Our Brave Band of Adventurers the Crimson Lotus:
- Charisma, a “human” -mutant- sorceress whose power source is Gamma Radiation which she was exposed to as a child. As a child of the Atom her hair goes green in the presence of radiation and she progressively gets greener the more powerful spells she casts (and as she gets angry). She has no love for the Technic League.
- Heidt, a ranger who has traded an affinity for nature for an affinity for machines. This android has mastered cybertheurgy as well as the lasgun. Has chosen the mechromancer archetype (blog post at some later point!). Seeking to learn more about his history he has become an archaeological expert on all things related to the Rain of Stars.
- Rikku, an elven rogue who was adopted by Khonnir Baine when he found her wandering the wasteland near Torch more than a decade ago. She claims to be a blood elf from a far-away land. Her history is tied up with a nearby ruin.
- Sylvanus, a dark elf monk who escaped the clutches of mind flayer slavemasters in the area of the Scar of the Spider after a daring raid by surface dwelling heroes freed her.
- Brokthor, a human fighter who was raised by dwarfs and thinks he IS a dwarf.
- Tufast, a human cleric who serves the unpredictable goddess of thunder and lightning Dorana. Much like his barbarian family he hates technology and has a particular spite for robots. He sees the cleansing power of Dorana as the perfect antidote to the curse of the robot infestation of Nimmeria.
- Whiskifiss, Redtooth decides to fully throw her lot in with the Crimson Lotus sending Whiskifiss and their precious last rust monster, Rusty, into battle (DM’s note: I had a new player who hasn’t played since 4th. I gave him a choice of making a new character or playing Whiskifiss the ranger with his rust monster pet. He, of course, went for the rat and the rust monster).
Lords of Rust
Session 11
By Rikku Yuffina Kyrus
We are deciding what to do next, when someone softly raps on the front door. I am surprised to see Whiskifiss and his rust monster standing outside. He walks in, explaining he will aid us all he can. We then all agreed to take out Birdfood. We confidently walk to the Hawk Palace. On the way we see some goblins and ratmen digging, probably some kind of archeology site. The Palace is in sight when Hellion says in a dull, lifeless voice “Clone tanks, food vats. Don’t mix them up! Thank you Thrall.” We get to the Palace and speak to two orc guards. They obviously tried to copy the Steel Hawks’ mohawks, and failed miserably, making their hair look like drooping flowers. We say we want to speak with Birdfood, and then they trudge into the Palace. Six orcs come out, (also with bad hair) and announce with a gloomy, common voice that we are in Birdfood’s presence. Birdfood and his three hawks appear on top of a 30ft balcony. Tufast starts a boring conversation, which I did not pay attention to. Next thing I knew Sylvanus is climbing up the Palace, Birdfood is shooting Tufast, and Tufast is casting a spell. I look around and see six orcs charging Hiedt, Charisma, Whiskifiss, Brocktha, and me. The orcs are either running away, or are dead at my feet. I look up and see Birdfood coming down to us, with a smile on his face! He walks out with only one hawk on his arm and he speaks to Charisma. Hiedt says Tufast, without warning, casted a spell on Birdfood which stirred up a fight. We join with the rest of the group. Birdfood says Marow and Kulgara put him in charge of the Steel Hawks. But now Hellscarg, the onlooker of the arena, bosses him around. I ask Birdfood about Zagmaander, the four-armed creature. He says she is a very old alien – type thing that has been around for decades. Tufast asks Birdfood for the treasure. He comes out with a Gothic book, Anger Management for Angry Managers (DM’s note – Tufast has a berserker warhammer so approbate advice) a lot of gold, a special white access card, and a Hololithic player. We “escort” him to Sevroth and play the Hololithic fragment.
“Adeptus Ministronium Tech Priest Zara log entry, Earth Calendar Date 41, 103.6.18. This will be my last log entry. We have converted the Sisters of Battle corvette- Caelestis Imperium into a death trap. While my sister and I are asleep the Black Templar Dreadnaught along with the servitors computer system and automated defenses have been instructed to protect us at all costs. Once the Divinity’s Machine Spirit has found the enemy we are to be awakened from our slumber. The Dreadnaught is a self-contained life support system for the crippled warrior within. His machine should have no problem in maintaining status and awakening him if needed. He can then awaken us if required. I have given UNITY, the remarkable Machine Spirit, and the override codes to also awaken us if needed or upon arrival. I have also dropped a probe at our current location recording all the details of our cargo, situation, and data related to the plague as well as our plan. Tech-Priest Zara signing off.”
Right after Zara signs off, Hellion says something like this, “THE CRIMSON LOTUS GANG IS INVITED TO THE ARENA AT 2000 HOURS TONIGHT.” We head back to our base and rest.
At 8 that night we head for the filled, soccer field size arena. A very old, tall tower made out of wood sits to one side of the arena. It has a very big platform at the top. We make some bets with a Tab, the goblin booky (I bet 1,000gp) that we are going to win. We enter the arena; well Whiskifiss is riding his rust monster, Rusty. A light shines on the tower and we see Helscarg, an ugly troll with spikes protruding from her back. It’s clear we must fight her, instead of another (probably weak) gang. She jumps down from the tower and the crowd goes wild, most of them are cheering the troll on; but some ratmen are going crazy for us. After Helscarg lands an ogre-pulled chariot comes into the arena. Hiedt thinks it looks like a wheelbarrow. Helscarg jumps in and charges. My first reaction is jumping out of the way, and then I start shooting Helscarg. Hiedt dashes for the tower, Brocktha and Sylvanus run for the wheelbarrow, and Charisma and Tufast start casting spells. The throngs of ratmen are jumping out of their seats and others are falling out because Whiskifiss is charging the wheelbarrow, ogres, and Helscarg on Rusty! (DM’s commentary – we need a bit more info here at this point we have an troll riding a chariot pulled by ogres jousting a ratman riding a rust monster. At this point the campaign had jumped the shark and it was glorious)
After the cart is flattened, we focus on Helscarg. Rusty rips her skin, and Charisma is cutting her regeneration. When she is dead most of the crowd is quiet but the ratmen are going to die of excitement if they don’t stop. Hellion says, “Please come to my altar.” And lights flash to the top of the tower. I make my way to the entrance, when I realize everyone, even the crowd is chasing a green dot in the distance. I easily catch up, thanks to my boots, just in time to see Tufast kill the panting dab goblin. He is now a fried chicken with lots of people looting his body. We retrieve our money and a little bit more. We all make out way to the top. There is a big nest and two monitors. Hellion’s face appears, a grotesque demonic one, on the screens. He says we have to bow down to him in order to join the Lords of Rust. We refuse, so he casts a spell. I felt really drained and weak. I had never seen such a powerful spell. Once I am revived, the two screens are smashed, and Rusty is eating the metal hinges of double doors. The door crashes down and we enter. This room stinks of unwashed orc flesh. Two nests are opposite each other. We search them and find a Hololithic piece with writing that says, “pro-preTty ovf tOK!.” Obviously one of the ogres was using this disc as some sort of backscratcher. We turn it on, hoping it works. A dull female voice plays,
We walk down one out of two sets of stairs leading down. We enter a huge room with a ginormous Hololithic player type thing in the middle. Hellion appears and he says he will kill us. Eight acolytes enter. One is Nalakai. We all advance. When it is just Nalakai, he asks for Hellion’s power. He then turns into a werewolf and goes berserk. When he is dead we destroy the big Hololithic thing and the screens.