused the mercenary leader to surrender, but they were not out of danger yet.
Through the smoke and fire rose a neogi spider-ship that must have been hidden, docked somewhere below the tower. It swiveled, its belly-bay opening to show a squad of musketeers, upside down due to the gravity of their ship that began shouting directions to the pilot. One spotted the sextant under the captain's coat, and shouted for the mindspider to move closer. The musketeers took aim…
…one was stunned by a pistol shot from Reynard, anxious to make up for his earlier bewitchment. Another was entangled by his own slow match thanks to Sloan's spell. And the captain, thinking quickly, shouted out, ordering the mindspider even closer. Mistaking the cry for one of his own marines, the neogi obliged - and when its hull crunched into the cliff-face, everything on board became subject to the Rock's gravity. Four musketeers and several stacks of catapult shot dropped out of the mindspider before the neogi corrected its error.
The tower below began to shudder, the flames growing even more violent. The neogi spun its ship and threatened that they had not seen the last of Captain-Owner K'zak'n before darting off. The crew hurried higher as the sage;s tower violently ejected itself fromt he side of the rock: furniture, books, smoke and flames everywhere.
At the top of the path they were met by sone concerned Magistrate's guards who wanted to get to the bottom of this case of Grand Arson. Since the testimonies of both Antamiir and the mercenary captain, Rodolfo, agreed, they were set free (without so much as a fine, thanks to Santo Sloan's excellent legal maneuverings). A few drinks loosened the tongue of the mercenaries, who proved to be even viler than our heroes had expected, but it also revealed a name and a meeting place: Gwenoch, at the Rock-Rat.
The crew limped back to their ship where Barnes told them that a visitor had come for the captain. "I thought it best to put him in the gallery, sir…" There was something more: "Sir, the visitor…'e's an Arcane."
What is the sextant? Why does everyone want it? Who is Gwenoch, and what stake do the mysterious blue-skinned giants called the Arcane have in all of this? The answers will have to wait for a fortnight (at least)…
Reinforcements? But the neogi seemed as surprised as they were, and the mercs charged in to the sound of orders being shouted: "Capture them - find the sextant!" Antamiir snatched the case up and dashed for a side door, diving through only to find it led to a balcony hanging off the side of the tower, over a precipitous cliff. Reynard locked eyes with the neogi as it cast a spell, and he was seized with the desire to retrieve the sextant for his new captain. He burst through the other door onto the balcony and levelled his blade at Antamiir.
The elven captain spun, flinging the case full force into the face of one of the mercenaries - biut it wasn't latched, and the sextant spilled out, sliding across the floor. Antamiir, the mercenary and the neogi made a dash for it, but the merc got there first - and fell under the neogi's spell as well.
Meanwhile, Falathar had successfully dropped one of the mercenaries and seen another reduced to a thin red paste - the umber hulk had pried a flagstone from the floor, creating a hole in the floor and providing a handy missile weapon. Sloan had magicked the carpet into enveloping one of their foes and Reynard, stuck on the balcony, began to scale the walls of the tower to try to circle around and seize the sextant.
Antamiir fended off the neogi as he grabbed hold of the sextant, engaging in a furious tug-of-war with the mercenary captain - a battle which ended when he smashed the basket hilt of his rapier into the merc's face, leaving him bruised, bloodied, and stunned enough to let go. The captain made a dash for the front door and the steep cliff path to the city of Bral.
Falathar covered his retreat, leaping across the room using the furniture as stepping-stones and swinging on the chandelier to come down square in front of the door, his swords slashing out at the neogi, who was already in retreat, fleeing through the hole its slave had made in the floor. Lamp oil sloshed out onto the floor, and Falathar took a nasty blow from the mercenary captain, who dodged past him as he was stunned. He regained his senses just soon enough to see the umber hulk reach back for another throw, one that would surely shatter his head…
…but the rock caught the still-swinging chandelier instead, bringing the contraption crashing to the ground. Flaming lamp oil spread in an ever-widening circle across the floor, trapping the sage and igniting the luckless mercenary still entangled in the carpet. Reynard, emerging from the stairwell, snapped out of the neogi's control. He managed an incredible leap across the flames, not singing so much as the plume on his hat, while Santo had to trust to his thick robes and considerable bulk to protect him.
As the crew and the mercenaries chased each other up the switchbacks, they heard a plaintive cry from the tower - "My reagents! My lab!" Sounds of cracking glassware accompanied fumes, thick clouds of oily smoke, and bursts of flame in colors not quite natural. Sloan cut the pursuers off from the captain with the masterful use of a spell - pulling a figurine from his pouch, he cast a spell to transform it into a bodyguard - but as he completed the spell he flung the figure over the heads of the mercenaries to land on the path before them. A devastating blow by Falathar caused the mercenary leader to surrender, but they were not out of danger yet.
Through the smoke and fire rose a neogi spider-ship that must have been hidden, docked somewhere below the tower. It swiveled, its belly-bay opening to show a squad of musketeers, upside down due to the gravity of their ship that began shouting directions to the pilot. One spotted the sextant under the captain's coat, and shouted for the mindspider to move closer. The musketeers took aim…
…one was stunned by a pistol shot from Reynard, anxious to make up for his earlier bewitchment. Another was entangled by his own slow match thanks to Sloan's spell. And the captain, thinking quickly, shouted out, ordering the mindspider even closer. Mistaking the cry for one of his own marines, the neogi obliged - and when its hull crunched into the cliff-face, everything on board became subject to the Rock's gravity. Four musketeers and several stacks of catapult shot dropped out of the mindspider before the neogi corrected its error.
The tower below began to shudder, the flames growing even more violent. The neogi spun its ship and threatened that they had not seen the last of Captain-Owner K'zak'n before darting off. The crew hurried higher as the sage;s tower violently ejected itself fromt he side of the rock: furniture, books, smoke and flames everywhere.
At the top of the path they were met by sone concerned Magistrate's guards who wanted to get to the bottom of this case of Grand Arson. Since the testimonies of both Antamiir and the mercenary captain, Rodolfo, agreed, they were set free (without so much as a fine, thanks to Santo Sloan's excellent legal maneuverings). A few drinks loosened the tongue of the mercenaries, who proved to be even viler than our heroes had expected, but it also revealed a name and a meeting place: Gwenoch, at the Rock-Rat.
The crew limped back to their ship where Barnes told them that a visitor had come for the captain. "I thought it best to put him in the gallery, sir…" There was something more: "Sir, the visitor…'e's an Arcane."
What is the sextant? Why does everyone want it? Who is Gwenoch, and what stake do the mysterious blue-skinned giants called the Arcane have in all of this? The answers will have to wait for a fortnight (at least)…