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From the Diary of the Cleric: Luna Castellum, Session 43

Game log of a ToEE adventure that somehow turned into an Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.  You can find the original google doc here.

Retcon occurred, the silver mount become a sky fortress which eventually become Moon Fortress.  Essentially the original moon was destroyed/replaced sometime in the distant past and is now one giant fortress (mega-dungeon) run by a friendly AI called UNITY.


Rogues Gallery – “General Puggin’s Moribund of Mercenaries”*

The Hommlet Raiders
General Puggin’s Moribund of Mercenaries
  • The Rogue – Giselle der Gauner the Soulknife due to a mutation granting her telekinetic powers (character #2, previous character was Mirka the Rogue – Deceased)
  • The Monk – Augusta “Tof” Bamberger and her henchmen Elmo the Ranger and pet pug General Puggins.
  • The Druid – Lilie the Elf and her henchmen Wolfram and animal companion Fuyuko, the white wolf.
  • The Knight – Lintelfaden Toshcobble, squire of Rufus the Bold.
  • The Fighter – Fencil the Android (brain tape swap) (Character #2, previous character was a cleric – Deceased) and his (henchmen Zof the Jarhead Wizard – Deceased).
  • The Ranger – Bustov Daman and his animal companion (ex-human, reincarnated as an orc, brain-tapped and transferred to an android body), The Mou-Mou Bird (bloodthirsty ghost sparrow).
  • The Cleric – Lorenz Brandt (character #2), the scribe.
  • The Wizard – Boris the Jaws-Dodger (Deceased Session 25, retired from the game).

*Due to a transcription error by the Verbobonc mercenary company registrar, “Merry” become “Moribund.”

Session 43 Recap

“It’s not even remotely the same,” Gisella muttered in awe, dipping her hand into the sea.

The entire 9th level was now a series of dozens of tropical islands, each now inhabited by different kinds of beasts and monsters. The cool sun was replaced by a burning heat bearing down on their backs and the hot breeze carried the smell of salt with it, stinging their noses and eyes. Even the monorail was replaced with a small port but it was devoid of ships for the party to use.

“There isn’t much difference between levels 9 and 10 now,” Lorenz realised. “It’s all connected because of the sea now.”

“At least the monorail tunnel is like a channel now,” Augusta pointed out. “We can use that as a guide when going from 9 to 10.”

So close to their goal, Lilie had to drag everyone along before they could get distracted by the islands. Her number one priority was the gene-splicer and no one was going to stop her from splicing the Tear of Time. Practically shoving everyone into the clinic, they were greeted by a voice on the announcement speakers identical to the last doctor they met.

Come one, come all; if you’ve got a problem then I can fix it! The voice laughed. As they say, better Zed than dying! Wait… Better dying than dead! No… where are my notes…? The sound of rustling papers was interrupted by a triumphant cry. Aha! Better Zed than dead!

“How can I help you,” the receptionist greeted. She was a tiny floating robot with a big yellow smiling head. “Do you have an appointment with Doctor Zed?”

“Er, not really,” Lilie replied. “We just need to use the gene-splicer here so yep, thanks, bye.”

The door to the gene-splicer locked as the receptionist pushed a button. “I can’t let you do that without the Doctor’s permission.”

Lintelfaden revealed the doctor’s certificate he had stolen. “Aha, but I am a doctor, so surely you’ll let us pass!”

“That is the certificate of the previous doctor who had malfunctioned under unfortunate circumstances.” Her big smile suddenly turned into a frown and she changed into a deep red colour. “Did you steal from him?”

“No, not at all-”

“Doctor Zed!”

A robot identical to the previous doctor opened the door to the surgery room, juggling the multiple surgery tools and socketing them neatly in a bag. “What is wrong, Nurse Killjoy?”

“These patients would like to use your gene-splicer?”

He turned to the party. “For splicing or (other option)?

“Just splicing,” Lilie explained. “I didn’t know there was another option.”

“Bah, I am quite the busy doctor! Have fun in there and don’t break anything!”

And he slammed the door shut.

Nurse Killjoy unlocked the door and allowed them to enter, letting them use the gene-splicer as they pleased. There weren’t any strange monster parts they wanted to try splicing themselves with but the Tear of Time was a completely different story. They weren’t even sure if it would work but they were willing to give it a try at Lilie’s expense.

“No, no, no,” she snapped. “No one is going to click the buttons except Wolfram.”

“Aww, you don’t trust me?” Lorenz laughed.

“Not in the slightest. Wolfram!”

Only when she was sure he was in full control of the panel did she enter the vat. It refilled with the strange liquid and the circuitry in the wall began to glow bright blue. It destroyed the tear in the smaller container and syphoned its power through the tubes around the splicer, funnelling them towards Lilie and shocking the entire tube.

As the blinding light cleared out, the door opened and the druid walked out, a little weak from the splicing but her knight was there to steady her. She rubbed her eyes and gradually regained her strength, feeling a new sort of energy inside of her. Visions of spells flooded her mind, teaching her how to command the unstoppable flow of time and bend it to her will, breaking the boundaries between her spellcasting and the taboo magic. Her eye colour changed to a deep blue and her pupils warped to take on the shape of an hourglass, marking her as one of the few people who could manipulate such power.

“I’ve got so many ideas!” she giggled. “I can see so many different spells to cast!”

“I guess it paid off,” Fensal chuckled. “I would love to see the magic in action.”

“Of course! As soon as we get the chance I’m going to-”

A deep voice shattered the visions of power and completely took over her mind, stunning her as it spoke. Do not abuse this power. Unrestricted use will not be tolerated, we made this mistake once before, not again. Time will move forward, you have been warned.

And her consciousness returned but the echo of the warning rang in her ears.

Not wanting to dwell on it, she regrouped with the party as they discussed their next moves: Save the world from the looming threat of the elemental evil cults or hot springs. It was quite clear which option they chose considering the gravity of the situation-

“Let’s go for that one!” Augusta ordered, pointing towards an island in the distance.

“Do we have that magic book?” Lorenz asked. “I think it was called ‘something lost’?”

“We are the Lost?” Bustov corrected. “Yeah, Shen told us what it does. Apparently we can choose a destination and we can reach it without any encounters. No fights, no animals, no people, nothing.”

“That’s pretty useful. We can check out the islands and then use that book to avoid everything when we want to return.”

Gisella opened the front door from the office and headed for the dock. “It will make the trip so much faster too. If we can-”

She froze when she saw a tall ghastly figure sitting by the dock. Taller than most giants, it was staring dazedly out at the waters as if waiting for someone. The opening of the door was its queue and it turned around, gleaming grey eyes staring holes through the rogue, and its smoky body began to harden into a proper form. Falling down on all fours, it braced itself as its claws dug into the ground and… then froze.

“Behind me,” Wolfram ordered Lilie. “I don’t-”

He was launched off his feet and sent crashing back into the Hospitaller in an instant. The shadow’s eyes darted around its incorporeal head, looking in all directions, and locked eyes with Elmo. Shrieking in rage, an aura of fear and hopelessness seeped out of its core like smoke and its gaze paralysed the warrior.

“What is that?!” Augusta panicked, hesitant to even approach it.

“This is bad,” Lorenz muttered, ready to run for it. “That’s a Typhon Nightmare, a hunter only sent out to those the Typhon’s think are a threat… I can’t explain now, just run!”

He didn’t have to tell them twice. They bolted for the Hospitaller, carrying paralysed Elmo to safety, and tried to slam the door. The nightmare grabbed the door and tried to force it open, slashing at those nearby and tearing deep wounds or shredding thick armour with ease. It began to overpower them and the aura of dread began to seep into the clinic…

But the door suddenly shut, severing its outstretched arm and locking the nightmare outside. Its arm burst into smoke and dissipated before it hit the ground and they could see it recreate itself at the typhon’s shoulder. It scratched at the door furiously but it couldn’t cut through skymetal and eventually gave up. Yet it didn’t leave, waiting patiently at the dock, blocking any chance of escape.

Nurse Killjoy floated over and offered a box of small band-aids. “The door has been locked. Do not worry, Doctor Zed will be ready to treat you in just a moment!”

“T- Thanks,” Elmo coughed. “Are we all here?”

In the brief ‘battle’, the few attacks they took had severely wounded them and Wolfram was barely able to pull himself up off the ground. The wounds dealt by its claws weren’t healing and dark smoke fought against Lorenz’s magic.

“I can’t overpower it,” he sighed. “I guess we need to heal the wound manually instead of magically. Let’s wait for Zed.”

“Have you seen that thing before?” Gisella asked.

The cleric shook his head. “No, I only know about them. The Typhon’s are the enemy of UNITY, I’ve got a decent amount of knowledge from what she has told me.”

“Any information you’ve got so we can kill it?”

“Very little but there are plenty of recounts of powerful adventurers that had been wiped out by a single nightmare. One thing I do know, it’s an adaptive enemy. Even if we manage to defeat it, it will return stronger than before; we’re marked and killing it won’t change anything.”

Zed entered the room wielding multiple unorthodox surgery appliances. “Now who do I need to cut open?!”

“Just a quick touch-up, Doctor,” Nurse Killjoy explained.

His energy suddenly left him and he waddled over to the party, muttering under his breath, “I never get any excitement around here…” He chucked the appliances into a compartment in his back and pulled out much more tame alternatives. “Alright you babies, would you like the sponge or the spray?”

He wasn’t deranged and malfunctioning unlike the previous doctor and his medicine was quite effective, countering the darkness from the nightmare. Yes, he seemed to want to perform an excessive amount of surgery but he didn’t attack the party and that was probably more than they could ask for in the entirety of Lunar Castellum. He let them stay in the clinic until the nightmare wandered off, treating them like he would his patients, checking up on them periodically during the night.

Come morning the next day, the nightmare was nowhere to be seen and it was safe to go outside and to the dock. They had to be alert and ready for it to arrive at any moment, they talked about a plan to defeat it but if they got jumped again there was no other option but to retreat.

“I think we should just use that book,” Augusta suggested. “If it really does avoid all encounters, we can head straight to Kwalish without coming across the nightmare again.”

“That’s true,” Fensal agreed. “As long as we’ve got the food and water we can use it.”

Lilie’s hands began to glow with magic. “Ready to conjure some whenever!”

Gisella opened the book and flipped through the pages. “Pick point A, which would be the Hospitaller Genetica… and Point B, Kwalish’s Lab.”

Magic flowed out from the book and began to wrap around those who were willing to take the trip. Confirming their final destination, the book slammed shut and the energy was absorbed by the party and the remaining power fizzeled out; the spell was complete, all that was left was to go on the adventure.

“Well, let’s see how legit this is,” Bustov chuckled. “Let’s head back up to Kwalish’s Lab.”

◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️

Kwalish raised an eyebrow as the party entered his lab, thoroughly disgusted by their clothes. “What in the world happened to you down there?”

Each and every one of them were filthy and smeared with dirt and blood from a battle. Some were drenched, some were badly wounded, while others seemed to be in good shape after the long trip.

“I… don’t know,” Gisella coughed, leaning on Bustov. She winced in pain and pressed the wound on her stomach. “Ouch, what happened down there…?”

“That’s my question,” the scientist sighed. “Robbie! They’re ruining my lab with their muddy boots and bloody clothes! Housekeeping!”

Golden Robbie the Robot flew in, wearing a pink apron, and quickly cleaned the party’s mess. He got them all beds to rest in and provided medical supplies to treat their wounds.

No matter how hard they tried, no one could remember what happened since they left Level 10. There was the book, the magic, the destination, but then a mind blank all the way until they reached Kwalish’s lab. On top of all that, they were missing so many supplies; potions, ropes, arrows, crossbow bolts, magic items, magical power; there was definitely an adventure that never happened.

If you don’t remember the encounters, then it never happened, right?

Some were more hurt than others, mainly Gisella who was on the brink of death until they finally reached the lab. But then there was Bustov and Lorenz who hardly felt the pain of the long trip, giving their weapons a good clean and maintenance check while everyone else recovered.

“How’s Gisella?” Bustov asked, polishing his Lenz while waiting for the team.

“She’s asleep,” Augusta explained. “Out of everyone she was the most exhausted and wounded. Let’s give her some time to recover.”

Elmo looked around the room, doing a headcount on the current members. “That’s seven and eight here, Gisella makes nine… Where’s Aki?”

Lorenz pointed over his shoulder. “Oh, she’s right… there.” No one was behind him. “Uh, maybe she’s somewhere else in the lab?”

“The veggiepygmy you reincarnated?” Kwalish asked. “Never came in with you lot. Could you mourn outside of my lab? I don’t want to clean up your tears.”

“How much money you got?” Lorenz asked Bustov.

“About 20k if we go to the bank in Hommlet,” the ranger replied.

“Right, and I’m dead broke so we need 13 thousand more for resurrection. Gisella!”

“She’s sleeping!” Augusta hissed.

They managed to grab enough gold to pay for the price of True Resurrection and teleported to KIT in Verbobonc. Parking the tank outside, they hastily ran through the city to reach the cleric and provide the gold.

“Back again?” the high priest chuckled. “You need to be more careful.”

“A little difficult when you’re running from Typhon Nightmares in a trip you never went on,” Bustov explained. “Anyways, resurrection please.”

“Name of the person?”

“Aki Daman.”

Lorenz dropped his gold on the floor. “Daman? Why in the world is her last name ‘Daman’?”

“Daman is my last name,” the ranger said, neatly piling the gold. “And Aki is my daughter. Aki Daman, simple science.”

“Daman… Daman… Wait, your name is Bustov Da-man?!”

“Moving on!”

The high priest cast True Resurrection and the spell was a success, bringing the target back to life. As expected, the ordeal of being brought back to life had its lasting effects and she collapsed as soon as the spell ended. But she was breathing and Bustov could carry her back to KIT and to Kwalish’s Lab. They had to wait for Gisella to recover so it gave Aki the chance to regain her strength as well.

They quickly restocked on supplies with what little gold remained and headed back to the lab, using the teleporter in KIT. The whole trip took hours, going to and from the bank, taking out some gold and heading back to Verbobonc, but they weren’t ready for the mess the lab was in. About 5 hours ago, it was quiet and everyone was recovering from the trip, and now there was screaming, explosions, and people were dying left and right.

Well, no one was actually getting hurt, but the blood-curdling screams didn’t help.

“What’s wrong?!” Bustov panicked. “Did the nightmare come back?!”

Augusta was being tossed in the air by Robbie. “Help meeeeeeeee!”

“I’m not short!” Kwalish snapped. “You’re the size of a doll!”

“I’m sorry! Elmo!”

The knight looked at Robbie, then Kwalish, and then Augusta. “You’re on your own.”

“Say it!” the scientist ordered. “Say I’m taller!”

“You’re tall!” she apologised. “You’re very tall! You are the TALLEST!”

He tossed a nanite canister onto his desk and dusted his hands. “Good.” And he left the room.

“Can you let me down?!” she begged but he left her hanging. “Kwaaaaaaaliiiiiiiish?!”

He pushed the door open to a dark room with multiple apparatuses that gave the weak of heart shivers just looking at. Leaving the lights off on purpose because ‘it’s cooler’ he opened another circular door that led to a room filled with dozens of vats. Typhons, mind flayers, half of a beholder cut down the center… and Lintelfaden.

“Where’s your unicorn?” he asked, rapidly typing on a computer.

“Right behind you,” the halfling replied. Though completely submerged, he could breath fine just like the vats at the gene-splicer.

“Uh huh, you sure you want to go on with this?”

“Let’s get started straight away!”

“You asked for it!” He pushed away from the desk and the chair slid across the room, hovering a few inches off the ground. “Hahaha, I haven’t had an experiment like this in a long time!”

“Are you sure this is going to work?”

“I have no idea! Hold on to your hat, you’re gonna get chromed up!”

◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️◽️

While Lintelfaden was doing… that, the party decided to get Bustov his android body now. The plan was to do it on the way up but that part kind of got unintentionally skipped so they had to head back down. Gisella was able to make a smooth recovery and, enhanced by a few healing spells, was able to return to peak form.

Some were taking the time at the lab to rest but others were still working hard. Lorenz helped Bustov with a few touch-ups for the Lenz, Elmo and Wolfram trained with each other, and Lilie focused on remembering the hand movements and words of power for her time spells.

The trip down was uneventful so far on levels 1 to 3, only encountering the usual robot performing their duties or a MK I on guard. For once there wasn’t death and destruction just to go from one room to the other and Makau wasn’t on one of his hunting trips so that was a plus. The enemy’s on the first level were finally insignificant to them and weren’t going for their throat either.

“Uh, level 4 is this way,” Fensal remembered. “Then we can take a left towards the autumn veggiepygmys.”

“We should be able to bypass most robots we meet,” Gisella said. “Even if they do attack, we can shut them down and leave-”

Turning a corner, none other than the typhon nightmare was prowling the small garden, killing the grass and flowers with every step. As soon as it sensed the party it shrieked and charged them down, tearing up the ground as it went.

“Of course it’s here!” Bustov cursed. “Why aren’t we lucky?”

Lilie’s eyes glowed and immense magic flowed into her fingertips. Shaking, she clicked her finger and released the pent up energy…

She blinked and they were back in the hallway.

“Uh, level 4 is this way,” Fensal remembered. “Then we can take a left towards the autumn veggiepygmys.”

“We should be able to bypass most robots we-” Gisella began but Lilie slammed her hand over her mouth.

“Don’t take another step!” she hissed. “Please, nobody move!”

Though shocked by the sudden outburst, they could see the fear in her eyes and listened, staying silent for the moment. In seconds they heard the quiet grinding of claws against the skymetal walls and a familiar smoke seeped out into the corridor: the typhon nightmare was on the other side. To their shock, its steps were silent and it hardly made a sound, only the cold smoke and its natural urge to sharpen its claws gave its position away. Even then, only when they were completely silent could they hear the suppressed sound.

Gisella put on her ring of invisibility, crept out into the hall, and the coast was clear. She still waited until she was sure the nightmare had left before signaling to the others to come along. They quickly darted away from the small garden entirely and down a few halls before they breathed a sigh of relief.

“How’d you know it was there?” Augusta asked. “You’ve got good hearing.”

“I turned back time,” Lilie explained. “But it looks like I’m the only one that remembers what happened.”

“How far back were you able to go?”

“Just a few seconds but it was enough for you guys to listen to me. Thanks for that, I really don’t want to fight that thing.”

The conversation was interrupted by a much more cheerful sound that Aki recognised instantly: a veggiepygmy chant. She hurried ahead of the party and into a clearing surrounded by red-leafed pygmys cheering and jumping around an umber hulk they had killed. The body was infested with moss and plants were growing out of it; the cycle of pygmy rebirth was present right before them. Sitting on a throne surveying his ‘kingdom’ was none other than the manliest, strongest, greatest, renowned veggiepygmy Chad. It seemed like his jawline only grew more defined over the months and his hair still flowed in the non-existent wind.

He recognised the party and greeted them as one of his own, waving them over towards his throne. He revealed to them a massive glowing hammer and, at the center of the head, the attractor they gave him months ago magnetically held together the skymetal to form the mighty weapon.

“I remember you!” he declared. “You gave me a simple item and I created my war hammer with which I felled many a powerful beast! And with this hammer I have forged a new clan of veggiepygmys!” He pet his comical cactus horse that slept at his side. “We have felled another hulk and my trusted retainers have returned, tonight we celebrate!”

And he flicked a handle and sprinklers turned on, drenching the cheering veggiepygmys much to their delight.

Augusta opened her backpack and offered Chad a bag of fireflies. “I’ve got these glowing bugs for you. They can change colour to match you and can do tricks.”

“Oooh!” he exclaimed excitedly. “Amazing gift! I shall offer thee this in return!”

She didn’t expect him to trade a Potion of Greater Healing for a bag of fireflies but it was a trade she was willing to take. Whether they gave him anything or not, he gladly let them take their time to enjoy his new domain and rest as much as they liked. This was the start of his kingdom and it could serve as a safe haven whenever they needed to travel to and from the Manufactorum.

“Spin!” Chad commanded the fireflies and they started spinning around in a circle. The veggiepygmys cheered with every command and were thoroughly entertained with their new toy.

Thanking him for his benevolent generosity the party continued down to the lower levels and the android creche. From Chad’s domain, they could head straight for Aki’s forest safely and further into the Manufactorum without a single encounter. And once they arrived, the Zhevs and Surks allowed them to travel freely between the rooms without risk of combat. The more they visited the level, the more they saw the relationship between the two machine factions deepen without their Enginseer and they were starting to work together before. It was rare to see a Zhev and a Surk together before but now there were a couple of both factions in each other’s territory.

Heading over to the android creche, they were able to grab one from the cages after they authenticated their gold palm disk with the MK II. Much to Bustov’s delight, he was able to get one that suited his preference and had flashy blonde hair to flick. Anything would be better than the orc body he had; Aki was one of the nicest people but even she felt a deep racial hatred towards orcs. And she had never even seen one until now.

“Any upgrades we need to do?” Lorenz asked before they left.

“I’m all good,” Fensal assured. “Anyone else?”

Nobody needed to build anything, or had the materials for that matter, so they got ready to head back up. It wouldn’t be a trip to the Manufactorum without at least one thing wanting to kill them and they met four guards blocking the elevator. They seemed almost undead, no mind to speak of and dazedly staggering towards the party. Their orange suits meant they were probably crewmen of the Luna Castellum but that would have been eons ago.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Elmo ordered, taking the frontline with Wolfram.

Guns telekinetically floated out of the crewmen’s holster and began to charge radiant energy. Blasting the party as they charged, they grabbed a sword hilt on their belt and a beam of black light extended out. It could have been a dangerous weapon but the magic of the Nine-lives Stealer easily withstood the powerful blows.

Attacking as soon as the opening presented itself, Gisella overpowered them with her own telekinesis and tore the guns away from them. Any damage that was suffered was quickly healed by Lilie and Lorenz while those at the back could get easy shots in, fully protected by the frontline. Surprisingly, the crewmen were stronger than they looked, taking hit after hit but efficient focus fire was able to take down one of them.

“Let’s go for this one next!” Augusta ordered and flipped off of Elmo. As she clenched her fist, her eyes glowed and Chuckie manifested again, laughing hysterically. She knocked the enemy to the ground but he grabbed the dark saber and shoved it through the pale security guard’s face.

Prone and blinded by the saber through the skull, the party easily finished off a second one and focused on the last two. They charged their laser pistols again for another barrage but Lorenz was able to control the light to a degree and redirect the blast, weakening the shot for the frontline.

“There’s more behind us!” Aki cried, disengaging from the reinforcements.

Another five crewmen arrived at the battle wearing black suits, perhaps of a lower class, wielding smaller dark sabers. They charged in to help the orange suits and-

Augusta hurled a crewman across the hallway and into the reinforcements, halting their advance immediately. As if it wasn’t enough, she dashed over in an instant and hit one of the crewmen so hard she rebounded off of his face. Chuckie swiftly followed up and clocked one over the head, snapping its neck and killing it instantly.

The doll sized monk finally returned to normal and the spirit energy left her. The sudden bursts of energy was impressive but it was clear she had no control over it at all, following Chuckie’s orders as soon as he manifested. But power was power and she would use it to the fullest.

Aki tapped Bustov’s shoulder and teleported him behind the undead astronauts in a cloud of mist and the visor appeared, feeding him information of the situation. Already knowing the plan, Lorenz readied the rocket launcher and chain-fired burning rockets in time with an arrow of ice pulsing with energy. Same as before, the enemy was frozen and incinerated in seconds, releasing a heat wave soon followed by a cold snap.

“Easy,” Bustov declared, brushing some of the ice off his arm. “All done over there?”

Fensal shoved the cannon against the final crewman’s stomach and blasted a hole through it. “Cleaned up.”

Lorenz eagerly scrambled to scavenge the beam sabers and laser pistols and bolted back for the auto-forge. Knowing exactly what he wanted to do, the party waited for him at the elevator for nearly half an hour until he returned. He had been upgrading Badaboom over and over again and he finally found another light crystal from pistols to use as a catalyst for the rocket upgrade. It could already swap between multiple elements and he just added radiant energy to the list.

When he caught up to the party, they were ready to leave, heading back up the levels. Wary of the nightmare prowling the rooms, they took their time and methodically prepared for combat at every turn, now knowing its stealthy nature could lead to a surprise attack at any moment.

And they were indeed surprised once they reached level 2. In a pleasant way though.

They saw the summer veggiepygmys charging an umber hulk down, screaming and flying in all directions, throwing their stick spears and whatever else they could get their hands on, comrades included. Riding his cactus horse, Chad was forcing the hulk back with heavy blows, now using the fireflies to form a halo above his head. For being such a simple weapon, electricity would course through his hammer and it would split at different sections, forming new weapons but still held together by the attractor at the center.

“We have to help Chad!” Aki ordered, firing an arrow. “He’s the new veggiepygmy king!”

To her shock, she killed it in one shot.

The pygmys cheered and flung each other into the air, rushing over to Aki and sweeping her off her feet. There were so many of them that it was practically like a wave and she was carried along and dropped in front of Chad. His fireflies circled around him and into a small pouch at his hip, pulling out a ring with a purple crystal on it.

“Such amazing combat prowess!” he declared. “For thy bravery I offer thee this! A Legacy of Dreams!”

Bustov shoved his way to the front of the swarm of pygmys. “‘Scuse me, sorry, my bad, didn’t mean to step on you. Hey, Chad, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Granting this brave lady a special ring!”

Aki’s face turned red and she hid her face behind Bustov.

“Uh huh, yep, thanks, I’ll take it,” he interrupted, and Chad handed him the ring. “This is special because it’s magic, Aki, not because of anything else.”

“O- Okay, yep, sure!” she stuttered, completely flustered.

He purposely placed it on her index finger. “No ideas like that until I say so.”

Chad raised his hammer towards the roof. “Onwards my men, back to base with the beast!”

Cheering, the pygmys picked up the umber hulk and charged off with their chiseled jawed leader.

“Alright, let’s head back up to the lab and get me a new body,” Bustov declared. “I need to get out of this orc skin stat!”

With no more encounters until level 0, the party headed on back up and rested at the lab while Kwalish performed the brain taping. And they could see the result of the experiment on Lintelfaden too.

Posted in 5e, Dungeons & Dragons, Game Log

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