deadSun -MAXIMAL- 08 Desert Crawl

 LOOT

- A whole lot of nothin'!

DEVELOPMENTS

- Mab's treasure map lead to a strange crystal ruin sunken into the sands, its door sealed by some manner of sorcery.

- All traffic is halted east from Fort Auroch due to a mysterious murder by one traveling performer Yako the Blue, who is imprisoned in the Fort's dungeon.

We had a lowkey game of exploration and debating the best ways to murder three more people to sate the sword god's bloodlust.

We opened with the unveiling of Kestrel's surprising paint job - one half of the hoverbike was refashioned in a creepy neogothic Philippe Druillet ceramic face motif, and the other was painted like the Hatsune Miku motorcycle. Kestrel was impressed. Machine Kid gave him his card in case people asked about who did the work, trying to get his name out there as a designer.

The Village of Hog's keeper Jospel asked them to meet him in his gardens; the Company agreed. Jospel politely outlined his argument after offering the Company to partake of his motor oil - the biker gang was likely to retaliate due to the recent massacre, and they would be looking for the Company, so acting as the village's protector, Jospel needed the Company to make themselves scarce as quickly as possible. The Company found his logic sound and agreed to get out of town ASAP, which frankly surprised and relieved Jospel. 

They travelled the wastes on their new hoverbikes, riding east. They stashed their iron mule Mischief at the mysterious merchant's hut by Rat Creek. His necrotortoise packmule was conspicuously absent from the stables, but Pete's cyborg steed was still there. The company then set out enjoying the perks of covering ground at twice the rate.

They followed the treasure map given to them by Adipose Mab and arrived at a strange crystal ruin sunk into the central scarlet desert sealed by a blacker-than-black metal double-door. Some graffiti indicated Halaena Graf's gang had passed through recently; a broken hammer and chisel at the foot of the door and a hobo sign on the wall indicated that the door was likely sealed by some form of sorcery. Kestrel knocked on the door to no response. They gave the grounds a once-over, then decided to carry on in search of more people to murder.

More Gus L goodness

Riding southwest, they passed by a crumbled blue statue of an ancient monarch and spent the next evening camped atop a rocky mesa. During her midnight watch, Hipsap spotted a group of seven weary and well-laden tomb robbers with their two mules heading east on the road below them, but in a sudden fit of conscience, the Company decided not to get involved.

The next day they passed through towering red canyons painted with enormous ancient cave-paintings depicting strange lanky figures, then arrived at Fort Auroch. They found a large group of merchants camped around its gate, who gave them shifty looks and conversed in hushed tones as they passed. The Fort's portcullis was barred and the guards demanded they turn back, but they bribed their way in with some of the vintage pin-up magazines Hipsap had looted from the bikers previously. The bribed guard welcomed them to Fort Auroch and gave them the low-down: folks were testy for two reasons. The first: no passage was granted into the Crimson Canyons beyond Fort Auroch's eastern gate due to a wild rampaging angel on the loose. The second: a traveling performer from one of the stopped caravans, Yako the Blue, was being held in the Fort's dungeon after murdering a guard in cold blood.

Thus concluded the session. Seven days remain to sate the Sword God's curse.

deadSun -MAXIMAL- 07 Hoverbandit Rumble

LOOT

- 30gp from the Machine Kid for stripped bike parts

    > Kestrel spent their share on a "surprising paint job" for their bike from the Machine Kid Binocco

- 1 Stack of Vintage Pin-up Magazines (worth 800cp)

- 1 lead-lined pouch of chipped Occulith, toxic crystal gemstones (worth 1,000cp)

- 3 Metal Cylinders, depressible button on top, Blue Clock symbol painted on it (1/4 slot)

- 1 Metal Cylinder, same button, Green Hazard symbol (1/4 slot)

- 1 flask half-full of backwashed rotgut (1/4 slot)

- 1 sticky note, "REMEMBER TO PICK UP SLOP FOR THE HOG-GATORS!"

DEVELOPMENTS

- Six out of Nine people have been slain to sate the Sword-God's bloodlust, after which it claims it will release Breezy Pete

4th of Lastmonth, Year 1V39

Gaming

 We opened with players locked in a stalemate with the hoverbiker outlaw gang. The gang demanded the return of the stolen hoverbike and funeral expenses paid for their comrade, whom the Company had slain previously. 

Under the guise of accepting the deal, Kestrel hid their rat companion under the hoverbike's hood and passed the bike over to the Ooze Mutant, the outlaw gang's spokesmutant. The rat leapt out and dealt the Ooze Mutant a fatal surprising blow, and the battle was on.

Seizing initiative, Gemini attacked one of the gun-toting bandits with a throw of Breezy Pete's Emerald Spear, slaying them instantly. The slain outlaw's partner immediately failed his morale roll, turned tail and fled. Hipsap took a lucky reaction as one of the gunners on the opposite hill whiffed his shot terribly, and she made short work of them with her moldy maleficence. 

The bug bandit's lieutenant - a hulking 8' tall insectoid mutant - leapt from his bike with inhuman speed and flexed his massive mutoid biceps, blasting the sleeves off of his black leather jacket and revealing a glowing tattoo of a rose. He engaged Kestrel and Gemini in a long bloody melee. Kestrel created an opening by blinding the mutant bugman with sand from the ground, and Gemini scored a powerful hit with their lucerne, but the bugman kept on coming, its carapace hissing and roiling as neon green ooze dripped from its wounds.

The bugman fended off the mighty blows and a second pair of insectoid arms burst from his body, which seized Gemini and dealt a powerful blow. Gemini was nearly rendered Deader than Dead, but judicious use of the Grit feat reduced the wound to a destroyed arm. Gemini still was knocked unconscious and would die quickly if not treated.

Seizing the Door Sword from Gemini's person, Hipsap shouted the name of her destination - the village of Hog - and drove it into the bugman. Light began to pour out of his body, and still he did not back down, but Kestrel score a killing blow with a point-blank flintlock pistol headshot. The bugman melted into a pool of neon green goop, and beneath his molten flesh appeared a rusted cellar door.

Hoisting the door open and hurling the lethally wounded Gemini through it, the party found themselves crashing into a scrap heap inside the Machine Kid's garage back in the village. He was busy gaming on his vintage setup and was annoyed at the interruption, but quickly helped Gemini into a MutaTube and stabilized them before they died.

The party returned to loot the battlefield and found many things, including a sticky note that read, REMEMBER TO PICK UP SLOP FOR THE HOG-GATORS! 

The party kept three of the hoverbikes for themselves and cut a deal with the Machine Kid, who paid them 3,000cp for the rest to strip for parts. They chatted for a while and Machine Kid pointed out they would need to repaint them quickly if they didn't want to be taken for brigands around the village, and offered to repaint them for 1,000cp each, using something he called "the Algorithm." Kestrel took him up on the offer and asked for "something surprising"; Machine Kid pocketed the money and told them to return tomorrow morning to pick it up.

Hipsap instead slunk around and found some indigo dye steeping in the Village Sanctum's gardens, which she stole, intending to repaint her bike herself. (The results of her efforts remain to be seen.)

The party then holed up and licked their wounds for the remaining 4 Watches of the day, ending the session.

Thus ended the 5th of Lastmonth - there are 7 Days Remaining to sate the Sword God's curse.