Game 5 (11/11/06)

Game 5 (November 11th, 2006; First reported in the e-mail "Banana, Banana, Banana")

ATTENDEES:

Gareth - Swords of Fiery Fury (Terry)
Loric - Master of hand-to-castle combat (Jim)
Izzimon - Go-go-gadget artifact! (Alan)
Che-Tal - The Talkinator (Joe)
Titus - Commander of Redshirt Batallion (Jeff)
Honshu - Magistrate of Love (Darren)
GM - Air Bears, chit-flinging spiders, Water Worms, Stampeding Hyena, and probably more stuff (Mark)

Following our humiliation in not fighting the hideous priestesses of buttugly, the party eventually dwindles and we exit the castle. On the way out we are assailed by spiders who try to chit all over us. (I promise, that's the last chit joke in this e-mail.) They begin by surprising us and chittering, a mental DV attack, which causes use to fight for 9 clicks with a penalty. For some it's minor. For our big combat guns here (Gareth and Titus) the penalty was rather large (-4D and -2D to all actions respectively).

The "hero" minions do their best to interject, by doing such things as cutting at the trees atop which the spiders sit, firing arrows, etc. One even comes very close to actually doing a point of damage to a spider. But they are ineffective.

Now the terrestrials do much better, but it aint easy. By now I have trouble recalling details of the fight. What I do recall is that Honshu's lightning attempts are pretty much ignored by the bugs until late in the fight, Gareth starts to burn them pretty good once he gets out of that -4 penalty box, and that while Loric made a good early showing, he was often the target of their terrible spittle of thorny vines and was brought down. Izzimon tried to stay aloft and out of reach but these are jumping spiders and therefore no one is safe. The upshot of this fight is that Mark forgets his spiders can choose to heal when in the trees (being wood spiders) and therefore they don't often take the time to heal, and once we destroy the trees they have trouble finding shelter. But the spiders have accomplices: High overhead are 3 "air bears", later redubbed "Thunder Bears" (Hooooooooooo!).

The thunder bears swoop in and try bite attacks on Izzimon the flier, and anyone else who looks like a threat. They are not as strong as the spiders it seems and are eventually toppled.

Next event: We are approached by the Satrap (whom Honshu is certain is crooked, thanks to a double-botch on his investigation into corruption), who brings us a blade. It seems the weapon is Anathema Made(tm) and some others have been discovered (and destroyed) locally. It's as if there's a sudden influx of these things into the area, indicating that an Anathema has begun arming an army. It's odd that this one was sold as if it were a normal weapon at a regular cost.

Personal Theory: This is bait. They needed to make certain this weapon was found and it's emblem (the golden lion) was seen by us. Whether it's the actual anathema of old somehow come back to life/reincarnated, or someone who wants us to think this is the case.

The satrap wants us to go out and investigate. This will require a bit of travel. So we pack up our toothbrushes, our sidekicks, our tents and wagons, and if you're Titus, 500 soldiers.

The first encounter on the road is after we camp. At night there is this strange howling noise, and a scuffle. Nope, not werewolves... seems the soldiers are a bit spooked by the "dogs that can talk"... meaning the hyenas.

Next day we come across some antelope. They however are not nearly as interesting as what is trying to herd them. More hyenas, but since we are further into the wild, these are far bigger! They decide we look slower and easier to swallow and come toward us. This combat is a complete slaughter, as not even the soldiers have trouble fending them off.

We came across a river. The troops create a floatilla and proceed to cross. We are on the far side and the soldiers are still crossing, when suddenly the troops are beset by a wormy creature that comes up out of the river and tries to mack on the soldiers. It topples a raft and the poor lamellar-clad creatures sink like rocks. Tasty, flesh-filled rocks.

The folks on shore do their best to try to haul in the guys in the river. But most of the ensuing battle is Gareth leaping from raft-to-raft and laying the smackdown on the worm whenever it gets near the surface, and Titus diving after it (and even being dragged under by it). Izzimon tries to drag soldiers out and gets wet and nearly dragged under for his troubles. The worm is eventually felled.


	Game 5 (November 11th, 2006; First reported in the e-mail "Banana, Banana, Banana")
ATTENDEES: Gareth - Swords of Fiery Fury (Terry) Loric - Master of hand-to-castle combat (Jim) Izzimon - Go-go-gadget artifact! (Alan) Che-Tal - The Talkinator (Joe) Titus - Commander of Redshirt Batallion (Jeff) Honshu - Magistrate of Love (Darren) GM - Air Bears, chit-flinging spiders, Water Worms, Stampeding Hyena, and probably more stuff (Mark) Following our humiliation in not fighting the hideous priestesses of buttugly, the party eventually dwindles and we exit the castle. On the way out we are assailed by spiders who try to chit all over us. (I promise, that's the last chit joke in this e-mail.) They begin by surprising us and chittering, a mental DV attack, which causes use to fight for 9 clicks with a penalty. For some it's minor. For our big combat guns here (Gareth and Titus) the penalty was rather large (-4D and -2D to all actions respectively). The "hero" minions do their best to interject, by doing such things as cutting at the trees atop which the spiders sit, firing arrows, etc. One even comes very close to actually doing a point of damage to a spider. But they are ineffective. Now the terrestrials do much better, but it aint easy. By now I have trouble recalling details of the fight. What I do recall is that Honshu's lightning attempts are pretty much ignored by the bugs until late in the fight, Gareth starts to burn them pretty good once he gets out of that -4 penalty box, and that while Loric made a good early showing, he was often the target of their terrible spittle of thorny vines and was brought down. Izzimon tried to stay aloft and out of reach but these are jumping spiders and therefore no one is safe. The upshot of this fight is that Mark forgets his spiders can choose to heal when in the trees (being wood spiders) and therefore they don't often take the time to heal, and once we destroy the trees they have trouble finding shelter. But the spiders have accomplices: High overhead are 3 "air bears", later redubbed "Thunder Bears" (Hooooooooooo!). The thunder bears swoop in and try bite attacks on Izzimon the flier, and anyone else who looks like a threat. They are not as strong as the spiders it seems and are eventually toppled. Next event: We are approached by the Satrap (whom Honshu is certain is crooked, thanks to a double-botch on his investigation into corruption), who brings us a blade. It seems the weapon is Anathema Made(tm) and some others have been discovered (and destroyed) locally. It's as if there's a sudden influx of these things into the area, indicating that an Anathema has begun arming an army. It's odd that this one was sold as if it were a normal weapon at a regular cost. Personal Theory: This is bait. They needed to make certain this weapon was found and it's emblem (the golden lion) was seen by us. Whether it's the actual anathema of old somehow come back to life/reincarnated, or someone who wants us to think this is the case. The satrap wants us to go out and investigate. This will require a bit of travel. So we pack up our toothbrushes, our sidekicks, our tents and wagons, and if you're Titus, 500 soldiers. The first encounter on the road is after we camp. At night there is this strange howling noise, and a scuffle. Nope, not werewolves... seems the soldiers are a bit spooked by the "dogs that can talk"... meaning the hyenas. Next day we come across some antelope. They however are not nearly as interesting as what is trying to herd them. More hyenas, but since we are further into the wild, these are far bigger! They decide we look slower and easier to swallow and come toward us. This combat is a complete slaughter, as not even the soldiers have trouble fending them off. We came across a river. The troops create a floatilla and proceed to cross. We are on the far side and the soldiers are still crossing, when suddenly the troops are beset by a wormy creature that comes up out of the river and tries to mack on the soldiers. It topples a raft and the poor lamellar-clad creatures sink like rocks. Tasty, flesh-filled rocks. The folks on shore do their best to try to haul in the guys in the river. But most of the ensuing battle is Gareth leaping from raft-to-raft and laying the smackdown on the worm whenever it gets near the surface, and Titus diving after it (and even being dragged under by it). Izzimon tries to drag soldiers out and gets wet and nearly dragged under for his troubles. The worm is eventually felled.