My kids have split off and started a separate adventure while the rest of the group completes the Valley of the Brain Collectors and Starfall adventures. Both of which I think are too horrific (former) and adult themed (later) for them. So I have cracked out and updated Expedition to the Barrier Peaks for them. This is the session three of that “side” campaign. They will re-join the main group in adventure six – Divinity Drive.
I realised before this adventure that I missed a golden opportunity to get my kids into space – an appropriate reward for having a spelljammer. So I did a bit of DM shenanigans and… got them into SPACE!
Our Brave Band of Adventurers the Crimson Lotus:
- 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.
Session III
By Rikku Yuffina Kyrus
Hiedt and I have a long rest in the gazebo. Just after we wake up, a female face appear, made out of 0’s and 1’s. She speaks in a robotic voice, “I am UNITY. I seek your help.” She says that a Sister of Battle ship, called the Avenger, is orbiting Pangaea. A mindflayer had boarded the ship and has taken control. It is keeping the Sisters asleep, and calling for help. UNITY has little control over the Avenger, and wants us to fly to the Avenger, and reboot her. If we do this, she can take control of the robots here, and the monsters will probably stop coming out. We agree and she says she will send a guide if need be. If we want to talk to her, we go to the gazebo.
As we are about to leave, we see something dashing back and forth, sticking to the shadows. Hiedt shoots at the place we last saw it, and three Displacer Beasts stalk up to us. We all start shooting one of them, but I miss because the beast starts becoming blurry. They all flick their tentacles at us, and pierce us with their sharp points. Hiedt kills one, and Deathtrap and I focus on another. The Displacer Beasts whip at us again, but Deathtrap kills the wounded one. The last one runs away, and we go to the elevator. We press the clear ‘Main Deck’ button and get whizzed up to it. We start going towards the entrance we came in.
I try to E-pick the door, but I fail. We don’t try again for fear of setting off an alarm. We make our way back to the gazebo and talk to UNITY. We ask for a guide. A little healing drone comes flying up to and XLII (42) is marked on its back, and we follow it. It takes us down many flights of stairs. We finally come to a big room with six doors with brown access cards. Each door says: Cargo Bay 1, Cargo Bay 2, all the way up to six.
42 bangs its head on the fifth cargo door. Hiedt opens it while I put my invisibility ring on. The door opens into a humongous room. Piles and piles of boxes are all around the room. 12ft robots stand unmoving on either side of us. They have huge metal arms. A big, glowing, table with an alien sleeping on top is in the center of the room. Small doors are behind the robots. Another huge door is straight across, which 42 flies to. The robots turn their heads at the sight of 42 and focus on it.
Deathtrap hovers over to 42, and the robots let out two retractable metal tentacles. I sneak past and get to Deathtrap and 42 safely. But when Hiedt tries, an alarm goes off. The small doors open and four mini versions of the twelve-foot ones come out. One of the huge robots grab Deathtrap and Hiedt, and the huge door rolls open. The huge robot chucks them out in the open, near the soldiers’ camp, and 42 and I follow. The other robot presses something on the table, and the glowing stops. It picks up the alien creature, and chucks it after us. All doors close.
The alien looks like a giant Bullet with six legs. It seems very grumpy because it got woken up, and starts attacking. I hold on to the Bullet’s scales and climb on its back, but I fall off. Hiedt and Deathtrap start shooting, and the Bullet gets angrier. It stomps its six feet and knocks Hiedt and Deathtrap over, then jumps on top of them. Hiedt manages to get out, but Deathtrap is stuck under the weight of the Bullet. Hiedt and I continue to shoot while Deathtrap struggles to get free. While we are fighting, we can hear men’s shouting voices and the heavy clamour of feet. Charging up the hill are the 50 soldiers of the king. The Bullet takes notice of them, and pounces high into the air. When it lands, it digs, and appears before the army. It jumps once more and lands on top of the men.
The others not squashed attack with spears and swords. Deathtrap and Hiedt still shoot while they run down to the Bullet. I jump on my Pineto, and ride towards the Bullet while shooting. By the time we get there, the Bullet is very hurt. We finish it off, and we return to the king. We fill him in on the latest news and hop in my spell jammer. We fly to space.
When we get there, we see no sign off anything. Then, after an hours wait, we see coming up ahead a gran red ship with the name ‘Avenger’ painted on the side. As it comes closer, we see a small Illithid spell jammer docked onto the Avenger. The captain of the ship Illithid ship seems to see us, for it charges. The front tentacles of the ship jab into our ship. We can see a mindflayer at the control area. Umber Hulks and what look like dazed human are using the tentacles to board our ship. We prepare.
